Gold shop in Tha Sala district falls victim to armed robbery

An armed robbery occurred at a gold shop in the Tha Sala district of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, where necklaces worth 500,000 baht were stolen. A 54 year old man, Chaiwut Wethayawong, has been identified as the prime suspect in the case, and the police have applied for a court arrest warrant.

The robbery took place yesterday and the investigation is currently ongoing today, January 10, with Nakhon Si Thammarat Police Chief Somchai Suetortrakun conducting an inspection of the crime scene. The motorcycle believed to have been used in the robbery has been discovered at a house in Tambon Talingchan in Tha Sala district, along with clothes that matched those worn by the robber. However, the suspect, Chaiwut, is yet to be located.

The target of the robbery was the Siriporn gold shop, situated in downtown Tha Sala district. Security camera footage revealed that a lone robber, wearing a crash helmet, entered the shop around 2pm yesterday. He threatened the staff with a firearm and escaped with three gold necklaces, amounting to a total weight of 15 baht.

The robber made his escape on the motorcycle, heading towards Sichon district. This is the second such incident in the district this month.

In the previous robbery, a solitary man targeted a gold shop located within a Tesco Lotus superstore, stealing two necklaces weighing 6 baht in total. The police managed to apprehend the suspect, 24 year old Supanat Phathong, within an hour of the heist.

The motorcycle was believed used in the holdup, at a house in Tambon Talingchan in Tha Sala district. Clothes matching those worn by the robber were also found there, a police source reported.

The police are continuing their search for Chaiwut and are urging anyone with information to come forward, reported Bangkok Post.

In related news, police arrested an unemployed Thai man for stealing a gold necklace from a shop in Bangkok after paying off debts and throwing himself a belated birthday party at a resort in the central province of Kanchanaburi. To read more about the unemployed Thai man arrested for gold theft after his birthday party click the link.