Crime News
Thailand crime news, breaking reports, investigations, and law enforcement updates—stay informed on drug trafficking, cybercrime, corruption, and public safety developments. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for crime news in Thailand.
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Five poachers jailed for killing and skinning Bengal tigers in Thailand
Five poachers who killed and skinned two rare Bengal tigers inside the Thong Pha Phum National Park between January 8 and 11 last year have been sentenced to four years and 9 months imprisonment each, along with a paltry fine of 750,000 baht. The case has left wildlife lovers in Thailand stunned. The Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court found all…
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Another member of Chinese theft gang arrested after three years on the run in Chiang Mai
Police officers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, say they have arrested another member of a Chinese-led theft gang after he spent three years on the run. Namnua, alias Jongchiang Sae Lor was arrested in front of a house in the Chai Prakarn district of Chiang Mai. Jonchiang, who holds Thai nationality, has been wanted on an arrest warrant by the Pattaya…
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US tourist takes legal action against slap happy Bangkok security guard (video)
The US tourist slapped by a security guard in a Bangkok nightclub says he still loves Thailand despite the assault but added he will be taking legal action against two guards. The tourist, Rodric Carkhuff, was slapped and handcuffed by a security guard last month outside The Club Khaosan nightclub on Khao San Road after the 34 year old took…
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Thief steals Thai singer’s license plate to nick diesel in NE Thailand
A Thai singer took to social media to appeal to fans to help find a number plate stolen from his car after an inventive thief used it to steal diesel from a petrol station in northeast Thailand. Buriram Police are on the lookout for the light-fingered tealeaf who stole the license plate and attached it to his vehicle before travelling…
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Famous Thailand footballer jilted bride-to-be at altar, she files police complaint
A famous Thailand footballer jilted his bride-to-be at the altar and defrauded her family according to claims by the man’s fiancé. The jilted bride from Buriram filed a complaint with the police alleging that the man is a star from a well-known Surin football club, he swindled her family out of hundreds of thousands of baht and failed to show…
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Drunk Thais claim knife-point robbery was self-defence
Police charged three drunk Thai men with robbery after they brandished a large knife and gun in an attempt to rob a foreign tourist in the Khao San area of Bangkok. The robbery attempt took place outside the Tang Hua Seng department store in Banglamphu. The victim was a Romanian tourist. The three are currently being held at Nang Loeng Police Station…
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Committee proposes law legalizing prostitution over 20
Great news for punters, a committee drafting a new law governing prostitution has agreed that voluntary sexual service without criminal penalties should be allowed from the age of 20. Jintana Chanbamroong, head of the Department of Women’s Affairs and Family Development at the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, chaired the committee drafting the new law. The new law is a…
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4 guides arrested leading Chinese tour group without ID
Police have been cracking down on illegal tour groups and guides, recently arresting a Russian man mid-tour. Now four Thai female tour guides have been arrested around Bangkok while leading Chinese tour groups. The guides turned out to be licensed, but they did not have the proper documentation. The arrests took place in the tourist area of Tha Rua, Tha…
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Officials raid counterfeit brand name shirt factory in Phuket
Officials raided a counterfeit brand name shirt factory in Phuket‘s Kathu district yesterday. The team of officials from the Intellectual Property Department said they found machines and equipment used for shirt production at a house in a housing district near Kathu Waterfall. The officials also raided two nearby houses where they found thousands of counterfeit brand name shirts, The Phuket…
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Bangkok taxi driver flees hit-and-run, later stabs victim’s friend
A taxi driver involved in a hit-and-run incident at Soi Phahonyothin 52 in Bangkok on Wednesday also stabbed a man before fleeing the scene. However, guilt finally got the better of the driver and he surrendered himself to the police yesterday. The victim stabbed by a taxi driver is a man called Ra. He had surgery after the knife attack…
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Indian and Russian busted without permits at Phuket Airport
Immigration officers this week busted an Indian man and a Russian man, who entered and stayed in Thailand without permits, at Phuket International Airport. Phuket Immigration Checkpoint reported on Facebook that both men were arrested on the same day, February 28. The page said that officers arrested the Indian man, 28 year old Chaudhary Shubham, at the immigration checkpoint in…
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3 Thai transwomen attacked by group of taxi drivers near Soi Cowboy
Three Thai transwomen reported they were attacked by a gang of taxi drivers near the popular nightlife spot, Soi Cowboy, in Bangkok at 4am on Tuesday, February 28. The victims also claimed that Thong Lor Police ignored their pleas for justice because they were transgender. One of the victims, 24 year old Watchaya, spoke to the media about the incident…
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Vendors in eastern Thailand deny monitor lizard meat sold at market
Vendors at a market in Thailand’s eastern Trat province deny that monitor lizard meat is being sold there. This news comes after two suspects arrested in the central Suphan Buri province claimed that the reptile meat was sold to markets in Trat along the Thai-Cambodian border. Reporters from ThaiRath visited the Bo Phloi municipal fresh market in Trat’s Bo Rai district…
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All bets off as MP faces gambling charge in Parliament
All bets are off according to spokeswoman Pongsri Tharaphume who revealed “an investigation will be launched” into an incident involving an unnamed MP who allegedly engaged in gambling activities at his office in Parliament. Parliament president Chuan Leekpai has requested an investigation to determine whether the MP violated the House’s code of ethics. The investigation was initiated in response to…
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Thai Customs seizes 26,000 kg of opium seeds from Turkey
The Customs Department of Thailand last month seized 26,000 kilogrammes of opium seeds imported from Turkey at Laem Chabang Port in Chon Buri. The seeds were worth about 30 million baht. The Thai Customs and other related departments revealed the details of the seizure at the customs office on February 12 during a press conference on Wednesday. Director-General of Thai…
