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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  • Appeals Court sentences former Deputy Minister Banyin to death

    Appeals Court sentences former Deputy Minister Banyin to death

    Following a twisted tale of alleged greed and corruption, former Deputy Minister of Commerce Banyin Tangpakorn has been sentenced to death by the Appeals Court. The ruling increased the earlier life imprisonment sentence for the murder of a judge’s brother in an apparent attempt to sway another court ruling in the deputy minister’s favour. The story sounds like it was…

  • UPDATE: Resort in eastern Thailand denies media claims

    UPDATE: Resort in eastern Thailand denies media claims

    UPDATE A resort in eastern Thailand has released a statement yesterday denying media claims that police accused its foreign directors of wrongdoing. The statement refuted other claims as well, and said police have not issued arrest warrants on any of the resort’s directors. The accusations are in light of a fire that gutted one of the resort’s villas in March.…

  • Police tracking down British nationals after March fire in eastern Thailand

    Police tracking down British nationals after March fire in eastern Thailand

    After a fire gutted a resort villa in Thailand’s eastern province of Trat in March, 3 executives are being charged. The charges include causing a fire by negligence, causing damages to people’s property, endangering other persons, and allowing others to use the building for hotel business without obtaining a license from the local officials. The massive fire broke out at…

  • Bangkok abbot says he didn’t embezzle 95 million baht

    Bangkok abbot says he didn’t embezzle 95 million baht

    The chief monk at Wat Sutthi Wararam Buddhist temple in Bangkok yesterday insisted he is innocent of any embezzlement charges after a renewed complaint was made against him. The temple’s former accountant, Channarong Phiandi, has made a fresh complaint against the abbot, Phra Sutheerattanabundit, maintaining he embezzled 95 million baht and disposed of a partially cremated corpse into the Chao…

  • Pattaya Police add more patrols to stop theft against Indian tourists

    Pattaya Police add more patrols to stop theft against Indian tourists

    Pattaya Police are working toward promises to end gold theft against tourists, particularly Indian tourists. Between last night and this morning, Pattaya Police and tourist police walked up and down Beach Road. Tourist Police Lieutenant Thanaphat Klebe-Udom said officers were interviewing “suspiciously” loitering individuals at random. But Thanaphat said police are especially interviewing loiterers who are transgender. He said officers…

  • UPDATE: Central Thailand gold robber was a chief correctional officer

    UPDATE: Central Thailand gold robber was a chief correctional officer

    UPDATE The man who robbed a gold shop in central Thailand yesterday has been arrested, and found to be a chief correctional officer. The man held up a gold shop in the province of Pathum Thani, stealing 6 necklaces. Altogether, the necklaces were worth about 450,000 baht. The thief snatched the pricey necklaces from a shop in a Tesco Lotus…

  • Gold snatcher on the loose in central Thailand

    Gold snatcher on the loose in central Thailand

    Police are on the hunt for a gold armed robber in central Thailand. The man held up a gold shop in the province of Pathum Thani this morning, stealing 6 necklaces. Altogether, the necklaces were worth about 450,000 baht. The thief snatched the pricey necklaces from a shop in a Tesco Lotus mall in the Thayaburi district. A shop employee,…

  • Suspected pork smuggling scandal in central Thailand

    Suspected pork smuggling scandal in central Thailand

    There’s been a suspected pork smuggling scandal in central Thailand’s Nakhon Pathom province yesterday. The country’s Livestock Development Department found 59 tonnes of pork in a cold storage facility. The department found 1,510 boxes of pork legs from Poland. It found 1,433 boxes of pork labeled with the Brazilian brand Seara. It found 500 boxes of pork under the German…

  • Pattaya police make more promises to stop gold theft against Indian tourists

    Pattaya police make more promises to stop gold theft against Indian tourists

    Police are making more promises to end Pattaya’s problem with gold theft against Indian tourists. This news follows a string of incidents where thieves have snatched gold necklaces from Indian travellers in recent months. Suspects often flirt with the tourists and touch them, asking them to come to their hotel with them. Victims often realise they have been robbed after…

  • UPDATE: Former Special Branch Officer names police involved in illegal casino operation

    UPDATE: Former Special Branch Officer names police involved in illegal casino operation

    UPDATE An ex-Special Branch Bureau officer has revealed the names of police involved in the operation of an illegal casino in Bangkok that was raided last Friday and denies he had any part of it. Former Pol Lt Col Santana Prayoonrat was discharged from the police service 20 years ago after obstructing officers from making arrests in regards to an…

