Gangsters’ paradise? Killing spotlights Thailand’s reputation as criminal hideout

For decades, criminals of all stripes have felt the pull of Thailand, from drug traffickers and Russian arms dealers to Chinese and Korean scam artists

Pandemic-era restrictions made it easier for the authorities to catch wrongdoers, but will that all change as virus curbs ease and tourists start to return?

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Tourists walk on a beach on the Thai island of Phuket last year. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:30am, 2 Mar 2022Updated: 11:47am, 2 Mar 2022

The killing of an Indian gangster on Phuket island has highlighted Thailand’s reputation as a hideout for foreign criminals, even amid a pandemic that has restricted global travel and heightened scrutiny of people’s movements.

Jimi “Slice” Sandhu, 32, was gunned down as he left his car on the night of February 4 by two hooded suspects lying in wait outside his rented villa.

Sandhu was widely believed to have links to the criminal underworld of Vancouver, having been deported from Canada several years ago.

Days after the killing, Interpol in Thailand issued a “red notice” for two Canadians suspected of carrying out the hit. They were allegedly on the island for several weeks and tracked their victim by using a GPS device attached to his car, among other methods.

One of the men, Matthew Dupre, was arrested in Canada in mid-February “and is awaiting extradition”, Prayuth Petchkhun, a spokesman for Thailand’s Office of the Attorney General told reporters on Monday.

The whereabouts of his alleged accomplice – Gene Karl Lahrkamp – are still unknown. Both men were identified using surveillance footage from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport on February 6.