Bangkok taxi driver arrested for stealing million-baht wristwatch

A 44 year old Bangkok taxi driver was apprehended on Monday morning, accused of delaying his journey for several hours in wait for a Japanese passenger, who was inebriated, to fall asleep. The motive behind this delay was allegedly to pilfer a wristwatch worth a million baht.

Pol Col Pansa Amarapitak, the chief at Bangkok’s Thong Lor station, reported the arrest of the driver, known only as Boonlert, on charges of nocturnal theft.

On the evening of December 17, a tipsy Japanese businessman took Boonlert’s taxi for a one-kilometre journey to his accommodation located on Soi Thong Lor 13 Road. Upon waking up at approximately 5am on December 18, the passenger found his watch was missing and informed the police.

CCTV footage revealed that the driver had aimlessly wandered the streets in his taxi for around two and a half hours before finally delivering the passenger to his destination.

Initially, Boonlert denied any involvement in the crime. However, when police disclosed that they were aware he had taken a photo of the alleged stolen watch and sent it to his romantic partner via his mobile phone, and had also conducted an online search for details about the wristwatch’s brand, he confessed.

Moreover, police discovered a money transfer of 330,000 baht (US$9,543) from a buyer of wristwatches to Boonlert, reported Bangkok Post.

He reportedly confessed that he had taken notice of the attractive wristwatch and coveted it. To execute his plan, he kept driving until his passenger fell into a drunken slumber. Upon reaching the destination, he discreetly removed the watch from his passenger’s wrist, woke him up and let him depart the taxi.

Pol Col Pansa confirmed that the police managed to retrieve the wristwatch from the buyer and subsequently returned it to its rightful owner.

In related news, Bangkok taxi driver arrested for stealing over 800,000 baht using a passenger’s mobile phone. Legal consequences follow.