Police raided a karaoke venue in Bangkok’s Bung Kum district at dawn on October 17, 2026, arresting 14 people and seizing ketamine following a failed undercover sting earlier in the month.
The early-morning raid targeted a commercial space operating under the name Paradise KTV on Nuan Chan Road.
Paradise KTV Raid at Dawn in Bung Kum
At 4:00 a.m. on October 17, 2026, officers from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau Division 1, operating under the direction of Bureau Commander Pol. converged on the premises at 370 Nuan Chan Soi 28 in the Nuan Chan subdistrict alongside local investigators from the Khok Kram Police Station.
The raid followed a search warrant issued by the Criminal Court on October 16, 2026 bearing the docket number 121/2026. Inside the multi-room venue, authorities detained 14 individuals, including two primary suspects tied to drug distribution, two men held for drug possession, and ten patrons and staff members found to have used illegal substances.
Undercover Stings and the Missed Arrest on October 13
The October 17 sweep was the second phase of an investigation that began days earlier after an informant tipped off narcotics officers that reception staff at the venue were selling psychoactive substances to Thai and foreign customers. Undercover agents visited the business on the night of October 12, 2026.
At 1:03 a.m. on October 13, 2026, agents observed an exchange where a receptionist sold two grams of ketamine for 2,200 baht. When officers signaled to detain the seller, the suspect slipped away. The venue’s complex layout—featuring multiple private karaoke rooms and multiple exits—allowed the individual to escape before police could close in taking advantage of their familiarity with the building.
Officers recovered the abandoned drugs, which consisted of one bag of white powder and one bag of crystalline material weighing approximately one gram each. That initial seizure allowed investigators to obtain an arrest warrant from the Criminal Court on October 15, 2026.
Foreign Nationals Implicated in Ketamine Distribution
Of the 14 people taken into custody during the October 17 raid, several are foreign nationals. Police identified the two primary suspects in the distribution ring as 39-year-old Thi Thi Nguyen—named in Criminal Court arrest warrant 733/2026—and 38-year-old Tran Van Phap, both of Vietnamese nationality.
Investigators formally charged both suspects with jointly distributing Type 2 psychotropic substances (ketamine) by sale without permission, an act committed for trade and causing widespread dissemination among the public
. In addition to the warrant for distribution, Nguyen faced an active warrant issued two days prior.
The remaining 12 detainees faced separate legal actions based on their level of involvement. Two Vietnamese men were booked for possession of ketamine for personal use. The final group of ten—comprising five Vietnamese men, four Vietnamese women, and one Thai woman—tested positive or were otherwise charged with using Type 2 psychotropic substances.
Evidence Seized Across Both Operations
The raid netted an additional three grams of ketamine during the search of the premises, bringing the total recovered across both visits to six grams. The evidence breakdown spans the two distinct dates of police activity at the venue.
Following the arrests, authorities split the suspects into two procedural streams. The two primary suspects under the distribution charges were turned over to the Narcotics Suppression Bureau Division 1 for further interrogation and legal processing, while the other 12 individuals were transferred to the Khok Kram Police Station to face local charges.