Police crack Bangkok arson case after CCTV leads to a rented scooter and Turkish suspect. Officers say his Thai ex-girlfriend paid ฿10,000 to torch company records as a financial investigation uncovered suspected losses exceeding ฿10 million over years.
Bangkok police have smashed a ฿10,000 arson-for-hire plot allegedly aimed at destroying evidence of suspected embezzlement exceeding ฿10 million. Turkish national Emres Badas, 31, allegedly broke into San Tech Centre in Bang Khae before torching filing cabinets containing key financial records. The blaze destroyed 90% of the premises. Police traced him through CCTV and a rented Honda Scoopy before his arrest led them to former sales manager Chanoknan, 40. Investigators say she ordered the fire after a ฿600,000 discrepancy widened into a ten-year probe uncovering suspected losses exceeding ฿10 million.
Bangkok police have arrested a Turkish man and his former Thai girlfriend over an arson attack on a company office. Investigators say the fire targeted records linked to suspected embezzlement exceeding ฿10 million. Turkish national Emres Badas, 31, was arrested at a condominium in the Din Daeng-Ratchaprarop area. His former girlfriend, Chanoknan, known as “Wan”, 40, was later arrested outside her Nong Khaem home.
Police say Mr Badas was hired for ฿10,000 to burn documents inside San Tech Centre Co Ltd. Ms Chanoknan previously worked as the company’s sales manager. At the time, company executives were examining suspected financial irregularities involving her. The records from that inquiry were stored inside filing cabinets at the company’s Bangkok premises.
The fire began at 2.49 am on September 25 at the company’s offices in Bang Khae. The business occupied two connected units in the Sampeng 2 development. Its three-and-a-half-storey premises contained offices across the first three floors. Flames started on the ground floor before spreading upwards through the building.
Fire destroys 90% of Bangkok company as forensic officers find two ignition points and smell petrol
Furniture, office equipment and documents fed the fire as it spread. As a result, approximately 90% of the premises was damaged. No injuries or deaths were reported. Afterwards, police and forensic officers entered the badly damaged property to establish the cause.
Their findings quickly turned attention towards deliberate arson. Investigators identified two separate starting points inside filing cabinets on the ground floor. Notably, neither location had electrical sockets or switches nearby. Officers also reported a strong smell of petrol around the cabinets.
That evidence prompted police to investigate the blaze as a deliberate attack. More importantly, the location of the fires immediately raised questions about what had been targeted. Both cabinets contained records concerning Ms Chanoknan and the company’s internal financial investigation.
Company executive Sanya told investigators that San Tech Centre employs about 50 people. The company operates in the wastewater treatment tank business. Separately, it maintains a manufacturing plant in Samut Sakhon. Its Bang Khae offices, however, held documents concerning the disputed company accounts.
Company’s ฿600,000 loss probe widens above ฿10 million before key financial records are targeted
Executives suspected Ms Chanoknan of manipulating sales information submitted to company accountants. They also suspected company funds had been diverted. Initially, the business discovered losses exceeding ฿600,000. Company representatives then filed a complaint with Phetkasem Police Station.
Ms Chanoknan subsequently agreed to repay ฿600,000. Yet the repayment did not end the company’s examination. Instead, executives widened their review into earlier transactions and company records. Eventually, the inquiry stretched across approximately ten years of financial activity.
Police say that the expanded review identified suspected losses exceeding ฿10 million. In response, executives began assembling supporting records for further action. Those documents were stored inside filing cabinets at the Bang Khae offices. Days later, those cabinets became the suspected starting points of the fire.
Investigators then turned to CCTV footage from around the property. Cameras showed a foreign man arriving on a pink-and-white Honda Scoopy motorcycle. At the same time, the rider had taken extensive measures to conceal his identity. He wore a full-face motorcycle helmet and a face mask.
CCTV captures masked foreign rider before police trace rented Honda Scoopy motorcycle to Turkish suspect
Footage reportedly showed the man approaching the locked company premises. The entrance was secured with a padlock. When access failed, police say the intruder cut through the lock. He then entered the building during the early hours.
Investigators next concentrated on the distinctive motorcycle shown in the footage. That line of inquiry produced an important breakthrough. Police traced the Honda Scoopy to a motorcycle rental business in Bangkok’s Thong Lor area. Rental records subsequently led them to Mr Badas.
Police said the Turkish national rented the motorcycle for ฿200 per day. He paid ฿600 in total. Records covered the period from September 22 through September 24. Crucially, the motorcycle was returned on September 25 after the company premises had burned.
