Koh Samui hotel thieves may have been led by the ex-lessee

In the curious case of a hotel owner claiming her hotel was dismantled by thieves who took literally everything, three more suspects were arrested in Koh Samui. Police executed a search warrant on Thursday for a warehouse on Samui that they say contained items they believe to be stolen from the remains of the Chaweng Blue Lagoon Teak Wing.

Though the hotel looks like an unfinished construction site and has been observed in that condition since at least late April before the thieves started to dismantle the property.

Online reviews going back to 2017 did mention that most rooms were closed or unfinished and the hotel was still under construction, but a block of rooms far from the lobby had been opened for guests. A quote from an eerily prescient TripAdvisor review in 2019:

“Something just doesn’t add up with this hotel very strange that it hasn’t been completed from the build. It would not surprise me at all if one day it just closed down and was left to become a ruin…”

The confusing story seems to be unfolding that the 31 year old registered owner of the warehouse and her 50 year old accomplice are the masterminds behind the theft. Natcha, the 31 year old Thai woman accused of leading the thieves, is married to a Swiss expat who leased the property in 1990 to build a hotel, with a 30-year lease that would have expired then in 2020.

The Teak was closed during Covid, and the landowner did not extend the lease, instructing the couple that they had 30 days to remove all the furnishings and items from the property before the landlord took control of the property. The landlord hired guards temporarily but left the contract to expire for the hotel which is tucked away, invisible from the street.

Then on August 22, the landowner checked in on the property and found it gutted. She complained to local police and an investigation was opened. The Koh Samui Tourism Association hailed the police but said they believe there are more thieves involved in the hotel burglary and further investigation was needed before the incident scares away investors and hoteliers.

The three people arrested for storing what appears to be stolen furnishings from the hotel bring the total to nine people arrested in the burglary so far, three of whom are Burmese. Eight of the people arrested are thought to be active participants, while the ninth is suspected of being the purchaser of the stolen goods, which Natcha was spotted selling on social media posts. All nine face up to seven years in jail and a maximum fine of 140,000 baht.

Thieves stripped 348 hotel rooms of you name it: electrical wires, light bulbs, plug sockets, tables, chairs, beds, flush toilets, water heaters, showers, curtains, bedding, glass windows, wooden doors, air conditioners, water pumps, elevators, stair handrails, and even roof structures.

The damages were estimated at 70 million baht, but that has been reduced to 14 million baht after careful examination found about 1,000 items thought to be lost were still on site.

SOURCE: The Phuket News