Thai ex-inmate snatches bag of Belgian tourist while cycling
A former inmate, released from prison only a month ago, yesterday snatched a bag from a Belgian tourist while she was cycling along a road in Samut Prakan province.
The 54 year old Belgian woman filed a complaint with officers at Phra Pradaeng Police Station after her bag was stolen by a Thai thief while she was cycling yesterday, on April 9. The bag contained her mobile phone, 2,000 baht in cash, 450 euros, two passports, and a hotel keycard.
A witness, 64 year old motorcycle taxi rider Jarus Suaysa-ard, told police that he had seen the suspect park his motorcycle near the victim and pretend to be occupied with his phone. Jarus then left the scene to take a passenger and did not witness the incident itself.
Unexpectedly, when he returned to the scene, he found the foreign woman on the ground next to her overturned bicycle. She cried out for help and told him that a thief snatched her bag.
Jarus rode his motorcycle around the area in search of the thief but was unable to locate him, so he took the victim to the police station to file a report.
Police reviewed CCTV footage, which captured the moment the thief stalked the Belgian tourist.
He approached her from behind and grabbed her bag, which was in the front basket of her bicycle. As a result, the bicycle toppled over.
The thief sped off on his motorcycle but did not evade capture for long. Officers identified the suspect as 29 year old Samran, also known as Tai. Samran was previously arrested in 2011 in Chon Buri and again in 2020 in Samut Prakan for theft.
He served a prison sentence and was only released a month before reoffending. The motorcycle he used was found to have been stolen from a victim in the Khlong Toei area of Bangkok.
In a similar case, a Thai man was arrested in February for snatching a bag from a Japanese woman who was walking in an alley in Chiang Mai province. CCTV footage showed the thief on a motorcycle pulling the bag from the foreign victim, causing her to fall to the ground.
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