Pattaya, Thailand
Three armed men, possibly Chinese, broke into a luxury home near Pattaya early on October 6th, 2026, threatened a foreign expat resident at gunpoint, and made off with cash, Rolex watches, and a forced cryptocurrency transfer that police put at about $820,000. Combined losses were initially estimated at nearly 37 million baht. A manhunt is now under way for the suspects.
The raid happened at about 3:30 a.m. in a gated estate in Nongprue. Three men used a ladder to enter the house, went to a bedroom, kicked the door open, and forced the male foreign occupant to hand over valuables and open a safe, investigators said. The victim’s identity has been withheld at his time by police pending further investigation.
Police said the group took about 150,000 baht in cash and three Rolex watches, then ordered the victim to move digital assets from a crypto wallet to an address controlled by the robbers. That transfer was valued at roughly $820,000, or about 27 million baht, and was later sold on. The victim escaped and reported the crime to Nongprue Police Station.
The attackers covered their faces, used handcuffs and rope to restrain the victim and a domestic employee, and also took three mobile phones, with total damage put nearer 37 million baht once the watches were included.
At 3:30 p.m. the same day, Provincial Police Region 2 Commander Pol. Lt. Gen. Wasan Techa-akkarakasem visited Nong Prue station with Chonburi Provincial Police Commander Pol. Maj. Gen. Chatree Suksiri and Region 2 Investigation Division Commander Pol. Maj. Gen. Kiattisak Srathong-oi. Pol. Lt. Gen. Wasan said the inquiry had moved quickly. Immigration was already supplying travel data, and forensic officers had collected evidence inside the house. Early leads pointed to three suspects who may be of Chinese nationals, but police said nationality and identities still had to be confirmed with the victim.
Investigators are reviewing CCTV, escape routes, and entry-exit records, and are trying to trace the digital-asset transfers. Region 2 police said the priority is to arrest the three men and recover what can still be recovered.
Nongprue and the wider Banglamung area have seen a run of high-value home invasions and crypto robberies targeted at foreign residents. In February 2026, three hooded men armed with knives entered a townhouse in a Nongprue gated community, restrained a British resident and his Thai girlfriend, and left with a safe holding more than 2 million baht. Police later arrested the suspects in that case. In March, two Thai men were arrested after a wall-climb burglary at a villa on Phratamnak Hill in which a Patek Philippe and a Rolex worth more than 6.4 million baht were taken; the watches had already been sold on cheaply.
Crypto has featured in several Pattaya cases. In January 2025 a Turkish tourist was found bound in a condo after three men allegedly forced a transfer he put at more than 10 million baht. In June 2025 a Russian journalist told police he was handcuffed in Jomtien, assaulted, and forced to transfer Bitcoin, with a Rolex also stolen, in a case valued at more than 2 million baht.