Russian tourist injured in Bangkok snatching incident

A Russian woman sustained minor injuries on Wednesday when a thief on a motorbike snatched her bag and knocked her down in Bangkok, Thailand.

Yesterday, Natasia Kotawa of Russian nationality travelled to Thong Lor Police Station in Bangkok to report being a victim of a robbery on Wednesday night.

At 11pm, Natasia walked to a convenience store on Sukhumvit Soi 39 and was walking back to her condo when an assailant riding a yellow motorbike suddenly snatched her shoulder bag, knocking her to the ground, along Soi Promsri 2, Sukhumvit 49/13, reports KhaoSod.

The victim sustained injuries to both knees as well as bruises and scrapes on her hands, arms, torso, and face and was left wrapped up in gauze.

The thief escaped with several of Natasia’s valuable belongings including an iPhone 14, a lilac MacBook Pro laptop, AirPods, a blue purse, and around 1,000 baht in cash.

Officers at Thong Lor Police Station examined CCTV footage and found clear images of the culprit committing the crime and fleeing toward the entrance of Sukhumvit Soi 49/13.

Police tracked the GPS signal of the victim’s AirPods to Soi Yu Suk 30 in the Mueang district of Samut Prakan province, just south of Bangkok, and followed the signal.

As soon as police arrived at the Soi Yu Suk 30 they met a man riding a yellow Honda Scoopy motorbike with a Samut Prakan registration. Both the man and bike matched the CCTV images.

Police questioned the man, 41 year old Thanakrit, who confessed to snatching and fleeing with the tourists’ bag at around 11pm on Wednesday.

Thanakrit was arrested under suspicion of, “robbery by sudden snatching using a vehicle for convenience or to escape from arrest and causing bodily harm to the victim.”

Thanks to Thong Lor Police officers, the tourist – although bruised and shaken up – was reunited with all of her valuable stolen belongings.