Thai minister says C4 weapons case may be designated a special case

Deputy Interior Minister Chada Thaiset told Parliament on May 14 that the C4 weapons case involving Chinese suspect Mingchen Sun may be upgraded to a special case, as officials defended the intelligence response and said the investigation had not been cut short. The exchange came during a live question session in Bangkok, while separate anti-nominee operations were also underway in Phuket on May 13.

Piyarat Chongthep, a list-MP and deputy leader of the People’s Party, challenged the government over the May 8 arrest, saying the suspect was found with war weapons, large amounts of ammunition, C4 explosives, forged documents, communications devices and maps. He argued the case surfaced after a rain-related vehicle crash and a traffic policeman’s suspicions, not from intelligence work.

Officials cite cross-border checks and wider enforcement

Chada said intelligence agencies retraced the suspect’s movements across about 5-6 countries on several continents and found no information from those countries identifying him as a terrorist or linking him to a planned attack. He said authorities would not call the episode an intelligence failure, but acknowledged gaps in coordination between agencies.

He added that the justice minister had informed him the case would be taken toward special-case status so all relevant agencies could work together. Administrative officials were also tracing the origin of related documents, including house registration transfers, and arrest warrants were due to be issued the next day for implicated state officials.

Chada said every person tied to the case had been charged, while investigators were examining how any state officials may have become connected to foreign nationals. He also said anti-nominee operations on May 13 covered Koh Phangan and Phuket, alongside checks on long-stay foreign residents’ registered addresses and actual places of residence.

Source: https://www.thaipost.net/x-cite-news/996319/