Rathanon Ratcharak, 19, from Songkhla, was arrested at a house in Soi Ruamjai, Koh Kaew, at 4:30pm yesterday (Apr 15), Lt Col Thammasan Boonsong of the Wichit Police noted in his report.
Lt Col Thammasan explained that an American man and a Slovenian woman staying at the Davina Beach Homes resort at Ao Yon called the Wichit Police at 3am last Friday (Apr 10) to report their room had been broken into.
A thief had stolen the woman’s bag, taken the money and dumped the bag in front of their room, he said.
Security CCTV footage at the resort showed a man wearing in black shirt fleeing the scene on a white motorbike, Lt Col Thammasan said in his report.
The report did not mention how the thief had entered the room while the two occupants were still asleep.
Then on Sunday (Apr 12), a Thai woman staying at Waterside Condominium, just over 100 metres down the road from the Davina Beach Homes resort, reported that a thief had been into her room and stolen B16,000 in cash and two passports.
Officers investigating the robbery found damage to a screen door and CCTV footage again showed the thief fleeing the scene by motorbike, Lt Col Thammasan explained.
Officers managed to track down the motorbike and later arrested Rathanon, who matched the description of the thief, at an address in Koh Kaew.
While placing Ratchanon under arrest, police seized as evidence B4,000 in cash from him as well as his white Honda Zoomer-X motorbike, identified as the vehicle used to flee both robberies, and officers seized the clothes he wore while committing the break-ins, Lt Col Thammasan explained.
Rathanon admitted that he committed the two thefts, Lt Col Thammasan noted in his report.
Rathanon said that he had already spent B4,000 paying his rent, transferred B3,000 to his mother, spent B2,000 on online gaming, spent another B3,000 on buying food and other household shopping. The remaining B4,000 police had seized.
The report did not mention any monies stolen – or recovered – from the theft at the Davina Beach Homes break-in, or whether the two passports reported as stolen by the Thai woman at Waterside Condominium had been recovered.
Lt Col Thammasan noted that Rathanon was taken to Wichit Police Station and charged with theft in the nighttime, damaging private property and using a vehicle to flee the scene of a crime.