Thai woman arrested for knife-point robbery at Chon Buri store

Police arrested a Thai woman yesterday after she robbed a convenience store in Chon Buri province and threatened a worker with a knife on July 22.

The armed robbery took place at a convenience store in the Sriracha district of Chon Buri on Monday night, July 22. Security footage shared on Channel 7 showed the female thief in a red jacket wrapping her arm around the convenience store staff member’s neck and threatening her with a knife to open the checkout till.

The worker attempted to free herself from the thief but failed. She eventually had to comply with the thief’s demand, allowing her to escape the scene with about 3,000 baht in cash.

The worker revealed to the media that she followed the thief’s command but did so slowly, hoping someone would come to her aid. Unfortunately, no customers or other staff members were present at that time.

Officers from Sriracha Police Station reviewed security cameras outside the store and nearby until they managed to track down the thief yesterday, July 24. The armed robber was later identified as 47 year old Rungnapha.

Rungnapha was seen fleeing from the scene on her motorcycle. She headed to Praphom Road and hid in a house 2 kilometres away from the scene of the crime.

Police raided her home and arrested her yesterday. Officers also seized her motorcycle, clothes, and the bag she used to commit the crime. Rungnapha confessed to the theft, saying unemployment motivated her to commit the crime.

Rungnapha was charged under Section 335 of the Criminal Law: committing theft at night. The penalty is imprisonment from one to five years and a fine from 20,000 to 100,000 baht.

A similar convenience store robbery was reported in December last year at a 7-Eleven store in Bangkok. The 26 year old thief was arrested soon after the theft. He did not try to escape, saying he was heartbroken and wanted to be arrested as a form of therapy.

Another robbery at a convenience store was reported in March last year when a 22 year old Thai man was arrested for robberies at six convenience stores in Bangkok. Surprisingly, the thief earned only 3,500 baht from the crimes.