Thung Song Provincial Court approved an arrest warrant for Police Sergeant Major (PSM) holding the position of Patrol Unit Commander at Thung Yai Police Station, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, on charges of misconduct and dereliction of duty by improperly assisting a drug case suspect to escape from the police detention cell at Thung Yai Police Station late at night.
The night duty officer at Thung Yai Police Station took the suspect out of the cell, escaped from the station, and waited until morning to report to the investigating officer 20 that the suspect had fled. The police chief inspected the evidence and submitted a request to Thung Song Court for an arrest warrant, accelerating efforts to capture the suspect.
At 10:00 a.m. today (11 January 2026), Pol. Lt. Gen. Sitthichai Lokanapi, Commander of Provincial Police Region 8, ordered Pol. Maj. Gen. Pornchai Khajornklin, Deputy Commander of Provincial Police Region 8 and acting Commander of Nakhon Si Thammarat Provincial Police,
to assign Pol. Col. Theerawut Thepleuan, Chief of the Investigation Division of Nakhon Si Thammarat Provincial Police, to deploy special operations forces and investigative units from Nakhon Si Thammarat Provincial Police, together with investigation teams from the Regional Police Investigation Division 8 and Thung Yai Police Station to pursue the case.
They were tasked with tracking down Police Sergeant Major Theerawat Meechan, age 35, Patrol Unit Commander at Thung Yai Police Station, residing at 89/2 Moo 1, Na Pho Subdistrict, Thung Song District, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Mr. Aekalak (also known as Tu) Detphalit, to urgently bring them to justice.
This follows yesterday afternoon (10 January 2026), when Pol. Col. Pongpit Chayananphiriya, Chief of Thung Yai Police Station, ordered Pol. Lt. Col. Praphan Decharat, Deputy Chief of Investigation at Thung Yai Police Station, Pol. Lt. Col. Jerawat Charojob, Deputy Chief of Investigation, and Pol. Lt. Sumpat Pholthaworn, Investigator at Thung Yai Police Station,
to submit the investigation files and evidence to Thung Song Provincial Court to request an arrest warrant for Police Sergeant Major Theerawat in the criminal case. After reviewing the petition and evidence, the court approved arrest warrant number 15/2569 dated 10 January 2026.
The charges include dereliction of duty as an official responsible for overseeing detainees under the authority of the investigator, causing a detainee to escape custody, and misconduct or neglect of duty. The suspect is to be prosecuted within the 15-year statute of limitations.
This stems from a report at 7:15 a.m. yesterday (10 January 2026), when Pol. Lt. Sumpat Pholthaworn, the duty investigator at Thung Yai Police Station, received a radio communication from the station reporting a detainee had escaped. He then informed Pol. Col. Pongpit Chayananphiriya, Chief of Thung Yai Police Station, and deputies Pol. Lt. Col. Praphan Decharat and Pol. Lt. Col. Jerawat Charojob to inspect the scene.
Reviewing CCTV footage and interviewing witnesses revealed that at 1:24 a.m. on 10 January 2026, Police Sergeant Major Theerawat, on night duty overseeing the detainee holding cell, took Mr. Aekalak (aka Tu) Detphalit, a suspect charged with possession and distribution of Category 1 narcotics (methamphetamine) for commercial purposes causing community spread, out of the cell and helped him escape from Thung Yai Police Station during the night.
At 7:15 a.m. that same day, before the shift change of the night duty officer, Police Sergeant Major Theerawat informed the investigating officer 20, responsible for security checks of the holding cell, that the detainee had escaped custody. Shortly after, Police Sergeant Major Theerawat himself disappeared.
Supervisors and fellow officers at the station tracked him to his residence and relatives' homes, but he had vanished without a trace and could not be contacted, leading to the submission of the arrest warrant request to Thung Song Provincial Court.
At the time of reporting, authorities were intensifying efforts to trace and apprehend both suspects to bring them to legal proceedings.
Reporters attempted to contact senior police officials for interviews and further details on the case but were declined. The contacted officer stated that only the Commander of Provincial Police Region 8, currently working at the Regional Police Headquarters in Phuket, was authorized to comment.
Latest reports indicate that senior commanders have ordered investigations into the relationship between Police Sergeant Major Theerawat and Mr. Aekalak, exploring possible motives behind the incident.
Further developments will be reported as they become available.