A dramatic police chase occurred in Bangkok, where motorcycle patrol officers pursued a suspected drug gang for nearly 10 km. The incident began around 10:30 PM on October 22, when officers attempted to stop a suspicious car containing two men and one woman in Soi Sai Mai 57. The suspects refused to stop and accelerated, colliding with multiple civilian vehicles and police motorcycles, causing damage to about ten vehicles along the route, while firing weapons to escape. Ultimately, the vehicle lost control and crashed into a wall in Soi Sai Mai 10, leading to the arrest of one driver found with 1 kg of ice and 160,000 methamphetamine pills.
Police identified the driver as Mr. Wutthisik Tanchoen, 37. Meanwhile, two accomplices—a brother and a sister-in-law—managed to flee and were later found hiding in a nearby house after a six-hour standoff. The brother, Mr. Apivath Tanchoen, 35, eluded capture, while the sister-in-law was arrested.
The police learned about the drug gang when officers on patrol spotted the suspicious vehicle, prompting an attempt to stop it. After multiple vehicle collisions, including hitting a police motorcycle, officers fired at the vehicle’s tires to slow it down. Despite the chaos, the assailants continued to drive aggressively until they crashed.
Investigation revealed that the car belonged to Mr. Wanchai Tanchoen, 65, Wutthisik’s father, with a criminal history of attempted murder. Wutthisik disclosed his brother sought to pick up the drugs, driven by a desire for quick cash for online gambling. It was noted that Apivath had a prior drug-related arrest in 2010 and attempted murder in 2012.
The police are currently tracking down the remaining fugitive, gathering evidence from surveillance cameras, albeit some areas remained obscured, complicating their search.
Read all the columns from “Thai Rath Newspaper” here.
