Pattaya Police find 5 motorbikes stashed in forest
We’ve all had trouble finding motorbikes in a big, crowded parking lot. But in Pattaya, five stolen Honda Wave 110 motorcycles were found deep in the forest where no one might ever look. According to the vice village headman, the motorbikes were found with broken handlebars and stripped seats and were discovered hidden in the forest.
The motorbikes were recovered in the forests of the Takhian Tia sub-district in the Bang Lamung District of Chon Buri. Residents believe that the stolen vehicles were clearly hidden to be smuggled across borders.
Officials suspect that the motorbikes were being stashed in the jungle temporarily by a major motorbike thief gang who intended to smuggle them to the countries surrounding Thailand.
A witness claimed that he had seen a pickup truck carrying two or three motorbikes pass by the forest around 10pm a few days before the discovery was made. The driver was apparently spooked when he spotted people in the area and the truck sped off. No one caught the license place number though.
The superintendent of the Banglamung police station says that the motorbikes were mainly stolen from about 20 kilometres away from the forest, in the Laem Chabang industrial estate.
Now, the police are checking the scene, gathering evidence for their investigation. They are also going over some surveillance footage from security cameras to try and uncover the identities of the motorbike thieves.
Authorities suspect it might be a large gang snatching motorbikes, hiding and stripping them, and then transporting them across borders for resale.
It is not yet clear exactly how long the stolen motorbikes have been in the forest. The vice village headman posted photos and information about the recovered motorbikes on social media. He called for the motorbike owners to come forward and claim their bikes at the Bang Lamung Police Station.
