Argentinian man arrested for robbery claiming to find money for sick wife

A 25 year old Argentinian man, Nahum Pedre, was arrested yesterday (March 11) in Rawai after robbing Chinese tourists twice.

Nahum robbed two Chinese tourists, one that goes by the name of Jin Yang, using a knife nearby the viewpoint on the Saiyuan – Kata route on March 9 at 10.40 am. He got a bag with a wallet, 3 Chinese ATM cards, Thai bank notes valued at 10,000 Baht, 800 USD bank notes and 3,500 Chinese Yuan.

Jin Yang and his friends told the police that the robber rode a motorcycle and threatened him with a short knife before grabbing his bag and fleeing.

On the same day at 1pm, police also received a report about a robbery at Karon circle from another Chinese tourist was robbed the same way.

Gu Tingwen, who was robbed, said the man grabbed her bag and got an iPhone 6S, 3,000 Yuan in cash, 5,000 Baht in cash and other valuables in the bag.

After checking the CCTV camera near Karon circle, police found that the person who fled is the same man who robbed the tourists earlier in the morning and then headed back to Rawai via Chalong Circle turning into Soi Saiyuan. He put a piece of paper over the number plate on the motorbike.

They also found footage from the CCTV camera from the beginning when he left Saiyuan to the viewpoint and robbed the first victim. Before the second robbery, he rode from Soi Samakkee 2 through Kok Tanod Road to go to Karon.

The CCTV camera footage along the way of Rawai, Chalong, Kata and Karon led police to believe that he possibly lives in Soi Samakkee 2.

Police investigated the alley and found the motorcycle that matches the one caught in the CCTV camera with the paper hiding the plate number.

The man was taken to Karon Police Station for questioning. He confessed about the robberies and says that he entered Thailand on February 10 and planned to fly back to his hometown today (March 12) as he had already booked a ticket.

He claims that he committed the robberies because he has to ‘cure his wife who is sick’ back in his hometown in Argentina.

We suspect that he will be missing today’s flight.