Police raided an illegal e-cigarette manufacturing facility in Khu Khot district early Saturday morning.
The police seized more than 21,000 e-cigarette devices and arresting 29 suspects, including foreign nationals.
Officers armed with a court warrant stormed a three-storey commercial building on Phahon Yothin Soi 80 in Lam Luk Ka district, which had been converted into a large-scale e-cigarette production site.
Behind the office and workers’ accommodation buildings, police discovered a sprawling factory covering 3–4 rai. The raid resulted in the arrest of 29 individuals: one Chinese national, seven Thais, two Vietnamese and 19 Cambodians. The Chinese suspect, identified as Lu Jinke, was allegedly the production supervisor and trainer for assembling the devices.
Authorities confiscated 21,200 e-cigarettes of various brands, valued at 6.1 million baht. They also seized equipment including plastic sealing machines, smoke testers, e-liquid filling machines and other assembly tools.
The raid stemmed from an arrest two weeks ago, when police apprehended three suspects — one of them a foreigner — at a retail outlet selling disposable e-cigarettes. The suspects admitted sourcing their products from the raided factory, prompting a further investigation.
Investigations revealed that the site was formerly a marble polishing factory. In early 2025, a Thai-registered company leased the site for 150,000 baht per month and began covertly producing disposable e-cigarettes. The factory had recently started transitioning to refillable models and had already received orders.
Police said the facility was in the process of installing a conveyor-belt production line to increase output. Until now, assembly had been done manually under the guidance of the Chinese technician. The factory price for each disposable e-cigarette was around 130 baht, with distribution focused on Bangkok and surrounding provinces.
All of the suspects and seized items were handed over to the Khu Khot police station in Lam Luk Ka for legal proceedings.
Source: Bangkok Post
