Golden gesture: Laotian thief returns bling, claims ‘gift’ mix-up

A Laotian man, accused of stealing a gold necklace, returned the stolen item to its rightful owner in Chon Buri, claiming that he took it home because he believed it was a gift from the gold shop.

The 27 year old victim, Butsarin Sirimongkhonsub, filed a complaint with officers at Nong Prue Police Station on November 7 and also contacted the owner of the gold shop after realising that she forgot her brand-new gold necklace at the store in Soi Siam Country Club, Bang Lamung district, Chon Buri province.

Butsarin explained to the police and DailyNews that she purchased the gold necklace at the shop but forgot to take it with her. She realised the mistake 10 minutes later and returned to the shop, only to find that the necklace was missing.

The shop owner reviewed the security footage and saw a man, later identified as a 24 year old Laotian national named Tone Kolaka, taking the package containing the gold necklace, putting it into his pocket, and leaving the shop.

Butsarin decided to share the CCTV footage and the suspect’s identity on social media to pressure the thief into returning the necklace.

Unexpectedly, Tone saw his image on social media and contacted the gold shop at around 8pm on the same day to return Butsarin’s necklace.

Tone told the gold shop and the media that he came to buy an 11,000-baht gold necklace and a Buddhist amulet on the day of the incident. He claimed that he thought the shop gave him the package containing Butsarin’s gold necklace as a gift, so he took it.

Tone insisted that he did not intend to steal and was shocked to see his face on social media. He said that his friend even called him to condemn him for the theft but he denied having stolen anything.

Butsarin was not convinced by Tone’s explanation and was in tears when she retrieved her necklace. She pointed out that it was strange that Tone did not check the contents of the package when he arrived home and did not return the gold sooner.

Police escorted both parties to the police station for questioning but it remained unclear whether Butsarin would take legal action against the Laotian man.