Ringing in trouble: Bangkok thief swaps gold for cold hard cash

Police arrested a man for stealing a gold ring by posing as a customer. He swapped the real ring with a fake one while the staff were distracted and later confessed to selling the ring for money.

Police yesterday, August 12, arrested 33 year old Sakda following a warrant issued by the Criminal Court on August 1. He was apprehended along Rangsit-Nakhon Nayok Road in Pathum Thani’s Thanyaburi district.

On July 13 around 11am, the suspect entered a gold shop at The Old Siam Plaza, Bangkok. Pretending to be a customer, he asked to try on a gold ring weighing 1 salung and priced at approximately 10,800 baht. The staff handed him the ring, which he tried on before returning it and leaving the shop.

Later, the staff noticed something odd about the ring’s colour and, upon inspection, discovered it was a fake. CCTV footage confirmed that the man had swapped the real ring with a fake one while trying it on. The staff reported the incident to the police.

Investigations and CCTV reviews led the police to identify the suspect as Sakda. They gathered evidence and issued an arrest warrant, eventually capturing him while he was walking along the roadside in Thanyaburi.

During interrogation, Sakda admitted to the crime. He confessed to preparing fake gold rings purchased online for 250 baht each, choosing popular designs to avoid suspicion.

On the day of the theft, he entered the gold shop with a fake ring concealed in his hand. While trying on the real ring, he distracted the staff by asking to see other rings and swapped the real ring for the fake one. He learned the trick from friends at a local bar.

“I swapped the real ring with the fake one by slipping the real ring into my hand and putting the fake one on my finger. Then, I pretended not to like it, returned the fake ring to the staff, and quickly left the shop.”

Sakda admitted to selling the genuine ring immediately for personal expenses.

Further background checks revealed that Sakda was also wanted on another warrant issued by the Thanyaburi Provincial Court on August 8 for fraud. Police are now holding him for further legal proceedings at Phra Ratchawang Police Station.