Four Myanmar nationals were arrested in a hotel room in Bangkok’s Lat Krabang district last night for allegedly flying drones near Suvarnabhumi International Airport on Sunday night, sparking concerns over airport safety.
Police seized 10 heavy-duty drones from the hotel room, which the four Myanmar men had checked into on Sunday. Identified as Ong (32), Sa Ney (24), Yaw Sin (21) and Tien Saw (34), they were taken to Lat Krabang police station for questioning.
The four suspects claimed they were instructed by their Myanmar boss to go to a hotel in Lat Krabang, close to the airport, check into a room booked in advance by a man identified only as David, and receive the drones from a delivery service.
They said the drones were to be disassembled and packed into smaller boxes before being air-freighted to their boss in Myanmar for sale to the Myanmar government.
According to Thai police, a Myanmar national identified as Kewin So contacted his Thai friend, Ratchaphol, who imports drones for sale, to receive a shipment of ten DJI FlyCart 30 drones for onward shipping to Myanmar.
Each drone costs about 500,000 baht, with the entire shipment, including import taxes, estimated at 7.5 million baht.
Police said they will question Ratchaphol, who is currently in Oman.
