Chinese woman hails Thai police for speedy thief arrest

A Chinese woman hailed the swift action of Thai police officers who successfully arrested a thief just three hours after he stole her bag containing 25,000 baht in cash in Samut Prakarn province near Bangkok.

Bang Phli Police Station officers arrested the thief, a 41 year old Thai man named Nikorn Maiwong, at a resort in the Bang Bor district of Samut Prakarn at 9.30pm on March 5 after he stole a handbag from a Chinese woman near the Chorcher Hotel in the province.

The officers successfully recovered all of the victim’s belongings, including 25,000 baht in cash, passport, ID card, debit cards, etc. Additionally, they found methamphetamine pills, also known as Yaba, in his possession.

Remarkably, the entire operation was completed within three hours after the theft took place. The Chinese victim, 36 year old Ja Yanli, shared her experience with Channel 3 and expressed her gratitude for the swift arrest.

Ja recounted that she travelled to Thailand with 2,000 colleagues from a cosmetic company in China. The theft occurred on the first day of her six-day trip while she was walking on the footpath near her hotel. A Thai man on a motorcycle approached, grabbed her handbag, and quickly fled the scene.

Ja was shocked and felt like her entire trip was ruined. However, the Thai police acted swiftly and managed to apprehend the thief. She felt impressed and wanted to share her positive experience with friends in China and encouraged them to travel to Thailand as well.

Nikorn claimed that he hadn’t premeditated the theft. While riding his motorcycle along the road, he seized an opportunity upon noticing the Chinese woman with her handbag slung over her arm. He intended to use the stolen money to buy Yaba and cover other personal expenses.

According to police reports, Nikorn had been released from jail on February 21 of this year. Immediately upon his release, he stole two motorcycles in the province before targeting the Chinese victim of this theft.

In this instance, Nikorn faces charges of committing theft using a vehicle to aid the crime. The prescribed penalty for this offence is a minimum of five to ten years’ imprisonment, along with a fine ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 baht.