Police then established Mr Badas’s whereabouts and sought judicial approval for his arrest. On September 26, the Thonburi Criminal Court issued arrest warrant No. 1237/2569. The warrant covered a charge of setting fire to property. Officers later arrested Mr Badas at his Bangkok condominium.
During questioning, police say Mr Badas confessed to carrying out the attack. More significantly, investigators say he identified his former girlfriend as the person who arranged it. That account immediately widened the case beyond the man captured on CCTV.
Turkish suspect implicates former Thai girlfriend after arrest over deliberate Bangkok office fire
Mr Badas and Ms Chanoknan had previously been romantically involved, according to police. Their relationship had ended approximately two months before the fire. Even so, Mr Badas reportedly told investigators that he remained strongly attached to his former girlfriend.
According to investigators, Ms Chanoknan contacted him about her dispute with her former employer. She reportedly said the company was pursuing her over more than ฿10 million. She also told him that she had already repaid ฿600,000.
The company, however, continued examining older transactions and gathering records. Police say Ms Chanoknan then asked her former boyfriend to burn the company premises. The reported price for the job was ฿10,000.
The operation involved preparations stretching across several days, according to the police account. First, investigators say Ms Chanoknan transferred ฿1,000 to Mr Badas. Later, she transferred another ฿5,000. Police then traced what they described as preparations for the attack.
As part of this, Mr Badas travelled by taxi to Bang Khae approximately two days before the fire. Police say he went there to inspect the premises. That reconnaissance gave him an opportunity to examine the location before returning for the attack.
Police say ฿10,000 arson plot followed payments, reconnaissance and inspection of Bangkok premises
On another front, Mr Badas later met Ms Chanoknan at a shopping centre in Sukhumvit Soi 22. During that meeting, she allegedly gave him a spare key to the company premises. However, police say she was uncertain whether the locks had been changed.
She therefore allegedly instructed him to obtain bolt cutters as a precaution. Mr Badas subsequently bought the cutters from a hardware shop. Meanwhile, he rented the pink-and-white Honda Scoopy later identified through CCTV and rental records.
Before travelling to Bang Khae, Mr Badas filled the motorcycle with petrol. According to investigators, some fuel was then siphoned into two 1.5-litre water bottles. Those bottles were subsequently carried to the company premises.
Mr Badas arrived during the early hours of September 25, police say. Initially, he tried the spare key allegedly supplied by Ms Chanoknan. It failed to open the premises. He then used the bolt cutters to cut through the padlock.
Once inside, police say Mr Badas moved towards the filing cabinets holding the disputed financial records. Investigators say he poured petrol into the cabinets. He then set the fuel alight before leaving the building.
Spare key fails before bolt cutters open premises and petrol is poured over disputed company records
Forensic officers later identified two separate fire origins inside those cabinets. By then, however, the flames had spread beyond the targeted records. Fire tore across the ground floor and moved upwards through the building.
Office furniture, equipment and paper documents added fuel to the blaze. Consequently, around 90% of the premises suffered damage. Despite the scale of destruction, no casualties were reported.
Mr Badas later told investigators that he had not intended to destroy the entire property. According to police, he became concerned somebody might be sleeping inside. He therefore claimed he deliberately targeted the filing cabinets rather than the whole building.
Nevertheless, the fire spread extensively after he left. It caused heavy damage across most of the company premises. Meanwhile, investigators began assembling a trail that led from the burned cabinets to the rented motorcycle.
The Honda Scoopy proved especially important. Police connected the motorcycle seen on CCTV with the Thong Lor rental business. The rental documentation then connected it with Mr Badas. Its return after the fire added another point to the timeline.
Fire spreads through 90% of premises as rented motorcycle provides police with key evidence trail
In parallel, forensic investigators were examining the suspected origins of the blaze. They found two starting points rather than one accidental source. Both were located inside cabinets holding records from the company’s financial inquiry.
The absence of nearby electrical equipment also drew investigators’ attention. Additionally, officers reported smelling petrol. Those findings supported the decision to pursue an arson investigation rather than an accidental-fire inquiry.
After Mr Badas was arrested, his account supplied police with further details. He reportedly described the reconnaissance journey and meeting in Sukhumvit Soi 22. He also described the spare key, bolt cutters and petrol bottles.
His statement, moreover, directly implicated Ms Chanoknan. Investigators then sought a second warrant from the Thonburi Criminal Court. Warrant No. 1239/2569 was issued on September 28.
