Chiang Mai – Police have arrested two men transporting military-grade weapons and explosives in the back of their Toyota pickup truck after they were stopped at a checkpoint on Khlong Chonprathan Road in Suthep District.
Chiang Mai police said the men, aged 28 and 27, were residents of Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Son province. During the search, officers discovered a large box hidden in the back of the truck. The box contained ten rifles styled like AR-15, ten magazines, and fourteen M203 grenade launchers.
They told police they had picked up the weapons from behind a supermarket in the Kamthieng area of Chang Phueak district in Chiang Mai. Their job was to deliver the weapons to an ethnic group in Ban Mae Sam Lap, Sop Moei district, Mae Hong Son.
They received 8,000 to 9,000 baht for each trip and had already done this three times.
Chiang Mai Police have handed the suspects and the weapons to DSI investigators for prosecution. The police are working to find other people linked to this operation.
Weapons smuggling in northern Thailand, particularly along its porous borders with Myanmar, remains a significant issue tied to regional instability, ethnic conflicts.
In May 2021, Thai authorities in Mae Sai, near the Myanmar border, seized 27 guns and over 46,000 bullets headed for Tachileik, Myanmar. Earlier that year, in March, police confiscated 6,000 rounds of M16 and M4 ammunition and 112 grenades in the same area.
The 2021 Myanmar coup escalated demand for weapons among ethnic armed groups (e.g., Karen, Shan) and anti-junta People’s Defence Forces. Smugglers exploit Thailand’s northern border, particularly in Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son, to supply these groups.
