Elderly Bangkok vendor robbed at knifepoint for gold and cash

A 72 year old woman was threatened and robbed at knifepoint at her street vendor stall by a male and a female assailant. The incident occurred at approximately 5.31am today in the Bang Khae district of Bangkok, leaving the septuagenarian victim, Srirat (last name withheld), without two gold necklaces weighing a combined five baht and an unspecified amount of cash.

Amidst the early morning calm of a Bangkok soi, a street vendor’s peace was shattered when a man and a woman launched an attack on her makeshift stall. Sri Rat, who had only recently moved her operation to the area five days prior, woke at around 4am to the sound of her personal space being invaded.

The vendors’ plight began when the two individuals, described as a slim man with a buzz cut and a short, overweight woman with a bob haircut, demanded protection money to the tune of 3,800 baht (US$ 100) on her first day at the new location.

The confrontation escalated when the male, wielding a sharp knife, stood menacingly beside the bed where Srirat was sleeping. The female accomplice stood outside the stall, along the roadside, shouting a chilling ultimatum, “Hand over the money from the head of the bed, or else you’ll die.”

Fearing for her life, Sri Rat complied, giving the robbers her white handbag, which contained her earnings and the two gold necklaces valued approximately at 70,000 baht (US$ 2,000) and 105,000 baht (US$ 3,000) respectively, as well as two umbrellas used for her vending activities, reported KhaoSod.

The perpetrators then proceeded to ransack the stall, scattering the vendor’s belongings, before making their escape on a motorcycle, the details of which remain unknown. The police, led by investigation officer Nikom Promkrot from the Lak Song Police Station, along with station chief Traitep Phetrat and patrol officers, arrived at the scene to gather evidence and take statements.