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China responds to Thailand’s crackdown on grey businesses by reaffirming support
China is responding to Thailand’s crackdown on grey businesses by reaffirming its support. The two countries say they have been cooperating closely in suppressing transnational crimes. The Chinese Embassy pledged to help bring such businesses to justice on its Facebook page today. Online gambling and call centre scams are among the Chinese businesses that were found to be illegally operating…
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Two suspects in Tangmo case plead guilty to ‘recklessness causing death’
More than one year after Thai actress Nida ‘Tangmo‘ Patcharaveerapong drowned in the Chaophraya River, two suspects in the ‘speedboat gang‘ have confessed to all charges including recklessness causing death. The four remaining suspects denied all charges. Tangmo’s mother Panida Siriyuthyothin said the confessions follow new evidence she submitted to the court on February 24. The new evidence is dashcam…
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11 Thai police officers arrested for alleged gang rape of 14 year old
A children’s foundation is rallying for justice after a 14 year old girl was allegedly gang-raped by 15 men. Eleven of the men are reported to be serving Thai police officers and the teenage girl was supposedly raped on multiple occasions in Leoi province in northeast Thailand over a two-year period. Today, officials from the Children, Youth and Families Foundation…
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Police arrest Cambodian for raging fire at Pattaya ‘secret’ beach (video)
Police arrested a homeless Cambodian national yesterday under suspicion of starting a raging fire at a secret beach in Pattaya, eastern Thailand, on Monday night, causing damages amounting to 300,000 baht. On Monday, 41 year old fisherman Teeraphat Iampinyo discovered a raging fire at a secret beach – mostly used by fishermen to sell fish and store equipment. The beach…
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Frenchman pays the price for revving noisy motorbike in Phuket
Police tracked down and fined a Frenchman yesterday for annoying residents by revving his loud rented motorbike along the Bangla Road in Phuket, southern Thailand, in the early hours of Monday morning. At 5am on Monday, Phuket traffic police were tipped off that a group of four to five ‘dek waen’ (motorbike racers) were causing a ruckus outside a convenience…
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4 police officers and 3 men arrested for smuggling motorcycles
Authorities arrested four police officers, one Thai man, and two Cambodian men yesterday at a pier in the southeastern province of Trat for smuggling six motorcycles into a neighbouring country. The Marine Special Unit 182 received a tip-off from an authority spy that the smuggling was to take place at a pier in the Mai Root sub-district, Khlong Yai district…
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2 men arrested for animal trafficking, over 100 carcasses seized
Two men were arrested yesterday in the central province of Suphan Buri for trafficking protected animals. The authorities seized over 100 carcasses of monitor lizards and turtles, making the largest number on record. Authorities from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division, or Greencop, and U-Thong Police Station were notified that a house owner, later identified as 73 year old…
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Police say key suspect in macau888 case fled Thailand last month
Police say that a key suspect in the Macau888 gambling network case fled Thailand last month, along with his girlfriend. The suspect, 32 year old Kittipong ‘Big’ Kajornboonthavorn, is the younger brother of alleged macau888 gambling kingpin ‘Benz Daeman.’ Benz was finally arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport upon his return to Thailand on February 14. According to the head of the Cybercrime…
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Man arrested 19 times for thefts in Pattaya
Maybe the 19th time is the charm? A man was arrested in Pattaya for stealing a Russian woman’s phone, and, as it turns out, he had previously been arrested for theft 19 times before. The 54 year old Thai man was arrested this time after he was caught stealing a phone from a Russian woman. She reported to the police that…
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Grab driver caught on tracking app stealing passenger’s phone
A group of friends turned detective to successfully track down a lost mobile phone using a tracking application after it had been stolen by their Grab driver. They cancelled pre-booked flights and a vacation trip worth over 10,000 baht and set out to track down the thief. The incident was captured on video by one of the victim’s friends, 26…
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Pattaya Police find 5 motorbikes stashed in forest
We’ve all had trouble finding motorbikes in a big, crowded parking lot. But in Pattaya, five stolen Honda Wave 110 motorcycles were found deep in the forest where no one might ever look. According to the vice village headman, the motorbikes were found with broken handlebars and stripped seats and were discovered hidden in the forest. The motorbikes were recovered…
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British labradors head to Thailand to sniff out smuggled pangolins
Two sharp-nosed Labradors from England are heading to Thailand to save critically-endangered pangolins from wildlife smugglers. The elusive, nocturnal pangolin – able to roll up into an armour-plated ball when threatened – is the most trafficked animal in the world. Known as “scaly anteaters,” these unique mammals disguised as reptiles are trafficked primarily for their scales, which are used in…
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Pattaya Police arrest 14 street beggars including nine kids
Pattaya Police are cracking down on street beggars by arresting 14 just last night. The arrests come after many complaints from tourists and residents. The arrests were of migrant workers, nine of whom were aged two to six years old. Patikorn Sornchai, deputy commander of Chon Buri Provincial Police, led the operation while Social Development and Human Security Officers combed…
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Phuket police arrest Swedish man on drug production charges
Police arrested a Swedish man in Phuket, southern Thailand, on drug charges today and are preparing to revoke his permission to stay in the kingdom, reports Matichon. On December 15 last year, police initiated the project, “White Residence for Foreigners (Free From Crime and Drugs) Project” in Phuket province. The ongoing project aims to weed out drug crimes and criminal behaviour among…
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Bangkok gambling den bust sees five police officers transferred
The Metropolitan Police Bureau Division 5 transferred five police officers from the Khlong Tan Police Station to work at the metro police headquarters after 48 gamblers were arrested on Sunday at a gambling den in their area of supervision in Bangkok, Thailand. The officers from the Metropolitan Police Bureau raided a gambling den in Soi Pattanakarn 54 in the Suan…
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