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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  • Village leader slain in drive-by shooting in South

    Village leader slain in drive-by shooting in South

    Gunmen in Pattanni province in Thailand’s restive South shot dead an assistant village headman while he was exercising at a children’s playground yesterday. Pattani and its neighbouring provinces are home to Thailand’s Southern Conflict. The drive-by shooting occurred at playground in front of a football field in Ban Prawae of tambon Yarang. Witnesses say Chanwit Kaso, assistant headman of Ban…

  • Wanted killer dies of unknown causes

    Wanted killer dies of unknown causes

    An infamous killer, long sought by police, died this morning of “an unspecified illness” at a house in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. A team of police officers and a doctor from the district hospital went to the house after being informed of the death of the wanted hit man, identified as 49 year old Yuthana Chukaew, known…

  • Ayutthaya mother and son drug gang, police seize 5 million meth pills

    Ayutthaya mother and son drug gang, police seize 5 million meth pills

    A mother and son, suspected to be part of a larger central Thailand drug gang, have been arrested after 5 million methamphetamine pills were discovered inside a rented rooms in Prainracha, Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok. Officials searched the property on March 6, noting that there were two bedrooms in bad repair with sacks of pills strewn around the rooms. Sacks…

  • 100 kilograms of crystal meth wash ashore in Thailand’s southeast

    100 kilograms of crystal meth wash ashore in Thailand’s southeast

    It’s been a busy week for the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), as police in Trat province seized 100 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, or “ice,” found washed ashore on two beaches. Nineteen packets of the drug were found on Koh Mak beach, and another 81 packs on Koh Kut beach. Trat is the easternmost province along the Thai…

  • Chon Buri man kills neighbour with metal pipe after being refused a cigarette

    Chon Buri man kills neighbour with metal pipe after being refused a cigarette

    Police in Chon Buri province, near Pattaya, arrested a 32 year old Thai man on Monday for allegedly beating his 51 year old neighbour to death with a metal pipe, after the neighbor refused to give him a cigarette. Police were informed of an incident at a home in the Map Pong sub district at 9:30pm. Officers arrived along with…

  • Teacher suspended for sexual abuse at Nakhon Pathom school

    Teacher suspended for sexual abuse at Nakhon Pathom school

    A teacher in Nakhon Pathom province just west of Bangkok, identified by students as a serial sexual predator, has been suspended an education official said yesterday. The teacher at Matthayom Than Bin Kamphaeng Saen School, whose name was not supplied, was transferred to an inactive post and placed under investigation, according to secretary-general of the Office of Basic Education Commission,…

  • Ayuttaya man arrested with pistol, planning to shoot wife and her lover

    Ayuttaya man arrested with pistol, planning to shoot wife and her lover

    Police in Ayuttaya, north of Bangkok, yesterday arrested a man carrying an unregistered handgun and ammunition, who told them he was on his way to shoot his wife and her lover a a nearby mall. 45 year old Somkhid Ruennangyaem was pulled over on his motorbike for a search near Naresuan bridge in tambon Pailing, about 11am on Tuesday. Police…

  • Saudi man flees Pattaya hospital after alleged attackers show evidence of his debt

    Saudi man flees Pattaya hospital after alleged attackers show evidence of his debt

    A Saudi Arabian man, who was beaten by assailants in Pattaya claiming to be police, has now fled the hospital where he was being treated for his injuries. A Pattaya police spokesman has denied that any officers were involved in the brawl and says police are seeking the man, thought to be in hiding in Pattaya. The Saudi man was…

  • Bangkok motorbike taxi drivers attack Grab driver in broad daylight – VIDEO

    Bangkok motorbike taxi drivers attack Grab driver in broad daylight – VIDEO

    Three motorbike taxi drivers (‘win’ drivers) have been fined after attacking a Grab bike driver carrying a passenger in Bangkok’s Khlong Tan district. The Grab driver reported to police that at 8:30am yesterday, he was picking up a customer at a condominium in Phra Khanong. He says a local taxi motorbike driver in front of the condo allegedly stopped him…

  • Gunman in Manila mall standoff surrenders, releases hostages

    Gunman in Manila mall standoff surrenders, releases hostages

    Further to a story earlier reported by The Thaiger, a former security guard has released some 30 people and walked out of a Manila shopping mall after hours of gruelling negotiations, ending a day-long hostage crisis in an upscale commercial district. The gunman, identified by police as Archie Paray, a former guard at the complex, left the V-Mall in suburban…