  • Taxi driver faces prison after allegedly attacking policeman while drunk

    Taxi driver faces prison after allegedly attacking policeman while drunk

    A taxi driver faces prison after allegedly attacking a policeman while under the influence of alcohol and fleeing the scene. The taxi driver, Charoensak Boonchuay, was spotted driving erratically by a police officer, Pongpan Ponchai, on his way home from work yesterday. Pongpan followed Charoensak until he parked his green and yellow cab in front of Huachiew Chalermprakiet University near…

  • Thai man jailed for rape in London massage parlour

    Thai man jailed for rape in London massage parlour

    London Metropolitan Police is appealing for more women to come forward after a Thai massage therapist was jailed for 11 years for the rape and sexual assault of two women. Kensington-based Mongkhon Thopwan was sentenced on Friday after being convicted on March 21 of 5 counts of assault by penetration, and one count of causing a person to engage in…

  • School director fired after allegedly covering up rape of 11 year old girl

    School director fired after allegedly covering up rape of 11 year old girl

    An investigation has been launched to discover why the female director of a school in the central province of Kanchanaburi allegedly asked an 11 year old schoolgirl to keep quiet over her rape ordeal. The 11 year old girl was raped by a 12 year old boy in the classroom at a school in the Wichian Buri district on Tuesday,…

  • 4.3 million baht seized in police raid on illegal casino

    4.3 million baht seized in police raid on illegal casino

    A police raid that seized 4.3 million baht from an illegal underground gambling den has sparked a bizarre war of words between the authorities and a nongovernmental organisation. More than 4.3 million baht was seized after police raided an illegal casino hidden on the underground floor of the Ayothaya Tower on Ratchadapisak Soi 18 in Huay Kwang district of Bangkok.…

  • Songkhla teen arrested for possession of meth pills worth 3 million baht

    Songkhla teen arrested for possession of meth pills worth 3 million baht

    Police in Songkhla yesterday arrested a teenage boy for having methamphetamine pills with a street value of 3 million baht. The 16 year old boy, named Ken, was arrested, and 112,000 methamphetamine pills were seized, after being found in a cardboard box in a room on the second floor of his residence, after a house search in the Hat Yai…

  • Cannabis vendor in central Thailand is making bank

    Cannabis vendor in central Thailand is making bank

    One vendor in central Thailand is pretty happy about Thailand’s new cannabis laws. The vendor, 53 year old Khamphai, is bringing good vibes to local stoners in Ang Thong province, and over 1,000 baht a day to herself. Despite the announcement to decriminalise aspects of cannabis and marijuana use, specific laws and guidelines are yet to be presented to the…

  • From Pattaya with Love, or How To Win Friends and Taser People!

    From Pattaya with Love, or How To Win Friends and Taser People!

    A training session held last week on Wednesday, June 22, on Jomtien Beach has convinced anyone that public relations are not a strong characteristic in the ranks of the Pattaya Police. Thanks to Adam and The Pattaya News for the video and pics. The display was an apparent demonstration of the skills of Pattaya police to be able to handle…

  • Thai woman confesses to beating 6 year old granddaughter to death with pestle

    Thai woman confesses to beating 6 year old granddaughter to death with pestle

    Today, a 47 year old Thai woman confessed to hitting her 6 year old granddaughter’s head with a pestle until she died on Wednesday, June 22, in Pathum Thani province in central Thailand. On Wednesday night, police received a report that a 6 year old girl had died inside a rented room in Som Khok District in Pathum Thani province.…

  • Man stabs 4 in New Zealand

    Man stabs 4 in New Zealand

    A violent attack has gripped New Zealand after a man stabbed 4 people in a neighbourhood in Auckland yesterday. All 4 suffered moderate injuries, according to a police commander. But locals didn’t cave in to the attacker. Waitematā District commander Superintendent Naila Hassan, told the press that neighbours jumped in to follow and surround the culprit after he started stabbing…

  • Thai police say they support new approach to drug abuse in Phuket and beyond

    Thai police say they support new approach to drug abuse in Phuket and beyond

    Thai police say they are supporting a new approach to drug abuse, following an anti-drug campaign event in Phuket yesterday. The deputy inspector general of Royal Thai Police said the campaign in Phuket’s town of Karon follows a nationwide shift in the country to get drug users treatment instead of jail time. Karon’s police chief said at the event that…

