200,000 baht snatched in Phuket heist

CHALONG, PHUKET: Two men on a motorcycle snatched and rode off with a bag containing 200,000 baht in cash outside a rice shop in Chalong yesterday afternoon.

Sompon Famangkorn, an employee of Namsaeng Rice Company, was getting out of his pickup outside the Nam Riab Rice Shop on Chao Fa West Road when the heist happened at around 3:30pm.

Mr Sompon, 26, was at the shop to collect payment for a delivery.

Two men around 20 years of age pulled up on a motorcycle. One, wearing a long sleeved shirt and black cap, got off the bike and jerked the bag out of Mr Sompon’s hands. He got back on the bike and the two sped off.

Meanwhile, Phuket City Police are reportedly hunting a gang of four youths wanted for assaulting and robbing an Italian expat and a Thai woman in separate attacks on Monday morning.

The Italian told police the youths, riding two motorcycles, kicked him off his bike on Wirat Hongyok Road in Tambon Wichit.

They stole 1,500 baht, credit cards and a mobile telephone from him.

Around 25 minutes later, a 20-year-old Thai woman was assaulted in a similar incident involving four youths on Wichit Songkhram Road.

The youths reportedly stole 2,000 baht and a camera before fleeing.