The robber, wearing a motorbike helmet and a surgical mask as disguise, robbed the CP Goldmaster shop at about 7pm last night.
When a customer, Apichet Chuklieng, remonstrated with him, the robber shot him in the chest, then calmly continued stuffing gold into his bag. (For earlier stories, see here and here.)
Announcing the doubling of the reward this evening, Phuket police commander Maj Gen Choti Chavalviwat explained that CP Goldmaster had offered B200,000 for information leading to the capture and another B200,000 for the police who arrest the killer.
“But, we [police] do not want the B200,000. We have added this amount to the reward for information, making it B400,000.
He told members of the media, “Please, announce this to the public.”
He said, too, that police now have a no-name arrest warrant from the court so that there will be no delay in arresting the robber once he has been located.
“We have already received some information and we are working on reviewing CCTV footage from many cameras.”
But, he added, the robber planned his getaway well. “He knows about the way to escape.”
Meanwhile, police at all exits from Phuket are on high alert in case the criminal tries to get off the island. “I can say that Phuket is already a closed island, now.”
In addition, gold shops across the island have been informed about the robbery. “All the pieces of gold have numbers on them,” Gen Choti said, allowing the shops to identify them should the robber try to sell some of his B2 million haul.
Asked whether he was confident of catching the man, Gen Choti said, “We have solved many cases in the past.”