  • 8 Burmese allegedly confess to murder of Thai man

    8 Burmese allegedly confess to murder of Thai man

    Eight illegal Burmese immigrants have allegedly confessed to the murder of a Thai man in the Hat Yai district of Songkla province in the south of Thailand. The suspects allegedly admitted to the murder of Maddol Binson because he extorted money from them and tried to kidnap a woman from the group. The body of the 40 year old, a…

  • The great Thai cannabis mass-debate – July’s censure motions

    The great Thai cannabis mass-debate – July’s censure motions

    So what is the main topic for debate in next month’s censure motions directed at the Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and 10 ministers in the Thai parliament? The handling of the Covid pandemic? Problems with the economy? The new motions to change Thailand’s marriage laws? No, the opposition will be going after the government for their botched cannabis decriminalisation and…

  • UPDATE: Fraudulent Japanese restaurant owner denied bail

    UPDATE: Fraudulent Japanese restaurant owner denied bail

    UPDATE: Fraudulent Japanese restaurant owner denied bail The court denied the owner of Daruma Sushi’s request for bail this afternoon after he was arrested by police at Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday. Police say “Metha” has caused millions of baht in damages and has countless allegations against him. The 39 year old owner of Daruma Sushi – Metha Chalingsook – got into…

  • Teen girl commits suicide after being allegedly blackmailed over naked pictures

    Teen girl commits suicide after being allegedly blackmailed over naked pictures

    A teenage girl has committed suicide after a man allegedly blackmailed her over some naked pictures. The man, in central Thailand’s province of Pathum Thani, was arrested this morning in connection with the suicide and for allegedly blackmailing other teenage girls online. The 27 year old man, Piyabutr Urai-ngam, reportedly lured the 14 year old girl into sending him naked…

  • 4 suspects in wildlife trade arrested across Thailand

    4 suspects in wildlife trade arrested across Thailand

    Environmental police arrested 4 suspected wildlife traders today in several provinces across Thailand. The Nonthaburi Provincial Court ordered arrest warrants for the group on June 14 on charges of colluding in illegal trading in wildlife and illegal possession of protected wild animals. Officers from Thailand’s Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression searched spots in Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Ayutthaya, and…

  • Police arrest 2 Iranian men for scamming people in Thailand

    Police arrest 2 Iranian men for scamming people in Thailand

    Police arrested 2 Iranian nationals today in Chanthaburi province, eastern Thailand. The men allegedly scammed people out of money on at least 2 occasions in Samut Songkhram province, southwest of Bangkok. The men would ask people to exchange banknotes, but then snatch the victim’s money and run off without giving anything in return. The 24 year old man and 32…

  • Phuket homeowner checks CCTV to find foreign couple canoodling outside house

    Phuket homeowner checks CCTV to find foreign couple canoodling outside house

    A Thai woman away in Germany was lost for words on Tuesday when she checked her Phuket home’s CCTV camera footage to see a foreign couple – a man and woman – having sex in front of her house. Homeowner Waralak Frisch often resides in Germany with her husband, so she installed security cameras to check on the safety of…

  • Fight between ex-husband and new man attracts 50 police to ER in Chiang Mai

    Fight between ex-husband and new man attracts 50 police to ER in Chiang Mai

    A fight between a woman’s ex-husband and her new man brought chaos to an emergency room at a Chiang Mai hospital last night, so much that 50 officers arrived on the scene to sort things out. The storm began brewing between the men when the woman and her new partner went to her ex’s house to ask him to return…

  • Thailand’s former PM Thaksin compares marijuana to opium

    Thailand’s former PM Thaksin compares marijuana to opium

    Thailand’s former PM Thaksin Shinawatra is the latest to weigh in on the “happy plant.” In a video address to Thais last night, Thaksin compared marijuana to opium, warning that people need “proper science and education.” He said that when opium first came on the scene, it also had many properties that people used it for, however, it was used…

  • Japanese restaurant owner makes slippery getaway

    Japanese restaurant owner makes slippery getaway

    The owner of a popular Japanese buffet restaurant, Daruma Sushi, made a slippery getaway from Thailand last week leaving a trail of chaos behind and complaints from over 500 people. A number of those people had lodged fraudulent complaints against the owner with the police and the consumer protection agency. The owner disappeared a day before he closed all 27…