CHIANG RAI – Soldiers from the Pha Muang Force and Thap Chao Tak task force clashed with a drug caravan for more than 10 minutes in the forest along the Mae Fa Luang border, seizing over 7 sacks of methamphetamine, totalling about 1.4 million pills.
At about 14.00 hrs on 18 November 2568, Lt Gen Worathep Boonnaya, Third Army Region Commander, assigned Maj Gen Sathit Waiyanon, Commander of Pha Muang Force, together with Col Thawat Inkong, Deputy Commander of Task Force Thap Chao Tak, and related agencies, to inspect the clash site.
The shooting took place between troops of Cavalry Company 2, Phadan Control Headquarters, Task Force Thap Chao Tak, Pha Muang Task Force, and a drug trafficking group.
Intelligence from Pha Muang Force indicated that a drug network tried to move a large shipment from a neighbouring country into Thailand in Mae Fa Luang District, Chiang Rai Province, to transport further into the inner provinces. Task Force Thap Chao Tak had already stepped up patrols along the border and kept the area under close watch.
On 17 November, at about 18.30 hrs, Cavalry Company 2, Task Force Thap Chao Tak, sent two patrol teams to scout the area near Ban Cha Ti, Moo 16, Thoet Thai Subdistrict, Mae Fa Luang District, Chiang Rai.
The patrol spotted a suspicious group of around 9 to 10 people, each carrying modified sacks on their backs. Officers signalled them to stop for a search, but the group opened fire first with firearms of unknown type and calibre.
A fierce exchange of gunfire followed and lasted around 10 minutes. When the clash ended, all soldiers were safe. The group of traffickers left their loads behind and used their knowledge of the terrain to escape into the forest.
Cavalry Company 2, under Phadan Control Headquarters, later inspected the area and found a huge quantity of methamphetamine, totalling more than 1.4 million pills.
Authorities then reinforced the area with two more patrol teams to secure the scene. On 18 November 2568, at about 06.30 hrs, troops moved in to clear and control the area and to collect evidence. They found 7 large fertiliser sacks, each containing about 200,000 methamphetamine pills. In total, the seizure came to roughly 1,400,000 pills.
After recording and checking the evidence, officers handed all seized items to Mae Fa Luang Police Station for further legal action. Maj Gen Sathit Waiyanon, Commander of Pha Muang Force, also ordered all units in the region to tighten measures to intercept and suppress drug trafficking continuously.
In a related report, soldiers from Task Force Thap Chao Tak, Pha Muang Task Force, on border patrol in Mae Fa Luang again came across another drug caravan. The group, carrying rucksacks along the Thai border, fired on troops as soon as they were signalled to stop for inspection.
Soldiers returned fire, and the traffickers dropped their loads and fled back across the border to areas under the influence of ethnic armed groups in the neighbouring country. Officers later found methamphetamine scattered across the clash site, packed in 7 sacks, with a total of more than 1,000,000 pills.
Soldiers from the Pha Muang Force inspected the Thai-Myanmar border area near Ban Cha Ti, Moo 16, Thoet Thai Subdistrict, Mae Fa Luang District, Chiang Rai. The night before, a patrol had spotted around 9 to 10 suspicious men carrying modified sacks as they entered Thai territory, and tried to stop them for a search.
The group responded by firing at the soldiers with firearms of unknown type and calibre, which led to a gunfight that went on for about 10 minutes. All soldiers were unharmed. The traffickers left their packs behind in the forest and used their familiarity with the terrain to get away.
The officers seized all the drugs as evidence and coordinated with other agencies for legal procedures, while also maintaining tight blocking operations in the region.
The area opposite Ban Cha Ti is a forest connected to Kan and Tum towns in Monghsat District, Myanmar. It is home to various ethnic groups. Drug syndicates have long used these difficult border routes to smuggle narcotics into Thailand, and Pha Muang Force troops have intercepted shipments in this zone many times.
From 1 October 2025, the Pha Muang Force troops have intercepted drug trafficking attempts 71 times. They have arrested 79 suspects and seized 40,365,546 methamphetamine pills, 1.2 kilograms of heroin, 845 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice), and 1.54 kilograms of opium.
There have been 11 armed clashes with trafficking groups in this period, with 8 suspects killed. If the drugs seized in these operations had reached Bangkok and other major cities, the total street value would have been around 11,961,340,680 baht in economic damage prevented.
