BANGKOK, THAILAND – A 28-year-old man took a 31-year-old woman hostage at knifepoint in Lat Phrao before surrendering to police after nearly an hour of negotiations.
Knife threat outside convenience store
Outside a 7-Eleven at the entrance to Soi 42 on Soi Lat Phrao 101, the man held the 31-year-old woman by the neck with one arm and threatened her with a knife. Police later identified the suspect as Kaiwit, 28, while the victim was named Penporn, 31.
According to officers, the man wore a black short-sleeved shirt and jeans, and the woman appeared visibly shocked. The incident unfolded in front of the store before officers managed to secure the scene.
Mother helped end the standoff
Officers from Lat Phrao police station contacted the suspect’s mother and asked her to intervene. She spent almost an hour persuading her son to release the woman.
Only after his mother repeatedly appealed to him did the man free the hostage unharmed and give himself up to the police at the scene. Officers then took him into custody for questioning.
Injuries and initial confession
The woman was taken to hospital with bruises to her neck and signs of exhaustion. Police secured the knife used in the incident as evidence and formally arrested the suspect.
During the initial interrogation, the man admitted responsibility for the attack and for holding the woman against her will. He acknowledged that he had carried out the hostage-taking in front of the shop.
Fear of arrest over gold robbery
The chief of Lat Phrao police station, Pol Col Thanaphan Phadungkan, said the suspect and victim had been friends and had gone into the shop together before the assault began. According to the officer, the situation escalated when the man noticed police nearby.
Thanaphan stated that the suspect drew the knife because he feared being arrested over a gold robbery from a woman from Hong Kong in the Pathumwan area on 25 February.
“He pulled out the knife when he saw police officers in the area and feared arrest for the gold theft from the Hong Kong woman in Pathumwan,”
said Pol Col Thanaphan Phadungkan, Lat Phrao police chief.
Series of thefts and drug history
In questioning, the man admitted involvement in the gold robbery and said he had sold the jewellery to buy drugs.
“I sold the stolen gold to purchase drugs,”
said the suspect, according to investigators.
A background check showed he had already been convicted in 2019 for a drug offence in Huai Khwang district. Investigators said he was also suspected of further robberies in the Lumpini and Pathumwan areas.
Central locations and money problems
According to investigators, the suspect chose central city locations because he knew the routes well from his previous work as a driver for a Japanese businessman. His familiarity with streets in central Bangkok allegedly guided his choice of crime scenes.
He told police that his monthly salary of 18,000 baht had not been enough to cover his expenses.
“My salary of 18,000 baht was insufficient, so I repeatedly committed offences,”
said the suspect during interrogation.
Charges and next legal steps
Investigators charged the man with unlawful detention, coercion, and carrying a knife in public without a justified reason, along with other related offences. The charges covered both the hostage incident and the earlier gold theft.
The suspect was to be brought before the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road on 2 March for a remand hearing. Police said further investigations into the earlier robberies in central Bangkok would continue.