Belgian thief’s key to crime: Unlocking 200,000 baht (video)

Songkhla Provincial Immigration Police yesterday arrested a Belgian man after he stole hotel key cards from Thai and Malaysian victims and robbed them of 200,000 baht.

Police arrested the 26 year old Belgian thief, Abdelali, at a hotel in the Hat Yai district of Songkhla province yesterday, August 1, after the Thai and Malaysian victims filed a theft complaint with Khor Hong Police Station officers and Songkhla Provincial Immigration Police.

Officers questioned hotel workers who suspected Abdelali was the thief. According to the hotel workers, Abdelali checked into the hotel with a picture of his passport on his phone, claiming he had lost his physical passport book.

Abdelali seized a chance to grab spare key cards to the victims’ rooms and steal their valuables when the workers were busy with his booking documents.

During the arrest, Abdelali denied the allegation. However, police searched his room and found concrete evidence: including 52,000 baht in cash, five mobile phones, credit cards, two Malaysian bank debit cards, two luxury watches, and other valuables worth a total of 200,000 baht.

Police told Channel 7 that Abdelali left the hotel immediately after the theft. He moved to hide in another hotel in the same area but officers managed to track him down using CCTV cameras. Abdelali was also found to have overstayed his visa by over three months.

According to police, Abdelali had previously committed thefts in several tourist destinations in Thailand. In another recent case, Abdelali rented a motorcycle from Koh Lanta, an island in the southern province of Krabi and later sold the rented motorcycle in Hat Yai.

Police initially charged Abdelali with overstaying his visa and had not yet issued a theft charge against him because police still had to question him in detail about other thefts he had committed.

In a similar story reported in June, a foreign man stole a key to a hotel room in Chon Buri and stayed there overnight. The owner caught him red-handed and tried to chase him away but the foreigner refused to leave, prompting the owner to call the police.

Unfortunately, no police officers came to the scene, so the owner had to enter a room next to his to approach the foreigner and order him to leave.