Damrong Damthong, the 45-year-old owner of the shop, called Yu Huat, located on Phuket Rd, reported the theft to Phuket City Police at 2:47pm
Mr Damrong presented CCTV footage showing the man pulling up on his motorbike about 10 metres from the shop, in order not to be seen, at around 12:15pm.
At the time the one staffer in the shop was arranging products at the back of the store, Mr Damrong explained.
The CCTV footage showed the man first walking past the shop to check whether any staff were present. He then turned around and removed a box of Chang beer from a stack in front of the shop.
The man placed the box on the ground and carefully placed the price notice back on top of the stack before carrying the box of beer back to his motorbike and speeding off towards the Bang Neaw Intersection.
The shop staffer realised what had happened and ran out of the shop after the man, shouting for him to stop, to no avail.
The box contained 12 bottles of beer, for sale at B638, Mr Damrong said.
The value of the beer stolen was not the issue, Mr Damrong said. It was the theft in principle, and the nature of how the man had conducted the theft.
Police are now trying to track down the grey Honda Click motorbike the man sped off on. Police were able to identify only the number 3554 on the licence plate from the CCTV footage.