13 year old Thai boy nabbed for stealing phone of Turkish tourist in Pattaya

An overwhelmed Turkish tourist thanked Mueang Pattaya Police Station officers for the swift arrest of a 13 year old Thai boy who stole his mobile phone.

The theft took place at 4.30am yesterday, January 15, while Police Sergeant Major Thatsanai Termphon from the Mueang Pattaya Police Station was on duty at a police booth on Jomtien Beach Road. Thatsanai heard the foreign tourist, a 58 year old Turkish man named Akis Kul, scream for help and run out of the booth.

According to Thatsanai, he saw a teenage boy running past the booth at a high speed with a mobile phone in his hand. Thatsanai ran after him and managed to stop the boy around 50 metres from the crime scene. The officer retrieved the phone and returned it to the Turkish man.

The teenage thief and the victim, Kul, were accompanied to the police station for further questioning. Kul explained that he was talking to the boy when he immediately snatched the phone, worth around 4,500 baht, from his hand. He then shouted to locals in the area for help. It was lucky that the officer was nearby.

Channel 7 reported that Kul hugged Thatsanai after he apprehended the teenage thief.

“I want to thank Pattaya police for taking care of foreign tourists and making us feel safe. This makes me love Pattaya and the Thai police.”

The young thief admitted his crime and claimed it was his first time stealing because he wanted a phone. The charge issued against the boy was not made public by the Mueang Pattaya Police officer.

In a related case involving young criminals, police arrested five teenagers aged between 13 and 16 years old yesterday, January 15, for the murder of a 47 year old Thai woman with a mental illness in the Isaan province of Sa Kaeo. They admitted to physically assaulting the victim until she died and dumped her body in a pond near an abandoned petrol station.

Their abusive behaviour raised concerns about light sentences for juvenile offenders and sparked an online debate about whether Thailand should punish child offenders the same as adults.