Sriracha News Centre — The Pattaya Provincial Court has sentenced "Mingcheng Sun," a Chinese national, to a combined 46 years in prison in the shocking case of an arms cache concealed in the heart of Pattaya city, after he pleaded guilty to charges of unlawfully possessing war weapons, ammunition, explosives, military materiel, and a radio communications device without authorisation. The court also ordered the forfeiture of all seized exhibits. The Pattaya Provincial Prosecutor's Office pressed the case so swiftly that the court delivered its verdict in under three months from the date the incident occurred.
The case originated on 8 May 2026, when officers from Pattaya City Police Station arrested Mingcheng Sun, 43, a Chinese national, after he was involved in a traffic accident in Bang Lamung District, Chon Buri Province. A search of his vehicle uncovered war weapons and explosives, which led investigators to search a luxury residence in Pattaya city that had been converted into a large-scale weapons storage facility. Inside, large quantities of war weapons, ammunition, explosives, military materiel, and communications equipment were found, causing alarm among the public.
Most recently, on 3 August, the Pattaya Provincial Court read out its judgment in Black Case No. Tho. 45/2026 and Red Case No. Tho. 25/2026, in which the Pattaya Provincial Public Prosecutor prosecuted Mingcheng Sun and one other person — two defendants in total — on charges under the Firearms Act, the Military Materiel Control Act, and the Radio Communications Act.
During the trial, Mingcheng Sun pleaded guilty to all charges. The second defendant, a Chinese woman, entered a plea of not guilty. The court accordingly ordered the case against the second defendant to be temporarily struck from the docket, directed the prosecutor to re-file charges within 15 days, and issued a detention warrant for her pending further proceedings.
The court found that the first defendant's actions constituted multiple offences. Although his guilty plea was beneficial to the proceedings, the circumstances of the offences were of a serious nature and posed a threat to public safety and national security. The court therefore reduced the sentence by one-third before imposing a combined sentence of 44 years and 24 months, which amounts to 46 years in total.
The court further ordered the forfeiture of all seized exhibits, including a 9 mm Glock pistol, M4 and M16 assault rifles, firearm ammunition, multiple types of anti-personnel grenades, C-4 explosives, bulletproof vests, chemical-protection masks, a radio signal jammer, remote signal transceiver sets, and other military materiel seized during the investigation.
This case is regarded as yet another significant instance in which the Pattaya Provincial Prosecutor's Office drove proceedings so expeditiously that the court rendered its verdict in under three months from the date of the incident, reflecting the integrated cooperation among investigators, prosecutors, and the court in bringing offenders to justice swiftly and within the framework of the law.
