Thai woman steals gold necklace and pretends to help victim
A Thai woman yesterday stole a gold necklace worth 65,000 baht from an 83 year old woman who lived next to her workplace in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok. The thief even had the audacity to pretend to help the victim after committing the crime.
The victim, 83 year old Chulee, reported the theft to Rattanathibet Police Station at about 1pm yesterday, April 17. Chulee said she was sleeping on the first floor of her three-storey house when the thief approached her.
The thief, who covered her face with a facemask, threatened Chulee with a Stanley Knife and demanded she remove her gold necklace and hand it to her. Chulee complied to save her own life. After taking the necklace, the thief quickly left through the front door.
Chulee then contacted her daughter and the police before leaving her home to seek help from neighbours.
Police arrived at the scene and inspected security cameras near Chulee’s home. They observed a suspicious woman resembling the thief engaging in conversation with Chulee outside the house following the theft. Subsequently, officers identified the woman as 23 year old Manatsanan, who was employed at an office adjacent to Chulee’s residence.
The officers sought access to the security cameras at Manatsanan’s workplace, where the footage unmistakably depicted her as the perpetrator. The video footage revealed Manatsanan climbing out of a second-floor window at her workplace and subsequently re-entering the building.
With this evidence, Manatsanan admitted to the theft, citing her online gambling debts as her motive. She confessed to climbing out of her office window, entering Chulee’s home through a second-floor window, stealing the valuables, and returning to her workplace using the same route.
Manatsanan also admitted that she heard Chulee calling for help and went out to pretend to help her. She also confessed to selling the gold necklace for 65,000 baht at a nearby shopping centre.
Manatsanan was charged under Section 335: committing theft by using a weapon to threaten a victim. The penalty is imprisonment from one to five years and a fine from 20,000 to 100,0000 baht.
