It certainly seems so. The popular Bangkok columnist Stickman notes an uptick in arrests based on news reports. Thai authorities are considering shortening the 60 days visa-exempt discretion because of rising crime. Metro UK News notes with alarm the rising number of Brits trying to import banned drugs from Thailand to Britain. Barely a day passes without British and Thai media highlighting shocking activity here, mostly undertaken by young men from London, Liverpool or Leicester.
Actually proving mathematically an increase in foreigner arrests in Thailand is futile. There is no regular statistical information on criminality by any branch of Thai government. The Department of Corrections said there were 14,275 foreign prisoners of all nationalities in a 2020 snapshot, but without elaboration. The Bangkok-based British embassy recently stated in a consular report that there were 220 “arrests/detentions” of Brits in Thailand in 2024, but without further detail.
What is clear is that Thai police technology has dramatically improved in recent years. The recent case of an alleged British child molester, exposed by advanced computer intelligence which identified his face from a fake passport, would never have happened without the most recent facial recognition technology. Tracking drones helped to locate a Brit who had been on overstay in Thailand for decades and had kept a very low profile indeed.
The Technology Crime Suppression Bureau, which most criminals have never even heard of, uses the latest online technology to crack down on gambling websites and other illegal business websites. Raids then arrest the suspects. Thai immigration offices now have BMW smart cars and mobile service vehicles whose onboard computers specialize in catching illegal workers and visa defaulters.
Gorilla Technology Group, with headquarters in London, recently signed a deal with the Thai tourist police to integrate international data bases for facial recognition, wanted persons and even license-plate tracking. Thai banks are increasingly sharing investigation of fraud strategies to achieve real-time customer protection and to close mule accounts. The latest technology enables the police, in specified cases, to track an individual’s exact location when he or she makes a mobile telephone call.
Extensive use of public video cameras (when actually in service) and the general availability of photos and videos filmed by the general public are also pertinent. A recent case of a Brit attacking a bar girl came to court because a cell phone video, shot by a customer, made crystal clear who was responsible. A Manchester man was arrested in Pattaya after an amateur video showed him trying to throw away a quantity of heroin. Thai airports now employ “screeners” who help identify possible drug traffickers from official videos in public areas.
Of course, abuses exist. Some Thai police are bribable and there are regular reports of some arrested foreigners bypassing the judicial process with cash. Thai police deal with 500,000 criminal cases every year, mostly of course not involving foreigners. It’s also true that arrested and convicted Brits are a tiny proportion of the total foreigner indictments. The arrest of British mules, carrying drugs in their suitcases, likely reflects extreme naivety about the chances of being caught. As the head of Phuket immigration bureau said recently, “If we don’t catch you, new technology will.”
