Undercover police patrol Wachira Hospital

PHUKET TOWN: Wachira Hospital and Phuket Town police have set up a special undercover police unit which is now patrolling the hospital to try to spot increasing numbers of thieves preying on outpatients and visitors. The setting up of the unit coincides with another theft from an outpatient. Sainahp Nounpai, 44, of Patong had gone to the hospital for a routine examination, for which she had to change out of street clothes and into a hospital gown. After the check-up was complete, she found that her purse, which she had left with her clothes in an adjoining room, was missing. Stolen with the purse were her ID card and 4,200 baht. The theft was nothing new, said Dr Boonriang Chuchaisangrat, chief of the Phuket Health Office, which oversees all public health facilities in the province. He said that thefts of motorcycles parked at the hospital were also common. Four young men have been arrested this year for stealing them. Dr Boonriang added that although the undercover unit was now working in the hospital, spotting thieves might not be easy since people are constantly coming and going. He urged people not to bring valuables into the hospital, or, if they do, to have the registration counter hold them while they undergo examination or treatment.