Family feud turns precious: Thai couple nabbed for assault and jewel heist from man’s own mother

Police arrested a Thai man and wife after they allegedly assaulted the man’s mother and stole her cash and gold jewellery. The duo carried out the crime in disguise but the mother was not fooled and managed to identify her son through his voice and the familiar scent of the clothes she cleaned for him.

Baan Pong Police Station officers arrested 28 year old Warayuth Khamsai and his 28 year old wife Laongdao Janyit for the assault and theft.

The couple planned the theft together and struck the head of the victim, 57 year old Maneerat Khamsai, with a wooden pestle (a grinding club used in a bowl in food preparation) at the family home in the central province of Ratchaburi.

According to Maneerat’s oldest son, Thawatchai Khamsai, Warayuth and Laongdao committed the crime on July 13. They tied Maneerat’s arms and legs with an electric wire and covered her eyes with a cloth and then stole 3,000 baht cash, a gold necklace and a ring valued at 21,000 baht.

As they escaped from the house, Warayuth hit his mother on the head with a wooden pestle in an attempt to knock her out but it failed. Laongdao then attempted to stab her mother-in-law but Maneerat begged her to stop.

The unruly couple then fled the premises leaving Maneerat to crawl out of her house to seek assistance from neighbours, who promptly transported her to the hospital.

Warayuth and Laongdao were confident that Maneerat would not recognise them, so they visited her in hospital. Warayuth played innocent and questioned his mother about the violent robbery. Maneerat told her son that she knew the thieves were him and his wife. The two denied the allegation and left the hospital in anger.

The oldest son, Thawatchai, later filed a complaint against his brother at Baan Pong Police Station because his mother was confident about their identities. The mother revealed to her son that she recognised the laundry detergent from her son’s clothes and his voice.

After the family processed the legal action, Warayuth shared a post on his Facebook.

“The point is my mother blamed me as a thief. Should I still call her my mother?”

The victim and family were worried about their safety and asked the police to arrest the violent, thieving thugs as soon as possible. Officers immediately launched an investigation into the case and successfully apprehended the suspects on Sunday, July 16.

Upon meeting the suspects, Thawatchai rushed to punch Warayuth in the face but officers swiftly intervened and separated the suspects from the family. Thawatchai told ThaiRath that…

“Warayuth always came to mother for money. The mother loved him and was always willing to give him what he wanted. He spent money only on drugs and liquor. I filed a complaint against him two months ago because he lost control of himself and destroyed everything in the house but my mother urged me to drop the charge. She almost lost her life to the act of her son and daughter-in-law.

“My mother knew all along that the thief was her son. My mother bought all the clothes he wore and washed them for him. How could she not recognize her son?”

According to the police, Warayuth and Laongdao tested positive for drugs and are now in police custody. Initially, the two were charged with physical assault resulting in bodily harm and theft. The police have not disclosed the specific charges related to their drug use.