On-the-ball bellboy bags burglar

KATA-KARON: The alertness of a bellboy at the Marina Cottage Hotel, who heard a guest-room door close when he knew that the family staying in the room were all at dinner, resulted in the red-handed arrest of a burglar. Pol Lt Teerawat Leamsuwan of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette, “The guests staying in the room that was burgled [a family from Sweden] left the hotel to go to dinner, and they locked their hotel room securely.” “At the time, the bellboy, Maneekorn Sornin, was finishing work. He had seen the family go to dinner, so he was suspicious when he passed their room and heard the door close. “He waited, and saw the thief leave the room carrying a blue backpack,” Lt Teerawat added. When the burglar saw K. Maneekorn he ran, but the bellboy chased after him and at the same time managed to alert hotel security staff. Others joined in the chase, and the thief was soon caught. The police were then called and a search recovered the blue backpack, filled with stolen goods, which the burglar had discarded as he ran from his pursuers. In the backpack they found a notebook computer, a calculator, a mobile phone, a watch, a pocket radio, three passports and a purse. Computer equipment and a stash of chocolate bars were found in the burglar’s pockets. In all, the stolen items were worth about 100,000 baht. The burglar was identified by police as Hamid Reza Shareh, a 31-year-old Iranian. Lt Teerawat said, “He wasn’t a guest of the hotel and we don’t know yet how he got into the room. We didn’t find a key, nor was there any sign of a break-in. He hasn’t told us anything as he speaks only Persian. In his passport it says that he was supposed to leave Thailand on April 1, but he is still in Phuket.” Shareh has been charged with theft and with overstaying his visa, and is being held in police cells awaiting trail.