54 motorcycle racers arrested in Ayutthaya

54 motorcycle racers arrested in Ayutthaya

Fifty-four street racers are caught and 128 motorcycles confiscated during a raid on street racing in Ayutthaya in the early hours of Saturday. (Photo supplied by Ayutthaya police chief Pol Maj Gen Sommai Prasit via Sunthorn Pongpao)
Fifty-four street racers are caught and 128 motorcycles confiscated during a raid on street racing in Ayutthaya in the early hours of Saturday. (Photo supplied by Ayutthaya police chief Pol Maj Gen Sommai Prasit via Sunthorn Pongpao)

AYUTTHAYA: Fifty-four motorcycle racers were arrested with more than 100 motorcycles and some drugs seized in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district in the early hours of Saturday.

In a joint operation to crack down on dek waen racing on public streets, a combined team of officers from the Tourist Police Bureau and Ayutthaya police were sent to main roads in this central province. The operation aimed to arrest street racers who were a nuisance to tourists and local residents and tarnished the image of Ayutthaya, a World Heritage site.

Police managed to arrest 54 racers, including 36 youths and teenagers aged over 18, at around 2am on Saturday.

Of them, 10, five of whom were youths, tested positive for illicit drug use. Police also seized 25 speed pills and some crystal methamphetamine from them, said Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy chief of the Tourist Police Bureau (TPB), who jointly led the operation.

Police earlier arrested a teenager, identified as Natthaphol Khottapat, 19, who owns the “Chang Mike Premruethai’’ Facebook page in Ayutthaya. The page, which had 300 followers, was created for street racers to join the races on Ayutthaya streets, according to the TPB website.

A total of 128 motorcycles used in street racing in Ayutthaya early Saturday morning are seized. ((Photo supplied by Ayutthaya police chief Pol Maj Gen Sommai Prasit via Sunthorn Pongpao)

A 19-year-old man, whose Facebook page promotes street racing in Ayutthaya, is separately caught.

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