German tourist snatches Russian woman’s pricey sunglasses at Thai immigration office

A German tourist snatched a Russian woman’s pricey sunglasses at a Thai immigration office, Thai media reported on Saturday. The two holidaymakers were both getting their visas extended at the immigration office South Thailand’s Surat Thani province.

CCTV footage caught the crook, 31 year old Marcel, grabbing the sunglasses that the woman left on a chair at the office while she was getting her visa extended on February 9.

The victim reported the incident to tourist police, saying her sunglasses were worth around US$800, or 27,000 baht. The police then examined the CCTV footage, and arrested Marcel at his resort on the island of Koh Pha Ngan on February 10. The police found the sunglasses in a white bag.

Marcel admitted that he had picked up the sunglasses without knowing who they belonged to. He pleaded guilty to the charge of theft in a government office. Police transferred Marcel to Koh Pha Ngan Police Station for further legal action.

This news comes after another theft against Russians in Thailand last month.

On January 7 and 8, two Russian men filed complaints with the police after nearly 140,000 baht disappeared from safety boxes in a hotel in Pattaya. The two men said they kept their money in the hotel’s safety boxes near Khao Phra Tamnak. The pair went out to enjoy Pattaya’s attractions but returned to discover that some of their money was stolen.

One man, Natalina Chernova reported that he had about US$19,000 (638,000 baht) in cash and kept it in his hotel room safety box but only US$4,000 (134,000 baht) disappeared. The other man, Oleg Gipke said he kept US$5,000 cash (180,000 baht) in the safety box but only US$1,000 (34,000 baht) was gone.

Police checked security cameras nearby the tourists’ rooms, however, the cameras were broken. Hotel staff informed the officers that only a maid could get into guests’ rooms and each maid insisted that they were innocent.