BANGKOK — The thief who had been stealing from a Japanese tourist since the beginning of April was arrested on Friday, in accordance with the policy of Pol. Gen. Kittirat Phanphet, Acting Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, to urge officers to suppress crimes that damage Thailand’s tourism industry.
On June 1, officers from the IMBD (Investigation and Monitoring of Bangkok Crime Division) arrested Mr. Thada, aged 29, on charges of theft in a dwelling, at a residential area in Moo 7, Wat Chalo Subdistrict, Bang Kruai District, Nonthaburi Province on May 31.
The stolen property belonged to Mr. Aoki, a 39-year-old Japanese tourist who had traveled to Thailand and stayed at a hotel in the Sukhumvit area of Khlong Toei Nuea Subdistrict, Watthana District, Bangkok, on April 2.
On April 6, after the Japanese man had breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant and returned to his room, he found that his shoulder bag containing 160,000 yen in cash, equivalent to 38,000 baht, was missing. He then filed a complaint with the investigating officer to track down and retrieve his property.
Mr. Thada, who worked as a daily wage cleaner and mostly accepted jobs at luxury hotels in the Sukhumvit area, stole the Japanese tourist’s shoulder bag while cleaning with his co-workers. He believed that the bag must contain valuables.
When he and his colleagues moved on to clean another room, he made an excuse that he had forgotten his shoes and went back to the Japanese man’s room to open the shoulder bag. Upon finding Japanese currency, he put it in his trouser pocket. After work, he even rode his motorcycle to change his shirt at a gas station to avoid the authorities.
He then drove straight to a currency exchange shop in the Sukhumvit area to convert the yen into baht, but the shop was closed. So, he returned home in the Nonthaburi area and exchanged the money at a currency exchange counter inside a department store near Tha Phra. The suspect also admitted that he used the money to pay for the installments of the motorcycle he was riding, fearing that the finance company would come and seize the vehicle.
“Once, a finance company came to repossess my motorcycle at home. I didn’t want that image to happen to me again,” the suspect claimed before being taken for legal proceedings.
