After the arrest of six individuals, around 2,000 protestors assembled in front of the Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat province to demand their release.

Attempts to negotiate a peaceful solution failed, and Thai police and military then began to violently disperse the protestors from the area.

The Bangkok Post called the incident a "tragedy" and "one of the worst blunders ever committed by the military in the restive deep South".

[4][5] In response to the insurgency, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declared martial law in the three Deep South provinces on 5 January 2004.

As a result, military officials were given the ability to detain anyone suspected of breaking the law and ban public gatherings under Article 11(1).

After a closer examination, an inquiry had found they had allegedly provided their weapons to another group and the six were subsequently detained for embezzlement and a filing a false crime report.

[7][6] By 8 a.m., the protestors had gathered in three main locations: 400 in front of the police station, 300 around Taba market, and 100 at Tak Bai intersection.

Earlier, intelligence from the Southern Border Provinces Peace Building Command (SBPPBC) had warned the authorities that the insurgent group Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) would be mobilising people in Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla and Yala provinces to create unrest by using the arrest of the six village defence volunteers as the trigger.

Around 11 a.m., Siwa Saengmanee, the Deputy Director of the SBPPBC, had arrived at the police station from Sirindhorn Camp in Yala province.

Among the officials present were Wongkot Maneerin; Wichom Thongsong, Governor of Narathiwat province; Chalermchai Wirunpeth, commander of the Fifth Infantry Division; and Siwa.

The main methods used by military and police officers to disperse the protestors were the use of live ammunition, water cannons and tear gas.

[5] Of the 1,370 protestors detained, 1,292 of them were crammed into 26 military trucks in order to transport them to Ingkayut Borihan Army Camp in Pattani province around 150 kilometres (93 mi) away.

On 24 January 2005, 59 detainees were indicted by the Narathiwat Provincial Public Prosecutor for restricting an officer's ability to perform their duty and gathering in an assembly of 10 or more with the intention to cause violence under Sections 139 and 215 of the criminal code of Thailand.

[11] As a result of the incidents at Tak Bai and Krue Se Mosque, Thaksin enacted the Executive Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation, coming into effect in the three Deep South provinces on 19 July 2005.

"[15] Families of victims killed during the incident filed a civil lawsuit against the Ministry for Defence and Royal Thai Army with the goal of compensation.

[5] In 2012, the Yingluck Shinawatra government began compensating families affected by the Tak Bai and other tragedies in the Deep South.

Additionally, it found that commanding officers failed to supervise the transport of detainees by leaving to more inexperienced and low-ranking personnel.

The inquest found they had suffocated in military custody without specifically stating all the circumstances that caused their death, whilst also justifying that the actions were necessary.

[21] On 25 April 2024 - six months before the statute of limitations expired - 48 victims and their families directly filled criminal lawsuits with the Narathiwat provincial court against officials they believe to be responsible for human right violations.

They are listed below with the position they held at the time of the incident:[6] Separately on 18 September, the attorney general of Thailand brought forward another criminal case, where murder charges was filled against Chalermchai and seven people who were responsible for driving and guarding the trucks used to transport the prisoners.

As a consequence, the Narathiwat Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for six of them: Chalermchai, Wongkot, Manot, Saksomchai, Siwa and Wichom.

[30] However, according to Thammasat University law lecturer Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, the government could extend the statue of limitations by issuing an executive decree under Section 29 of the Constitution.