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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  • Probe into alleged mishandling of Red Bull heir fatal hit-and-run case is underway

    Probe into alleged mishandling of Red Bull heir fatal hit-and-run case is underway

    The investigation into the alleged mishandling of the 2012 fatal hit-and-run case where the Red Bull heir Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidh­ya allegedly sped through Thong Lor, running over a police officer with his Ferrari, is underway and is expected to be closed in 16 months. Boss managed to evade justice and has since fled the country. Now, 15 senior police officers,…

  • Police chief transferred for probe into death during alleged extortion attempt

    Police chief transferred for probe into death during alleged extortion attempt

    A police chief in Nakhon Sawan is being transferred following allegations that he accidentally killed a man while demanding a 2 million baht bribe. A plastic bag was reportedly tied over the man’s head and he suffocated to death, but the superintendent of the station allegedly wrote the death off as drug overdose, according to Royal Thai Police inspector-general Wissanu Prasartthong-osoth.…

  • UPDATE: Gunman holds two people hostage on Bangkok bus

    UPDATE: Gunman holds two people hostage on Bangkok bus

    UPDATE: The man who allegedly hit a bus conductor in the head with a gun and held two people hostage at gunpoint told police he was stressed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Coconuts Bangkok. The suspect, Pheeranat Saengchan, who is around 23 or 24 years old, also tested positive for drugs. He was charged with drug use and coercion…

  • Police investigate claims that officer accidentally killed a man in extortion attempt

    Police investigate claims that officer accidentally killed a man in extortion attempt

    The Royal Thai Police are looking into a report that claims a police officer from the northern Thai province Nakhon Sawan accidentally killed a suspect while the officer was attempting to extort the suspect for 2 million baht. The investigation came about after celebrity lawyer Decha Kittiwittayanan publicised the claim on Facebook. Decha’s post stated the case starts with the…

  • 650 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine found off Trang’s coast

    650 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine found off Trang’s coast

    650 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine has been found off the coast of Kantang which is in the southern Thai province of Trang. Reportedly, the methamphetamine was loaded into fertiliser sacks which were then tied to barrels that floated along the sea. An unnamed marine generator vessel alerted officials to the suspicious buoy like objects that were floating between Koh Laoliang…

  • 24 arrested at illegal party in Koh Samui luxury villa

    24 arrested at illegal party in Koh Samui luxury villa

    Perhaps people are getting fed up with Covid-19 restrictions keeping them isolated and unable to socialize and party. Or maybe the police are cracking down more on the illegal parties that often become Covid-19 clusters or superspreader events. Either way, stories of private parties in violation of Covid-19 Emergency Decree restrictions being busted seem to be cropping up more and…

  • Police officers seen dining in restaurant despite Covid-19 rules

    Police officers seen dining in restaurant despite Covid-19 rules

    A picture and story have gone viral on Thai social media where people complained about the inequality in who has to follow rules and who doesn’t. The uproar was caused by 2 police officers who were spotted dining in a local restaurant in Bangkok despite continued Covid-19 restrictions prohibiting dine-in service. The police officers were identified to be from the…

  • Police arrest 21 people at Pattaya party violating Covid-19 decree

    Police arrest 21 people at Pattaya party violating Covid-19 decree

    Yet another party breaking all Covid-19 restrictions was just broken up in Central Pattaya tonight, with 21 people arrested. The event was in front of the Tree Town Market area on Soi Buakhao and police raided the party just before 9 pm. Pattaya and the rest of the Chon Buri province is now a maximum control dark red zone, and…

  • Immigration police arrest man for allegedly laundering money for drug trafficking syndicate

    Immigration police arrest man for allegedly laundering money for drug trafficking syndicate

    A 31 year old man from India was arrested by Thai immigration police for allegedly laundering money for an international drug trafficking syndicate in Southern Thailand. Officers say the man has been buying gold with money obtained through the illegal drug trade and opened an electrical appliance store in Bangkok’s Pahurat area as a cover for the money laundering operations.…

  • Police arrest man for allegedly robbing Bangkok gold shop, threatening owner with fake gun

    Police arrest man for allegedly robbing Bangkok gold shop, threatening owner with fake gun

    Thai police arrested a man yesterday for allegedly robbing a gold shop and running off with a gold necklace valued at more than 50,000 baht in Bangkok’s Udomsuk area. He allegedly used a fake gun to threaten the shop owner and fled the scene on a motorbike with no license plate. After reviewing surveillance camera, footage police were able to…