  • Pattaya ladyboy attacks American tourist with sodium hydroxide

    Pattaya ladyboy attacks American tourist with sodium hydroxide

    Pattaya police announced the arrest of a transgender suspect who allegedly attacked an American tourist with sodium hydroxide over the weekend. Sodium hydroxide, also called lye or caustic soda, is a highly corrosive chemical that decomposes proteins at ordinary ambient temperatures and can cause cause severe chemical burns. It’s used in making wood pulp for paper and is a primary…

  • Man arrested for gunshots at Nontha Buri mall “to intimidate his wife”

    Man arrested for gunshots at Nontha Buri mall “to intimidate his wife”

    In a further development to a story the Thaiger reported earlier, a Thai man has been arrested for firing a gun on Friday at the Central Plaza shopping mall in Nontha Buri, just outside of Bangkok. Police responded swiftly to the shooting and no casualties were reported. “The suspect is 41 years old and he reportedly fired six shots while…

  • Justice Ministry to go after drug gangs’ assets

    Justice Ministry to go after drug gangs’ assets

    Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin says drug syndicate networks along Thai borders, especially in the North, produce drugs worth about 1.9 billion baht annually. Now his ministry has set up a centre to seize their assets as part of an effort to stamp them out. Somsak says the amount of assets and money seized annually is too low: only about 400-500…

  • Lao woman kept as a slave for 9 years

    Lao woman kept as a slave for 9 years

    The anti-human trafficking division of the Royal Thai Police yesterday arrested a Thai couple in the province of of Samut Sakhon, southwest of Bangkok, for the enslavement of a Lao woman. The couple kept the woman in a storage room and treated her as a slave for nine years. The suspects were identified as 60 year old Suchin Vipusitthikul and…

  • Shots fired in Nontha Buri mall

    Shots fired in Nontha Buri mall

    Police rushed to the Central Plaza mall in Nontha Buri province, just northwest of Bangkok, yesterday, after reports of gunshots inside the mall. The sound of shots was reported at about 4:20pm and people fled the building in the city’s Muang district. There were no reports of death or injuries. Local radio station Jor Sor 100 traffic radio later reported…

  • Computer techie arrested for putting spy cams in ladies’ public toilets

    Computer techie arrested for putting spy cams in ladies’ public toilets

    A computer technician has been arrested in Pathum Thani, just north of Bangkok, for allegedly setting up spy cams in women’s public toilets. The suspect, 23 year old Nitiwat Muikaeo is said to have sold the videos on social media. The arrest comes after parents lodged complaints with the Technology Crime Suppression Division about videos of their daughters online. Police…

  • Rogue policeman turned burglar recaptured in Chiang Mai

    Rogue policeman turned burglar recaptured in Chiang Mai

    A former policeman who escaped a Chiang Mai hospital after being arrested for burglary has been re-arrested. The ex-cop, identified only as “Pawaret,” was assaulted by homeowners after he attempted to burglarise a home last weekend, which led to rescue workers taking him to hospital. He subsequently escaped the in the early hours of the morning. His escape caused panic…

  • Bangkok cops bust online gun dealers

    Bangkok cops bust online gun dealers

    The chief of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau told a media briefing yesterday that officers have arrested six men and two women for selling firearms on Thai social media. They seized seven guns, ammunition and gun components. Police initially arrested Pairoh Chanchom for selling firearms without a licence. A subsequent, lengthy investigation led to raids on several premises and the…

  • 4 Uzbek women rescued from human traffickers in Pattaya

    4 Uzbek women rescued from human traffickers in Pattaya

    Four Uzbek women were rescued in Pattaya yesterday by Uzbekistan embassy officials and Chon Buri Provincial Police after allegedly falling victim to a human trafficking scam. A team of police raided a condominium in South Pattaya near the entrance of Phra Tamnak hill. See the video version of this story HERE: The raid comes after Chon Buri police learned from…

  • Chinese man found bound, dead in suitcase in northern Thailand had visited Pattaya

    Chinese man found bound, dead in suitcase in northern Thailand had visited Pattaya

    The body of a Chinese man, with arms and legs bound, stuffed into a suitcase, has washed up on a sandbank in the Ping River in northern Thailand’s Kamphaeng Phet province. The body was doubled over and the ankles were tied with plastic cable ties. Red rope encircled the arms and legs. Police believe the man was 30 year old…

