BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand’s Royal Thai Police has ordered intensified crime prevention and enforcement nationwide, with targeted inspections of high-risk businesses, systematic checkpoints and searches of crime-prone areas to protect public safety and property.
On October 19, Police Lieutenant General Trairong Phiwphan, Assistant Commissioner-General responsible for crime prevention and suppression, chaired a meeting at the Royal Thai Police headquarters in Bangkok, attended by senior officers from the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Provincial Police Regions 1–9 and related agencies.
Police were instructed to identify high-risk businesses, including gold shops, banks, precious-goods dealers and jewelry stores, and establish databases to assess their risk levels. Patrols are to be increased according to those assessments, with officers conducting foot patrols, meeting business operators and watching for suspicious behavior.
Security measures are also to be improved through CCTV systems, emergency alerts, physical security arrangements and rapid warning networks. Police were told to prepare emergency response plans and monitoring systems, with the safety of the public and employees taking priority over property.
The national directive also calls for regular, coordinated crime-prevention checkpoints, so-called spiderweb checkpoint operations and searches of high-risk areas across the country. From October 9–17, nationwide spiderweb checkpoint operations resulted in 1,306 arrests. Police seized 289,318 methamphetamine tablets, 36 firearms, 79 rounds of ammunition, two grenades and other items.
Separate searches of high-risk areas, conducted from October 13, resulted in 1,377 arrests. Officers seized 199,628 methamphetamine tablets, 129 firearms, 436 rounds of ammunition, three grenades and other items. Police said crime prevention and suppression would continue across all categories of offences, with the aim of improving public safety and protecting the lives and property of people throughout Thailand.
