Ex-cop arrested over Phuket attempted murder

Police have arrested a former police officer in Bangkok on an attempted murder warrant issued in Phuket, according to the Crime Suppression Division.

The suspect, identified as 54-year-old Mr. Sathit, whose surname was withheld, was apprehended in the parking area of a residence in Lat Phrao district. Police said the arrest was made under a warrant issued by the Phuket Provincial Court on April 9, 2026, on a charge of premeditated attempted murder.

Police said the case is linked to an attack in the early hours of Nov. 16, 2025, in Phuket Town. A 45-year-old woman was returning to her residence on Mae Luan Road after leaving an establishment in Phuket Old Town when she was attacked by a group of men in the parking area of her residence at about 1 a.m., police said. She suffered serious facial injuries and was taken to Bangkok Hospital Phuket for treatment. The attackers fled on motorbikes.

Investigators later gathered evidence linking Sathit to the assault and tracked him to Bangkok, where police said he had been hiding. CSD investigators arrested him as he walked to a parking area, police said.

According to the report, Sathit previously served as a police sergeant but was dismissed from the force after prior criminal cases. Police said checks on his record showed previous convictions in two notorious kidnapping cases. In 2007, he was convicted in the kidnapping of a wealthy American oil executive who was held for ransom and later rescued by police, and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. After his early release, he was arrested again in 2016 in connection with another kidnapping case in Pathum Thani. Police said he and accomplices abducted a businessman and allegedly extorted more than 2 million baht from the victim. He was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison in that case.

After serving those sentences, Sathit moved to Phuket and worked in debt collection and as a security guard at entertainment venues, police said. He allegedly told police that an acquaintance had accused the victim of being involved with the acquaintance's girlfriend. Police said Sathit allegedly informed associates where the woman was staying, after which the group waited for and assaulted her. However, he denied being present during the attack itself. Police said he fled Phuket after learning that a complaint had been filed against him.

Authorities have handed Sathit over to investigators at Phuket City Police Station for further legal action.