Fifty-nine people were arrested and some illicit drugs seized during a police raid on a hotel in Bangkok’s Ram Intra area in the early hours of Saturday.
A team of officers from the Special Operations Police (SOP) and Khok Khram police station raided Galaxy Resort hotel at Soi Ram Intra 14 at around 1.30am following information that a group of young people were gathering there to take illicit drugs.
When police arrived, there heard loud music coming from a hotel room. They then raided it and found 59 young people, 29 of whom were men, drinking inside.
During the search, the police found 61ecstasy pills and 8.53 grammes of ketamine.
Pol Col Apisan Chaiyarat of the Special Operations Police, who led the raid, said the suspects had booked hotel rooms to stay overnight. A birthday party of one of them, identified only as Mr Bird, was held in a reception room and illicit drugs were brought by another man, known only as Tor.
The arresting team took all partygoers to the Special Operations Police office for Covid-19 testing. All tested negative. They were also asked to undergo illicit drug tests and the results were still not known.
All have been charged with colluding in illegal possession of illicit drugs, illegal gathering or holding an activity in a crowded place at risk of spreading the disease and violating the emergency decree and the communicable disease control law.
They were held in police custody at Khok Khram police station. Police planned to summon the hotel owner to hear charges.