Cambodian thieves snatch Japanese man’s bag on flight to Thailand

Two Cambodian thieves snatched a Japanese man’s bag on a flight to Thailand from Cambodia yesterday. His belongings included a luxury bag, Sennheiser, Sony wireless headphones, an Apple iPad, 11,240 baht, and 186,000 yen (about 47,000 baht).

The unnamed victim said the thieves were seated in the same row as him on the flight to Suvarnabhumi Airport from Phenom Penh. He said that he and the thieves had put their bags in the overhead compartment.

When the plane touched down, the thieves left with the victim’s bag, leaving their bags behind.

The victim reported the incident to the airport’s Tourist Police, who then ordered a check of video surveillance. The police found that the two Cambodian nationals, 38 year old Kroch Sophoeun and 38 year old Pren Sokleeng, were about to catch a connecting flight to the northeastern Ubon Ratchathani province.

The police caught the crooks less than an hour later, and charged them with theft, TV Channel 7 reported. The victim got all of his items back and continued to make his way to Thailand’s nightlife hotspot of Pattaya.

Thefts against tourists are an insidious plague in Thailand.

Last week, two Russian men filed complaints with the police after nearly 140,000 baht disappeared from safety boxes in a hotel in Pattaya.

Earlier this month, a burglar snatched almost 100,000 baht from a Hong Kong tourist’s rented Pattaya villa, according to the victim. The victim’s villa is located in Jomtien Beach.

Last year, Police arrested a man who allegedly stole 4,900 euros from a Greek family travelling in Phuket. The family had left nearly their cash in their car, thinking it would be more secure than their hotel room where there was no safe to lock anything away while the maid cleaned. The suspect allegedly told police he spent most of the money and only 500 euros was left.

Luckily, after the recent theft at Suvarnabhumi Airport, cops caught the thieves in time to stop them from running off with the victim’s belongings.