Airport arrest: Singaporean thief caught red-handed, fleecing German tourist in Bangkok

Immigration Bureau officers acted swiftly to arrest a Singaporean man at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok after he stole belongings and 100,000 baht in cash from a German man. It took officers less than an hour to apprehend the thief who tried to flee the country with his stolen haul.

Immigration officers received a complaint about the Singaporean thief, Teo Yu Xuan Kenny, from a hotel in Pattaya yesterday, July 10. According to the hotel, a German guest had entrusted them with his valuables, including 100,000 baht in cash, a laptop, and his passport.

The Singaporean thief approached the hotel staff, deceitfully claiming ownership of the items, and managed to walk away with everything before checking out of the hotel.

Officers discovered that Kenny was travelling to Don Mueang Airport to return to Singapore. At 4.35pm on the same day, officers managed to arrest Kenny. All of the stolen assets were seized and returned to the German victim.

The Superintendent of the Chon Buri Provincial Immigration Office, Parinya Klinkaysorn, commended the effectiveness of the operation, emphasising that it took only 50 minutes from the time the complaint was filed to the arrest of the suspect.

Parinya also took the opportunity to inform foreign tourists in Thailand that they can reach out to immigration officers through the hotline number 1178 if they encounter any difficulties or become victims of crimes.

Similar theft cases committed by foreigners in Thailand were reported a few months ago. In March, another foreign thief stole a coin box containing 700 to 800 baht coins from a money exchange booth in Pattaya. Although the booth staff member promptly reported the incident to the police with evidence, no updates regarding the progress of the case were made public.

In February, a foreigner was caught on a CCTV camera stealing the credit cards of other foreign tourists and using them to purchase expensive products like iPhones and gold necklaces. Unfortunately, the Thai police were unable to apprehend the suspect.