BANGKOK, Thailand – A pre-dawn raid on OK Bar on Khao San Road uncovered 30 underage patrons, suspected drug use, firearms and evidence of alleged monthly payments exceeding 177,000 baht to multiple agencies, the Department of Provincial Administration said.
The department’s special operations team raided the venue at about 3.30 a.m. on October 10 under an operation named “Sing Phadet Suek,” following complaints about illegal operations. Officials said the bar was operating without a license, selling alcohol beyond permitted hours, admitting minors and selling balloons filled with nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas.
The two-storey venue occupied the second floor of a building and featured a large hall, a stage for live music and several customer areas. Investigators said security guards were stationed at the entrance, but identity cards and customers were not checked for weapons before entry.
Undercover officers reportedly visited the venue during the night and documented alcohol sales at about 1.30 a.m., with payment transferred to a bank account believed to be linked to the business. Investigators said the bar continued operating until almost 6 a.m. They also reported finding suspicious white powder and plastic straws in a restroom, as well as evidence of suspected drug use and the sale of laughing-gas balloons.
During the raid, officials identified 30 customers under the age of 20, including 20 males and 10 females. One was just 15 years old. Urine tests reportedly returned positive results for 31 people, including four underage customers and two employees identified as DJs.
Officials also seized one firearm, one imitation firearm and ammunition. Suspected drugs and laughing-gas balloons and equipment were found scattered around the premises. The department said investigators had also found evidence indicating alleged monthly payments of more than 177,000 baht to several agencies. The recipients and circumstances of those payments have not been established publicly.
The venue manager was detained and faces a series of alleged offences, including operating an entertainment venue without a license, selling alcohol outside permitted hours and to people under 20, encouraging inappropriate conduct by children, unlawful alcohol promotions, and alleged violations involving food products and medicines. Authorities said suspected drugs found at the venue and positive drug-test results would be handled separately under relevant narcotics laws, with further investigations into suppliers and others potentially involved.
The department said the Phra Nakhon District Office had ordered the venue to suspend operations on August 4 over public health, safety and fire risks. However, officials found it still operating during the October raid. The department said it would ask the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to order a five-year closure under National Council for Peace and Order No. 22/2015.
The raid also prompted an internal police inquiry. Metropolitan Police Bureau Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Siam Boonsom ordered the five senior officers of Chana Songkhram Police Station, which is located a few hundred meters from the venue, to report to the First Metropolitan Police Division’s operations center while a committee investigates their conduct.
Pol Lt Gen Siam said officers from the station had inspected the venue at about 1 a.m. but reported finding nothing abnormal. He ordered an investigation into why the earlier inspection failed to identify the alleged violations, saying criminal and disciplinary action would follow if wrongdoing was established. He said it was too early to determine whether the station’s superintendent had been misled by subordinates.
The Department of Provincial Administration said it would continue enforcing laws against entertainment venues that violate regulations. Members of the public can submit complaints through Damrongdhama centres at district and provincial offices or the Ministry of Interior’s 1567 hotline, which operates around the clock.