Police subsequently arrested Ms Chanoknan outside her residence on Liap Khlong Phasi Charoen Nuea Road. The property is in Bangkok’s Nong Khaem district. She faces a charge concerning procuring or instructing another person to commit arson.
Forensic evidence and Turkish suspect’s account lead police to arrest former girlfriend in Nong Khaem
Police say Ms Chanoknan also confessed during questioning. According to investigators, she admitted arranging the attack to destroy documents connected with the financial case. Police reports also said she admitted diverting company money for personal expenditure.
Investigators said some of that money was spent on extensive cosmetic surgery. The suspected embezzlement, however, remains a separate part of the wider investigation. Those financial accusations concern company transactions stretching back approximately ten years.
Company executives accuse their former sales manager of manipulating sales information provided to accountants. They further claim company funds were diverted over an extended period. The original discovery involved losses exceeding ฿600,000, according to police.
That finding led the company to file its initial complaint at Phetkasem Police Station. Ms Chanoknan later repaid ฿600,000. Rather than close the matter, executives extended their review into older company records.
Over time, the examination expanded across approximately a decade of accounts. Police say the company eventually identified suspected losses exceeding ฿10 million. Executives then assembled supporting documents for possible further proceedings.
Police say former sales manager confessed as decade-long review found suspected losses above ฿10 million
Those documents were placed inside filing cabinets at the Bang Khae premises. Their location became central after the September 25 blaze. Forensic investigators subsequently identified those cabinets as the two suspected origins of the fire.
Police have since reconstructed a detailed sequence preceding the attack. The evidence cited includes CCTV footage, motorcycle rental records and forensic findings. Investigators also traced several preparations allegedly made before the fire.
Among them was the taxi journey to inspect the premises approximately two days earlier. Another was the meeting in Sukhumvit Soi 22. Police say Ms Chanoknan supplied a spare key during that meeting.
Because the locks might have changed, bolt cutters were also obtained. Mr Badas then rented the motorcycle, which was later captured on CCTV. Finally, investigators say petrol was siphoned into two 1.5-litre bottles before the attack.
The spare key ultimately failed when Mr Badas reached the premises, according to police. He then allegedly cut through the padlock. Inside, he went towards the cabinets holding documents connected with the financial dispute.
Police reconstruct arson preparations from reconnaissance and spare key to bolt cutters and petrol
Police say petrol was poured into the cabinets before two fires were started. The intruder then fled. Within a short period, however, flames had spread throughout much of the building.
The police response moved quickly from forensic examination to identifying a suspect. The fire started at 2.49 am on September 25. By September 26, investigators had secured the first court warrant.
Officers then arrested Mr Badas at his condominium in the Din Daeng-Ratchaprarop area. His questioning opened another phase of the investigation. Two days later, police obtained the warrant for Ms Chanoknan.
By September 28, both suspects were under arrest. Police publicly disclosed details of the case on September 29. The pair were then handed over to investigators for further legal proceedings.
Police Colonel Pramote Chanboonkaew, Superintendent of Phetkasem Police Station, led the investigation with senior station officers while Police Lieutenant Colonel Warongkorn Khajornboonyawat, Deputy Superintendent of Investigation, was also involved. At the same time, Police Lieutenant Colonel Thawatchai Thipwong, Chief of Investigation, played a key role in the operation.
Police secure two arrest warrants within three days as investigation moves rapidly after Bangkok fire
The case now contains two connected but distinct strands. One concerns the deliberate burning of the Bang Khae company premises. The other concerns suspected financial losses exceeding ฿10 million across approximately a decade.
For the arson inquiry, police have cited a detailed trail of physical and documentary evidence. CCTV captured a disguised foreign man and a distinctive motorcycle. Investigators then traced that motorcycle to the Thong Lor rental business.
From there, rental records led police to Mr Badas. His arrest subsequently led investigators to his former girlfriend. At the same time, forensic officers identified petrol and two separate fire origins inside the targeted cabinets.
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Police also traced the alleged reconnaissance journey, spare key and bolt cutters. Investigators identified two bottles allegedly used to carry petrol. They also cited financial transfers made before the attack.
The reported payment for the arson was ฿10,000. The target, police say, was documentary evidence connected with suspected losses exceeding ฿10 million. The resulting blaze damaged approximately 90% of the company premises.
Yet nobody was killed or injured. Within four days of the fire, police had arrested both suspects. The arson proceedings and underlying financial investigation are continuing separately.
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