Commander of the Fourth Army Area Norathip Poinok said three of the 10 suspects have already been arrested.

He said the other seven, who crossed to Malaysia with help from several people, are also believed to have been involved in several car thefts.

“The authorities have launched an operation following the robbery at the Big C shopping complex in Sungai Golok,” Berita Harian reported him as saying today.

Norathip called on Malaysian authorities, including the army and police, to help track down the suspects.

The robbery on Oct 5 saw a group of men armed with guns escape with over 9kg of gold using two four-wheel-drive vehicles, which were also reportedly stolen.

Thai police said they believed the robbery was part of a larger operation involving about 20 men believed to be involved in organised criminal activities, including robberies, vehicle thefts and coordinated bomb attacks.

They said preliminary investigations found that the group planned the crime meticulously, including planting shrapnel bombs filled with nails near the supermarket to disrupt law enforcement.