2 Pakistani men arrested in Phuket after scamming Thai vendors

Police have arrested two Pakistani men at a residence in Phuket after they repeatedly defrauded several Thai vendors. The men claimed that their criminal actions were unintentional and resulted from being under the influence of alcohol.

The owner of a drugstore in the Kamala sub-district of Phuket filed a scam complaint with Kamala Police Station after a foreign customer, later identified as a Pakistani national, scammed her and stole products from her shop at approximately 9pm on Wednesday, July 24.

The victim explained that the Pakistani man, wearing a blue polo shirt and jeans, came to the store and selected drugs from the shelves. He then came to the counter and paid for the products with a 1,000-baht banknote. As the cashier was about to give the foreigner his change, the man changed his mind and asked for his money back.

According to the owner, the Pakistani scammer changed his mind multiple times until the cashier was confused. The worker eventually gave him both his 1,000-baht banknote and the change in confusion. The Pakistani man also took the products without paying.

The foreign man walked out of the store calmly, and the worker later realised the scam when closing the store and counting the money in the till.

Police investigated the case and found another similar case had occurred at a convenience store in the area. The scammer managed to get money from the shop using the same trick.

Drunk motive

Kamala Police Station officers later coordinated with Patong and other police stations and found similar cases in those areas. Police also discovered that another Pakistani man was involved in the crime. He waited outside on a motorcycle while his friend scammed the victims.

Further investigation into the case revealed that the same Pakistani man had committed the same crime at a grocery store in Pattaya on June 11. His trick focused on making the workers confused and luring them into giving him change even if he hadn’t paid anything.

Aside from the scam in Pattaya, this same foreigner also committed crimes in the central provinces of Ang Thong, Ayutthaya, and Singburi.

Police managed to identify the Pakistani suspects and arrested them yesterday, July 25. Their arrest followed several scam reports in the Kamala and Patong sub-districts of Phuket.

During interrogation, the two foreigners claimed that they did not mean to steal from anyone but committed the crimes out of drunkenness. Police did not disclose the legal charges and punishments issued against the two scammers to the public.