Theerawat Titathon, 20, went into Na Na Pharmacy in Rassada and pretended to buy cough medicine, but he quickly threatened the sales person with a knife before stealing several bottles of cough medicine, a mobile phone, a wallet with B3,000 cash, and running out the store.
Police then received a report from the Samkong Pharmacy, in Thalad Yai, who said they too had been robbed by a man of the same description.
Going by the shop owners’ descriptions, police checked their records of past offenders and fairly quickly identified a suspect.
Police locked on to the GPS of the stolen phone and were able to track the robber’s location to Tesco Lotus on Bypass Rd.
After his arrest, Theerawat admitted carrying out both robberies and said he had already used the stolen cough medicine to make 4x100 – a narcotic cocktail of cough mixture, kratom leaves, cola and ice. He said that he had gone to Tesco Lotus to try to sell the stolen phone.
He was charged with robbery and carrying a knife in a public place. Police retrieved all the stolen items and also seized his motorbike.