  • Arrested former cop escapes cuffs, flees Chiang Mai hospital

    Arrested former cop escapes cuffs, flees Chiang Mai hospital

    A former Chiang Mai policeman, arrested for a burglary in his home district of Sanpatong, has escaped from custody. Police are now hunting for the the fugitive. The officer, identified only as “Pawaret,” was arrested over the weekend and held at a police station but had to be taken to the local hospital because he’d had suffered injuries after an…

  • Pattaya police arrest prolific home and hotel catburglar

    Pattaya police arrest prolific home and hotel catburglar

    Police in Pattaya yesterday arrested a suspect yesterday who they say has admitted to at least ten burglaries of homes and hotels over the last several months. Pattaya City Police reported the arrest of a 37 year old Thai man, identified only as ‘Phet’ yesterday morning. He allegedly broke into rooms in apartments and hotels through unlocked windows, when victims…

  • Fugitive shot dead in gunfight with police in Nakhon Si Thammarat

    Fugitive shot dead in gunfight with police in Nakhon Si Thammarat

    A fugitive is dead after a gunfight with police in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The man, identified as 30 year old Pongsak Jessadarom, of the province’s Muang district, was wanted on three warrants for theft. Police were notified this morning by local residents of two thieves attempting to break into a house. A motorcycle patrol soon arrived…

  • Drunken man arrested threatening people with large knife on Pattaya beach

    Drunken man arrested threatening people with large knife on Pattaya beach

    Pattaya City police arrested a highly intoxicated Bangkok man yesterday afternoon for carrying a large knife and threatening tourists and locals on Pattaya Beach. The incident began at around 11:00am, according to police, who say the man, who was severely intoxicated, was openly carrying a large knife, yelling incoherently and threatening people on the beach. Police were called by local…

  • Former deputy commerce minister and police lieutenant arrested for suspected murder

    Former deputy commerce minister and police lieutenant arrested for suspected murder

    Former deputy commerce minister and police lieutenant colonel Banyin Tangpakorn was arrested this morning, along with two other people, in the central province of Nakhon Sawan. Police believe the three were involved in the disappearance of the brother of a senior Criminal Court judge. Banyin is a former MP for Nakhon Sawan, of the now-defunct Palang Prachachon party. The arrest…

  • Suspected forest fire arsonist arrested in Lampang

    Suspected forest fire arsonist arrested in Lampang

    Despite prohibitions on agricultural burning, wildfires continue ravaging forests across Thailand’s North. Now, police have arrested an arsonist suspected of starting forest fires in the northern province of Lampang. Forest rangers suspect he started fires in the Mae Jang forest reserve. Udomsilp Thithamma was arrested at his shelter in the compound of a rock crushing plant. Bundles of mosquito repellent…

  • American man arrested for theft at Phuket mall

    American man arrested for theft at Phuket mall

    An American man has been arrested for theft after allegedly stealing three designer wallets from a shop at Phuket’s Central Floresta shopping mall. Twenty-one year old Christopher Braman was arrested at the shopping centre in tambon Ratsada on charges of theft and overstaying his visa, police said yesterday. After the arrest, police took Braman him to his rented room in…

  • Police chief denies officers killed suspect

    Police chief denies officers killed suspect

    “We didn’t kill him, he killed himself” The police chief in Nonthaburi, just northwest of Bangkok, denies claims that one of his men kicked a motorcyclist off his bike. The 28 year old man, identified only as “Pisanu,” died after he fell off his Honda Wave motorbike. He was fleeing a police checkpoint at the time. He suffered head injuries…

  • Drink-driving professor crashes, injures 2 police and elderly woman

    Drink-driving professor crashes, injures 2 police and elderly woman

    A university professor has been arrested for drink driving in Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok, after he crashed into a police motorcycle. Two police officers and an elderly woman were injured in the incident. Police and a rescue team were called to the scene and discovered a police motorbike lying on the road and 2 injured officers. The injured…

  • Death penalty sought for Lop Buri gold shop shooter

    Death penalty sought for Lop Buri gold shop shooter

    Thai Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a school director who killed three people, including a two year old boy, in a gold shop robbery in Lop Buri last month. Prasittichai Khaokaew will face execution for his “horrific actions,” prosecutors say. The Thai Criminal Court was asked yesterday to try the 38 year old for premeditated murder over the…