UDON THANI — 8 June 2026, Man forgave best friend who tricked him into smuggling nearly one million methamphetamine pills, insisting he did not blame the other and recalling past help in hard times. Both broke down in tears and embraced each other before facing heavy charges.
At 14:00 on Monday, at the Border Patrol Police Division 24 (Seni Ronnayut Military Camp) in Udon Thani province, Pol. Col. Kanit Klinsrisuk, Deputy Commander of the 2nd Border Patrol Police Bureau, Pol. Col. Nawat Sukulrat, Commander of the 24th Border Patrol Police Division, Pol. Lt. Col. Bunloet Wisetchat, Deputy Commander of the 23rd Border Patrol Police Division, and Pol. Capt. Chon Kaokhamsaen, Head of Public Relations for the 237th Border Patrol Police Company, jointly held a press conference announcing the arrest of a drug network consisting of two suspects.
The suspects, both residents of Moo 5, Ban Phasing, Mak Ya sub-district, Nong Wua So distrct, Udon Thani province, were identified as Chatchai (or “Khem”), aged 38, and Predee (or “Dee”), aged 36. Officers seized items included: 796,000 methamphetamine pills, a bronze-grey Suzuki Swift sedan bearing a Bangkok registration plate, and two mobile phones. The arrest took place in a rubber plantation forest in Ban Thap Kung, Thap Kung subdistrict, Nong Saeng district, Udon Thani province, at 03:00 AM on Sunday.
Pol. Col. Kanit revealed that this operation followed the arrests of Thewan Phinyo, who was hired to smuggle 2.8 million pills of narcotics from a border province in Wanon Niwat district, Sakon Nakhon province on 24 April. The suspect provided information regarding a network of hired smugglers who transport narcotics from border provinces into the northeastern and central regions. This information led police to monitor Chatchai, who was suspected of being involved in a wider drug-smuggling network operating between Thailand’s border provinces and central regions.
Chatchai, or Khem, was identified as one of the individuals on the drug trafficking network list. The drug suppression team of the 24th Border Patrol Police Division kept a close monitor on his behavior. This continued until intelligence from Nakhon Phanom province reported movement, which coincided with suspicious activity detected on Khem’s part.
Authorities later received a report stating that the drug trafficking group had transported methamphetamine out of Nakhon Phanom Province and was heading toward Udon Thani Province, but the target vehicle managed to slip away from surveillance. Pol. Capt. Chon ordered Pol. Capt. Jeerasak Khamwanet, Deputy Head of Public Relations, to lead a team to track down and tail Khem.
During Sunday late-night hours, Khem and Dee were spotted driving a bronze-grey Suzuki Swift sedan (Bangkok license plate: 5 กต 7131) out of Ban Phasing, heading toward downtown Udon Thani, before driving back to Ban Phasing and heading toward Khem’s rubber plantation.
Later at 03:00, police used their vehicles to block the road and intercept the Suzuki Swift sedan, finding Dee behind the wheel. No narcotics were found inside the vehicle. However, Dee confessed that Khem had already unloaded speed pills from the car and hidden them at a hut in a rubber plantation in Ban Thap Kung, Thap Kung subdistrict, Nong Saeng district, Udon Thani province, which borders Ban Phasing. Police then detained Dee and had him lead them to the hut in the mountainous plantation, where they discovered 398 bundles of speed pills, totaling 796,000 pills, concealed in a rocky crevice.
Meanwhile, Khem managed to flee up the Phu Phan Noi mountain. Police then went to meet with Khem’s mother and had her call him to persuade him to come down and surrender, because an arrest warrant would be issued if he continued to run. Khem agreed to hand himself over. Police gave him a 20-minute window, stating they would not wait any longer than that.
Shortly after, Khem walked down and turned himself in to Pol. Capt. Jeerasak while crying. Following that, police escorted both Khem and Dee, along with the seized methamphetamine, to the 24th Border Patrol Police Division at Seni Ronnayut Military Camp in Udon Thani province for interrogation.
During questioning, Khem admitted that he works as a scaffolding installer and had indeed been hired to transport methamphetamine. He said he had previously served a prison sentence for attempted murder. After his release, he got married and now has a 5-year-old child. He became acquainted with members of a drug network while incarcerated.
He therefore entered this network, being hired by a Lao investor named Ace. On Sunday night, the investor told him to pick up speed pills by the roadside in Ban Tat, Ban Tat sub-district, Mueang Udon Thani district, and store them at his rubber plantation hut. He was to wait for further orders from the Lao investor to deliver speed pills to customers at various drop-off points within Udon Thani Province.
He expected to receive 20,000 baht for the job, and he intended to split the money evenly by giving 10,000 baht to Dee, but then they got caught. He has done this several times to make money to support his family and buy milk for his child, but now the police caught them. He feels terrible for dragging his friend to prison with him. Neither of them actually uses speed pills.
While Dee, Khem’s friend, stated that he had never known Khem was hired to transport speed pills before. Khem had simply asked him to drive, so he drove for his friend. When he later found out that his friend was involved in drug smuggling, he was arrested along with him, but he holds no grudge against his friend. This is because Khem has always been a loyal friend who would regularly drive his family members to the hospital to see a doctor whenever they were sick. This was the first time Khem had invited him along, and they ended up getting arrested. Following his words, both Khem and Dee wept and embraced each other out of deep gratitude and affection for their friendship.
Initially, officials charged both suspects with “jointly distributing category 1 narcotics (methamphetamine pills) by possession for distribution, conducted for commercial purposes, causing illicit dispersal among the public, and impacting state security as well as public safety, in violation of the law,” before proceeding with further legal action.