– Officers raided a house on Soi Boonsampan 1 at about noon on October 10th and detained Rungnapha, 27, known as Om, and South Koreans Kwangbeom Yang, 36, and Gwangjo Im, 32.
– They seized 37 pineapple-scented etomidate pods ready for sale, one e-cigarette, about 0.53 grams of crystal meth, a using kit, and 13,000 baht in marked buy money.
– The two Koreans were also charged with overstaying. All three were sent to Nongprue Police Station.
– Etomidate has been a Category 2 psychotropic since July 27th, 2025. Sale for trade carries one to 15 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 to 1.5 million baht.
Pattaya: Pattaya police arrested a Thai woman and two overstaying South Korean men on Friday after a sting in a Boonsampan housing estate turned up 37 etomidate, commonly called zombie vapes, pods, a small amount of crystal meth, and marked buy money.
The raid was at about noon on October 10th, under Chonburi provincial commander Pol. Maj. Gen. Chatree Suksiri and Pattaya City superintendent Pol. Col. Anek Sathongyu. Pol. Sub-Lt. Phubet Ruamsap, a deputy investigation inspector and a narcotics officer, led the suppression and investigation teams into a house on Soi Boonsampan 1 in Nongprue.
They detained Rungnapha, 27, from Chiang Mai, known as Om; Kwangbeom Yang, 36; and Gwangjo Im, 32. The seizure was 37 pineapple-scented etomidate pods, described as packed for sale, one e-cigarette device, about 0.53 grams of methamphetamine in a bag with a using kit, 13,000 baht in 1,000-baht notes that matched the buy-money record, a Redmi phone, and a black iPhone 15.
Police charged all three with jointly possessing Category 2 psychotropic etomidate for sale without permission, in a commercial quantity that could spread it; selling a banned product, the e-cigarette, under consumer-protection law; customs offences tied to concealing and selling that product; and jointly possessing and using Category 1 methamphetamine. The two Koreans were also charged with remaining in Thailand after their permission expired. They were taken to Nongprue Police Station. The release did not say who took the buy money or quote a confession.
Etomidate is a short-acting hospital anaesthetic. The Food and Drug Administration moved it from a specially controlled drug to Category 2 psychotropic on July 27th, 2025, after it began appearing in e-cigarette liquid sold as “pod K” or “zombie pods,” which can knock a user out or stop their breathing. Illegal possession of a Category 2 substance carries up to seven years and a fine of up to 700,000 baht. Doing it for trade raises the range to one to 15 years and 100,000 to 1.5 million baht. E-cigarettes are banned outright. Overstay is a separate immigration offence and can end in a fine, detention, and a re-entry ban.
This was a street-level seizure, not a factory. In May, Central Investigation Bureau officers raided a house in Nongprue and arrested three Chinese nationals over what they said was a pod-K production site, with chemical drums and etomidate precursor on the ground floor. Friday’s case is the retail end of the same product: fruit-scented heads, sold out of a rented house, with two of the three suspects already illegal on their visas.
Photo credit Pattaya Police