Opportunist thief arrested for stealing Louis Vuitton bag at Bangkok mall

An opportunist, light-fingered thief was arrested yesterday after she stole a Louis Vuitton handbag from a sexy model while she was trying on clothes at the Terminal 21 shopping mall in Bangkok.

The clothes store owner, in Terminal 21 of the Asoke area of Bangkok, filed a complaint at Lumphini Police Station that a customer’s Louis Vuitton handbag was stolen on Friday, January 17.

The customer was reported to be a sexy Thai model, Natthayawan Akkarajindakorn. Natthayawan left her bag at a counter inside the shop while she was trying on clothes in a fitting room.

The 31 year old said about 30,000 baht in cash was in the bag. She had just withdrawn most of the money from a bank to give to her parents as a Chinese New Year gift.

The owner of a clothes shop identified a woman in a green dress as the thief. The woman entered the shop, picked out some clothes, and went to the counter to make a purchase, but changed her mind and grabbed Natthayawan’s bag and left the store.

Officers checked a security camera near the clothes store and spotted the suspicious woman, later identified as 38 year old Rungwarin.

Police managed to arrest the thief yesterday at her house in the Bang Kok Noi district of Bangkok.

Rungwarin confessed that she went to the shopping mall but added that she did not plan to rob anyone. However, the Louis Vuitton handbag at the store tempted her.

Rungwarin said that she took the bag and quickly exited the mall via the BTS Skytrain, driven by fear of getting caught. She disembarked at a distant train station and took a motorcycle taxi back home to avoid detection.

Rungwarin revealed that she used the stolen handbag and spent 30,000 baht in cash.

Police returned the bag to its rightful owner, Natthayawan, and instructed Rungwarin to repay the funds.

Rungwarin was charged with the crime of nighttime burglary and faces a sentence of one to five years in prison and a fine ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 baht, according to Section 335 (1) of the Criminal Law.