Tak teacher caught stealing groceries and posing cooking photos online
Police trace stolen ingredients back to suspect’s Facebook post
Police arrested a male teacher in the northern province of Tak for stealing food ingredients from a local grocery shop and then boasting about his cooking skills on social media.
The owner of the grocery store filed a complaint with the Tha Song Yang Police Station on October 25 after discovering several items missing from his store in Mae Tan Market.
Items reported missing included 10 packs of preserved eggs, one pack of sliced pork, a small portion of ground pork, five kilogrammes of sugar, and a pack of noodles. Coins kept in a basket were also taken, though the exact amount was not revealed.
The store owner submitted CCTV footage to the police as evidence. The video showed a man wearing a sleeveless shirt, shorts, flipflops, and a motorcycle helmet rifling through the store.
Further investigation suggested the suspect was a 33 year old teacher at a community learning centre in the area. Police traced him to a rented house near the market.
Officers checked his Facebook account and found photos of dishes prepared from ingredients matching the stolen items. The suspect had captioned the images, “Cooked myself, enjoyed it myself.”
Police then reviewed CCTV footage from his accommodation and confirmed he had left the premises on a motorcycle at night, dressed similarly to the man captured on the store’s cameras.
A warrant was obtained from Mae Sot Provincial Court, and the suspect was arrested in the early morning of 2 November while he was still asleep. He was identified as 33 year old Pranop Yosana.
Pranop admitted the theft. Police have charged him with nighttime theft using an unauthorised entryway and a vehicle to facilitate the crime and avoid arrest. The offence carries a penalty of one to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 20,000 to 100,000 baht.
The suspect has not stated whether financial problems motivated his actions.
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