Masked men rob grocery store

PHUKET: Three robbers, all wearing ghost masks, robbed a grocery store off Chao Fa Nai Rd near Suanluang Park last night, taking 67,000 baht in cash and gold jewelry belonging to the owner and his family. Pol Maj Winai Kongkaew of the Phuket Town Police Station said that Witoon Pinta, 35, the owner of the grocery store in a camp for construction workers building Moo Baan Anuphas Manorom, was in the back room when he heard a noise as if something heavy had fallen onto the floor in the front of his store. He went to see what happened and found his 20-year-old wife, Sangdao, who is six months pregnant, had passed out and was lying on the floor. Standing there were the three masked men, two of them brandishing pistols. One of the robbers held Witoon at gunpoint and took him inside while the others searched for valuables. They stole about 5,000 baht in cash and around 62,000 baht worth of gold necklaces and bracelets. “After we received the report we went there with about 30 police officers from Phuket Town. We tried to close all the entries and exits, but the problem is that the camp is in a wide-open area, behind Suanluang Park.” The police found one of the masks and Sangdao’s mobile phone in the park, but the robbers eluded them. The police say the robbers were, from their accents, southern Thais. They also suspect that they are workers living in the camp, which is why they wore masks to avoid being identified by others living there. The robbers also seemed to know when was the best time to hit the store – after construction workers had received their monthly wages and had paid their bills in the store, but before K Witoon had had a chance to bank the money.