Tee Yai: Born to Be Bad - Is Netflix's Thai action movie based on a true story? Details explored

Tee Yai: Born to Be Bad is a film in the action thriller genre. The Thai film is written by Chanchana Homsap, while Nonzee Nimibutr has helmed it. The film started streaming on Netflix on November 13, 2025.

Here's the official synopsis as per Letterboxd:

"In 1980s Bangkok, two criminals face rough times when a determined detective strains their bond and hunts down an infamous crew of robbers."

Ever since it came out, viewers have been reportedly wondering if the film is based on any real-life incident or a real-life criminal. Let's decode that and find out the answers.

Is Tee Yai: Born to Be Bad based on a true story?

Tee Yai: Born to Be Bad is based on a real-life criminal named Tee Yai. He was active in Thailand in the 1970s and performed several big heists in different parts. Despite these feats, Tee Yai remained low profile throughout his life, and not much documentation is available on him. According to some sources (Thai PBS), the criminal had long hair and wore aviator sunglasses. This is how he has been shown in popular culture, including Tee Yai: Born to Be Bad.

Born in 1952 in the Ratchaburi region, Tee Yai had six younger siblings. At a very young age, he got involved in the world of crime and was reportedly involved in stabbing a person. After that, he was forced to leave his house and move to Bangkok to work. There, he worked as a thief and got involved in robberies.

His first large-scale robbery was in 1973 when he was merely 21 years old. Yai and his team looted a millionaire living near the Damnoen Saduak Canal. Prior to that, meticulous planning went into the robbery. In the year 1977, he also robbed the passengers on a bus. It was full of gamblers heading towards a match, and Yai knew that they would be loaded with cash. This incident is also part of the plot in Tee Yai: Born to Be Bad.

Later, Yai and his men also robbed a gold shop near Chiang Mai. After reaching the location, they realized that it was used as a store for several other gold shops. His team got lucky, and they ended up looting everything. Yai wasn't always lucky, as he was once arrested while trying to loot a hardware store in Bangkok. But when the cops were taking him for questioning, he jumped out of the vehicle and escaped.

He also escaped getting caught after the cops surrounded a school campus that he frequently visited. Yai was made aware of this, and he decided to leave earlier.

Thaweep Suea Kham, one of Yai's close aids, was in touch with the cops. The latter promised a large sum of money to Kham and a fixed police job for his son. He then decided to rat out on Yai.

On 26 February 1981, Tee Yai, Kham, and another person were driving in a truck. This is when Kham reportedly shot Yai dead. However, Kham was also reportedly killed by Phon's gang as revenge.