Thai teacher denies stealing 15,000 baht from senior official’s wife

A Thai teacher in the Isaan province of Buriram surrendered to the police today after being accused of stealing 15,000 baht in cash from the wife of the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives on Tuesday, September 24.

The wife of the Deputy Permanent Secretary, 56 year old Nipha Darasaen, filed a complaint with Phutthaisong Police Station after the reported theft took place in her garage in the Phutthaisong district of Buriram province at 3.30am on Monday.

Nipha sustained an injury during the alleged theft, suffering a cut on her arm that required five stitches. She lost her bag containing 15,000 baht in cash and a key to her home during the incident.

Nipha explained that the female thief approached her from behind while she was sitting on her motorcycle, preparing to leave for her shop in the market, located 500 metres from her home.

The thief grabbed her bag but Nipha resisted and managed to push the thief to the ground, recovering her bag. However, she later feared for her safety when the thief pulled out a knife, at which point she let the thief take her bag.

CCTV footage of the incident showed the thief entering Nipha’s home from the backyard. She then moved Nipha’s motorcycle from the back of the house to the front, waiting for Nipha to get on the vehicle.

Suspect denies accusation

Nipha believes that the suspect planned the theft carefully and had been observing her for some time, as the suspect knew she usually left her house between 3am and 3.30am every day. She also reckons the thief moved the motorcycle to the front of the house to make a quick escape.

However, the thief was unable to steal the motorcycle and fled on foot. She was later seen riding a blue motorcycle out of the area and depositing the stolen cash at an ATM in the city centre of the district.

Further investigation led to the identification of 49 year old Suphaporn, a teacher at a local school, as the suspect. Police discovered that the teacher was addicted to online gambling and allegedly committed theft multiple times before, though officers were unable to arrest her due to a lack of evidence.

Police attempted to gather more information and obtain CCTV footage from the ATM to issue an arrest warrant for the teacher.

While an arrest warrant had not yet been issued, the teacher, accompanied by her lawyer, surrendered at the police station today, September 26. She denied the accusation and expressed her intention to contest the case in court.

The teacher also refused to speak to the media. Only her lawyer gave a brief statement to reporters, insisting on his client’s innocence.

The Superintendent of Phutthaisong Police Station, Thatchaphon Songsaeng, told Matichon that the police were confident in the evidence they had gathered and believed it would lead to her arrest. He added that officers would handle the case according to proper legal procedures, allowing the teacher to follow the court process in line with her rights.