  • Grenade found outside local politician’s home in Prachin Buri

    Grenade found outside local politician’s home in Prachin Buri

    A grenade was found in front of a local politician’s home in the central province Prachin Buri, east of Bangkok. The chief of the Kham Tanot Administrative Organization, 53 year old Suchart Dejsupha, said he was in a meeting when he received a message from his daughter with a photo of what appeared to be a bomb outside his house. Police…

  • Police raid birthday party at Bangkok resort, arrest 28 people

    Police raid birthday party at Bangkok resort, arrest 28 people

    Police raided a birthday party at a resort in Bangkok and arrested 28 people for violating emergency orders which prohibit gatherings of more than five people. Sutthisan police officers raided the resort in the Ratchadapisek area at around 3:30am today and arrested them for violating the disease control measures. Bangkok is classified as a “dark red” zone under maximum control with…

  • Family of Phuket murder suspect does not plan to request bail

    Family of Phuket murder suspect does not plan to request bail

    The family of Teerawat Thothip, the man who allegedly killed 57 year old Swiss national Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf, does not plan to request bail for him. Region 8 Police Commander Kitrat Panpetch confirmed the family does not plan to file for bail. Nicole’s half-naked body was found earlier this month in a creek near Ao Yon Waterfall. Her shorts and shoes…

  • Woman who stole over 250 million baht from sick mother sentenced to 12 years

    Woman who stole over 250 million baht from sick mother sentenced to 12 years

    A Bangkok woman who stole 253 million baht from her elderly sick mother has been jailed for 12 years. The Bangkok Post reports that 55 year old Mawadi Siwirat stole the money from her 84 year old mother, named as Huay Siwirat, while she was receiving hospital treatment for a heart condition. Mawadi pled guilty and was found guilty on…

  • Thousands of sex toys valued at 3 million baht seized by police

    Thousands of sex toys valued at 3 million baht seized by police

    Thousands of sex toys valued at more than 3 million baht were seized yesterday by officers from the Child and Women’s Welfare Department in Bangkok’s Nong Khaem district. Two men were arrested. Around 5,000 dildos, penis enlargement devices, penis massage oils and lubricating gels were seized from a warehouse off the Petchkasem highway. Fake Rolex and Gucci watches were also confiscated.…

  • Officers at Phuket checkpoint to screen Thais for outstanding warrants

    Officers at Phuket checkpoint to screen Thais for outstanding warrants

    Officers at Phuket’s main checkpoint in Tha Chatchai will be screening Thais entering the island province to see if they have outstanding arrest warrants. The Region 8 Police Chief donated 51 smart card readers to scan ID cards as well as 20 smartphones. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha had called on government agencies to tighten safety to support tourists in Phuket following the…

  • Monk in Phitsanulok allegedly shoots and kills man at meditation centre

    Monk in Phitsanulok allegedly shoots and kills man at meditation centre

    A monk allegedly shot and killed a man, who he had a long-standing feud with, at a Buddhist meditation centre in northern Thailand’s Phitsanulok. The alleged shooter has been stripped of his monkhood and now faces murder charges. Sai Yoi police officer Suparerk Chanmee says the shooting at the Ratchathani Buddhist Meditation Centre was reported to the police around 10am this…

  • Bangkok man detained by police after allegedly assaulting woman

    Bangkok man detained by police after allegedly assaulting woman

    A man in Bangkok has been detained by police after allegedly assaulting a female Grab driver and then driving off. A video of the incident shows the man carrying a gun. The 36 year old man identified as “Sethawut” now faces charges of assault, criminal damage, and 2 weapons offences. Sethawut reportedly struck Grab driver Surang Sinkaew. It’s unclear what…

  • Police in Songkhla arrest 5 people, seize 1,000 kilograms of methamphetamine

    Police in Songkhla arrest 5 people, seize 1,000 kilograms of methamphetamine

    Police arrested five people who were allegedly involved in an operation to smuggle 1,000 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from the southern province Songkhla, possibly across the border to Malaysia, although reports do not go into detail about which country the drugs were en route to. At around 2:39am on Friday, officers seized the drugs outside the Anan Motor Sales Company…

  • Couple arrested shipping 490 grams of meth to Australia

    Couple arrested shipping 490 grams of meth to Australia

    After allegedly shipping crystal meth to Australia, a Nigerian man and his Thai girlfriend were arrested in Bangkok. The couple was stopped and arrested on Friday evening allegedly trying to make a shipment at a private mail drop-off point. The Nigerian man was identified as Obimma Anthony and the Thai woman is Marisa Noipitak. The pair were stopped by police…

