2 foreign men caught stealing 1,500 baht cannabis in Pattaya

The owner of a cannabis shop in Pattaya yesterday filed a complaint against two foreign men who stole 1,500 baht worth of ganja from her shop.

The Thai shop owner, 48 year old Sakun, told Mueang Pattaya Police Station officers yesterday, February 13, that her cannabis outlet is located in Soi Pattaya Klang 12, and she was in the shop with her son when the theft took place. Sakun said the thieves were foreigners but she could not identify their nationalities.

Sakun explained that two foreign men entered the shop together. One of them stood at the front of the counter and pretended to select each type of cannabis. Another foreign man approached Sakun and asked her about the details of each product.

One of the foreign thieves told Sakun that he had a US$100 banknote and would return to the shop after exchanging the money. Then, the man walked out of the cannabis shop. Another foreign man browsed the products for a while before leaving without buying anything.

Sakun said she found the foreigners’ behaviour suspicious and decided to check the CCTV camera. She found that the foreigners grabbed two cannabis packages before walking out. The products weighed about 2 grammes and were worth 1,500 baht.

A similar cannabis theft happened in Phuket in May last year when two foreigners stole cannabis products from a pharmacy shop in the Patong neighbourhood of the province. These two foreign thieves used the same tactics as the men in Pattaya. One of them was talking to the shop owner to distract her so that the other man could steal.

Fortunately, the pharmacy owner detected the theft when the foreign man inadvertently dropped the stolen cannabis on the floor. Catching them red-handed, the owner promptly retrieved the stolen products. Subsequently, the owner shared CCTV footage with the public as a cautionary measure to other shops.

Thai netizens urged the owner to report the incident to the police to deter other foreign thieves. However, there is no update on whether the owner has taken legal action.