Seventy-six people tested positive for drugs during a raid on a large entertainment venue in Nakhon Pathom in the early hours of Saturday.
Officials from the Department of Provincial Administration led the raid at The Airport nightclub in tambon Wang Taku in Muang district at half past midnight.
The raid followed complaints from residents in the area that the venue had been operating without a licence, allowing drug use and people under the legal drinking age of 20 in the premises.
The nightspot had changed names several times, with Hangar Pub and Wang Taku among its previous incarnations, authorities said.
Undercover agents from the department’s special task force were sent to investigate, and confirmed the illegal activities, leading to the raid.
Numerous customers were found dancing to music and drinking when officials entered the pub and turned on the lights. They tried to flee via the fire exit, with some tossing drugs to the floor.
Officials subsequently rounded up 377 people, who were taken to undergo urine tests. Seventy-six people — 51 men and 25 women — tested positive for drug use.
Of the tested individuals, 37 were aged under 20, with three testing positive for drug use.
The pub manager has been detained and was being questioned by investigators.
The owners and operators of the building face numerous charges including operating an entertainment venue without authorisation, selling alcoholic beverages beyond legally permitted hours, selling alcoholic beverages to persons under 20, encouraging children to behave inappropriately, organising promotions and advertising alcoholic beverages, operating a food establishment without authorisation, and modifying a building without authorisation.
The provincial governor has also been directed to close the venue for a period of five years, authorities said.