  • Thailand’s big, bad meth boom, in the middle of a pandemic | VIDEO

    Thailand’s big, bad meth boom, in the middle of a pandemic | VIDEO

      Caitlin Ashworth reports on Thailand’s burgeoning drug trade and the futile attempts to try and control it. 72 tonnes of a chemical called propionyl chloride arrives in a remote region of Laos. All professionally packaged and loaded ready for shipping. The containers full of the obscure chemical had made their way from Jiangsu, a coastal Chinese province north of…

  • Man allegedly steal employer’s Mercedes in retaliation for mistreatment; family returns car later, Ayutthaya arrest still follows

    Man allegedly steal employer’s Mercedes in retaliation for mistreatment; family returns car later, Ayutthaya arrest still follows

    Yesterday morning in central Thailand, Ayutthaya Railway Police arrested a young man for allegedly stealing his employer’s Mercedes-Benz and driving off to Hat Yai to have it pawned for 40,000 Baht. However, the man’s family had second thoughts about the alleged theft and returned the car a few months later. Around 10:15 am yesterday, Channarong Zainid, the Commander in Chief…

  • 1 killed and 3 arrested in Buri Ram, drugs also seized

    1 killed and 3 arrested in Buri Ram, drugs also seized

    Earlier this morning, a man was shot and killed by police in the northern Thai province of Buri Ram. Plus, 3 more people were arrested, 8,000 methamphetamine pills and 200 grammes of crystal methamphetamine were seized. 24 year old Thaweechai Songsee died from gunshot wounds. His last moments were in a rice field, says Wan Sae Tang from the Prakhon…

  • Samut Prakan curfew breaker cries for mother after police find drugs on him

    Samut Prakan curfew breaker cries for mother after police find drugs on him

    Recently, a man in Samut Prakan, a central Thai province, was arrested after he broke curfew and whose suspicious behaviour led police to discover an array of drugs on his person. The man, 45 year old Pairot Nakbut, was caught outside around 9:30 pm near a police checkpoint. Pairot was reportedly uncooperative and cried out for his mother for an…

  • Bangkok mother and son arrested for fraud

    Bangkok mother and son arrested for fraud

    Yesterday, a mother and son were arrested in Bangkok after the son allegedly pretended to sell discounted AirPods online while using his mother’s account for transferring funds. The unnamed 33 year old son had posted on Facebook that he had AirPods for sale at 5,500 baht a pop, a sale from their “normal” retail price of 8,900 baht. However, the…

  • Phuket murder suspect charged with attempted rape

    Phuket murder suspect charged with attempted rape

    Yesterday, Phuket police charged Teerawat Thothip, the 27 year old accused of killing a Swiss tourist, with attempted rape. The commissioner of Provincial Police Region 8, Kitrat Phanphet, says there is enough evidence to substantiate an attempted rape charge against Teerawat. Last Saturday, Teerawat was arrested following the police’s discovery of Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf’s body 2 days prior. Kitrat says the…

  • Kratom legalised, over 8,000 people will have charges cleared

    Kratom legalised, over 8,000 people will have charges cleared

    With kratom being removed from the list of illegal narcotics in Thailand officially on August 24, the Office of Narcotics Control Board says charges will be dropped or cleared for over 8,000 people. The ONCB announced that about 1,000 people who had been convicted of use, sale or possession of the plant traditionally used in herbal medicine will have their…

  • Nakhon Si Thammarat man arrested for allegedly possessing 2 illegal firearms

    Nakhon Si Thammarat man arrested for allegedly possessing 2 illegal firearms

    Today, a man in the Southern Thai province of Nakhon Si Thammarat was arrested after police searched his dwelling and located 2 firearms. Serm Kwannimit, the deputy provincial police chief, says, officers were responding to information that military-grade weapons were being sold at 20 year old Teeradet “Bang Jack” Chuhai’s house. Police found an AK-47 assault rifle and a 9mm…

  • Police ‘ready’ to investigate Thailand arms dealer in plot to kill Myanmar UN envoy

    Police ‘ready’ to investigate Thailand arms dealer in plot to kill Myanmar UN envoy

    Following the arrest of two Burmese men in the US who were allegedly working with an arms dealer in Thailand to attack, and potentially kill, Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, the Royal Thai Police are preparing to assist in the investigation. The deputy spokesperson for the Thai police told reporters that the US has not contacted them, but they…

  • Phuket officials rush to restore visitor confidence following tourist murder

    Phuket officials rush to restore visitor confidence following tourist murder

    Officials on the southern island of Phuket are pulling out all the stops in a bid to restore tourist confidence, following the murder of Swiss national Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf last week. The victim, who’d been visiting Phuket under the island’s sandbox scheme, was found dead at Ao Yon waterfall last Thursday. The Bangkok Post reports that the murder has left local…