Tourist couple wake to burglary nightmare

CHALONG: A Swedish couple on holiday in Karon woke up in the early hours yesterday to a nightmare: a burglar in their room holding their three-year-old daughter with his hand over her mouth. The Winnheds, in their 30s, were woken by a noise in their room and sat up to see the burglar with their daughter in his arms. Mrs Winnhed screamed, frightening the burglar into putting the child back into her bed. He then fled through the window of their second-floor room at the Phuket Ocean Resort, Karon Beach, taking with him 8,000 baht in cash and valuables estimated at 40,000 baht. Pol Lt Chana Sutthimart of Chalong police station said that inquiries are focusing on people who are thoroughly familiar with the hotel’s layout. “It’s too bad that the lights were off and the couple could hardly see the guy’s face,” he said. “It was too dark for them to identify him.” He said that police believe the child woke first, and that the burglar was trying to keep her quiet.