He was the official leader of "New York Vietnamese Born to Kill" from 1988 until his arrest in 1991, which was the combination of months of investigation by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in conjunction with the aid of a former gang member who defected from the gang and became an undercover informant, helping secure the convictions of David Thai and several of his high-ranking officers.

Described as a sly, shrewd and lethal gangster,[3] David Thai fashioned himself as a big brother and the protector to the Vietnamese community in Chinatown.

Thai was described by crime writer T. J. English and many others as being well dressed,[4] usually wearing "a tailored sports coat, silk shirt and loft leather loafers" alongside a pair of sunglasses, and was said to have resembled more a businessman than a gangster.

Federal prosecutors claimed that David Thai's life sentence significantly impaired Asian gang activity in New York.

[7] David Thai was born Thái Thọ Hoàng[8] on January 30, 1956, in Saigon, South Vietnam, where his family lived in a home on Tôn Đản street.

Seeing no future or further possibilities of advancing himself within the gang, Thai left the Flying Dragons sometime between 1986 and 1987 and began to solidify his control over the counterfeit watch industry in Chinatown, whereupon his profits quickly grew.

As Thai's successful watch business continued to grow, his name became well known throughout the back alleys, pool halls and skating rinks throughout New York that many Vietnamese commonly visited.

Hearing stories of a wealthy successful businessman who could take care of his own, many Vietnamese youths began approaching Thai and asked for his assistance, which he usually freely obliged to by giving them money, advice, and at times, a place to live.

[14] Thai's most lucrative source of income was the sale of fake Rolex and Cartier watches, an industry that he had spent several years trying to monopolize.

Thai's defense moved to dismiss the charges, contending the mere fact that he was in possession of forgery devices failed to prove that he acted with the intent to defraud.

[19] When Thai was finally arrested on murder charges alongside several other indictments, he boasted on the TV program 48 Hours that he made $13 million from the sale of counterfeit watches in 1988 alone.

The conflict escalated when one of the Flying Dragons members spat on the sidewalk of Canal Street, a signal of disrespect towards Thai and the entire BTK.

Hearing of the instability of the Chinatown criminal infrastructure caused directly as a result of the BTK's recent activities, Benny Ong demanded a kong su, an underworld slang for negotiation with Thai, in order to discuss the matter.

Presumably, had the meeting taken place, Benny Ong would have offered Thai the ability to hold onto his rackets and control of Canal Street in exchange of giving up the reins over his gang brothers.

[24] Vinh Vu's funeral procession took place on July 28, 1990, and lasted over the span of two days in which it was attended by between a hundred-and-twenty-five[25] to nearly two hundred mourners.

[27] The shooting at the cemetery would be widely recorded and subject by the local news media and national press, which mainly focused on the mourners themselves since the identities of the perpetrators were unknown at the time.

In another incident, Ta received an anonymous letter containing broken glass and a newspaper article about the robbery, which was a concealed threat that meant the gang might blow up his store.

[32] During the raid, police discovered that Thai was in possession of several unregistered firearms, multiple explosives, and had a counterfeit watch making factory in his basement.

[37][38] In October of the same year of his arrest, Thai granted a special interview to Peg Tyre, a reporter for Newsday who had also covered the rise of the BTK during his time as a journalist.

During the interview, which Peg Tyre documented under the heading "Suspected Gang Leader Denies Link to BTK," Thai presented himself as a community leader that had been merely trying to provide aid and care for the welfare of his "Vietnamese brothers" because he too had lived the same lives that they had, and he claimed that he had attempted to gain the assistance of the Vietnamese community to help the young refugees that struggled to survive in the city.

[39] Due to his seemingly genuine concern for the welfare of his fellow gang brothers, Thai was often seen as a godfather or father figure whom many of the young Vietnamese could turn to in times of trouble, either for advice or financially.

Even if my body shall be destroyed, my blood scattered to every corner of the world, or jailed in a dark room, my heart shall not fail to remain free….