Police Arrest Man With 600,000 Meth Pills in Surat Thani
Police in Surat Thani arrested a 44-year-old man hired to transport 600,000 methamphetamine pills from Chiang Rai. He was apprehended in a hotel parking lot after investigators traced the parcel shipment and coordinated with regional narcotics units. The suspect confessed to the crime for a one-million-baht fee, and the drugs were seized as evidence.
They thought they had a good plan, but police raided the hotel parking lot and apprehended a courier hired to transport methamphetamine for a fee of one million baht, which was not worth the risk. The drugs were sent as parcels from Chiang Rai, and the suspect drove to Surat Thani to wait for them. On October 3, 2025, at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, Border Patrol Police Unit 417 in Mueang Surat Thani, Lieutenant Colonel Chalermchai Sritong, head of the unit, together with his team and Narcotics Suppression Bureau Region 8 officers, arrested Ekarat (alias Ek Klongchinak), 44, along with 600,000 meth pills, a black Ford Everest (license plate Kor Nor 7018 Krabi), and two mobile phones. The arrest followed coordination between the unit and Region 8 Narcotics Bureau after officers in Krabi Province seized 250,000 meth pills hidden in parcels and traced the recipient, Athit (or Tong). Investigation revealed the parcels originated in Chiang Rai. On October 1, police checked CCTV at a parcel shop in Chiang Rai’s Wat Rong Suea Ten branch and saw Ekarat and Pisith driving a parcel truck delivering 11 boxes on September 28. By September 30, six boxes had been shipped: two to Songkhla, three to Surat Thani, and one to Phatthalung. Ekarat and Pisith had already arrived in Surat Thani, staying at a hotel in Bang Khoeng, Mueang Surat Thani, while the parcels were destined for a house in Moo 3, Bang Bai Mai, Mueang Surat Thani. Police set up a two-team surveillance. On October 2, the first team went to the hotel and the second to the house. Officers spotted Ekarat walking to his car in the hotel parking lot and arrested him. He confessed to delivering the parcels for a one-million-baht fee. Police then went to the house and found three boxes containing the 600,000 meth pills, which were seized as evidence before legal proceedings.
