Thick thief returns car

BANGKOK: A car thief was arrested last Thursday after phoning the dealer he had stolen the car from to complain when it broke down.

Car dealer Thonchok Singnuwongsa said the thief waited around his showroom until a genuine customer came in to put a deposit on a car.

He then persuaded a staff member to hand over the keys to the Mitsubishi New Lancer, claiming he was the customer who had paid the deposit.

Mr Thonchok reported the theft to police and told them the thief would probably not get very far because the car had only a small amount of petrol which would take him less than 10 kilometers.

Police searched for the car, but came up empty handed.

At 7am the next morning, the thief called Mr Thonchok claiming he had bought a car the previous day but it had broken down.

He asked if he could swap it for a new one.

Mr Thonchok agreed to meet the man in Silom, but took police with him.

At the meeting point, police found Winai ‘Pun Pun Khai’ Saenkham, 32, waiting with the stolen car and arrested him.

Mr Winai, who is unemployed and has a number of convictions for drug offenses, admitted stealing the car.

He said he really liked the New Lancer model and had been to Mr Thonchek’s lot a number of times to look at it.

But while on his way home in the stolen car, he said the engine stopped and he took a bus home.

He said he was worried the car might be stolen by someone else, so he rang the car yard asking to exchange it.