Bangkok police officer grabs knife from father holding son hostage

BANGKOK — A senior Bangkok police officer disarmed a knife-wielding man who held his 5-year-old son at knifepoint and restrained his wife beneath the Yommarat intersection on Saturday, allowing officers to rescue both family members.

The incident occurred at about 10.20 on 24 October beneath the flyover on Phetchaburi Road in Ratchathewi district. Police from Phaya Thai station and rescue volunteers were dispatched after receiving reports of a man threatening a child with a knife.

At about 10.50, Pol. Maj. Gen. Worasak Phisitbanakorn, commander of Metropolitan Police Division 1 and the incident commander, seized an opportunity to grab the knife while the suspect was sitting in the back of a police pickup truck.

The man was holding a knife to his son’s neck with his right hand while restraining his wife with his left, according to the account of the operation. Worasak said he prioritised negotiation to calm the man before intervening when an opportunity arose. He had trained with the Arintharat special operations unit.

Other officers moved in to detain the suspect and separate him from his wife and son. Both were taken for first aid.

The boy sustained a cut measuring 1-5 centimetres on his neck, while his mother suffered a bleeding wound near her left ear.

The suspect’s wife, identified as Fai, 35, told police that the family had discussed returning to Laos that morning but argued over insufficient travel expenses. Her husband, identified as Noi, 35, became angry and agitated. She alleged that he had taken drugs before the incident and stolen a knife from a shop to threaten her and their son.

Police initially tried to negotiate with the man, who remained agitated before eventually calming down and being taken to Phaya Thai station.

Pol. Col. Thanaphon Klinkasorn, chief of Phaya Thai police station, said the couple were Lao nationals. He also said Fai had previously been assaulted by her husband and had received first aid from rescue workers.

Police will conduct a urine test to check for drugs and question the suspect further to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.