Man arrested for stealing Phuket ambulance

A man has been arrested in Phang Nga after allegedly stealing an ambulance in Phuket. Reports in Thai Residents and The Phuket News say the vehicle was stolen from outside the Kathu office of The Kusoldharm Foundation at around 4am yesterday and discovered missing by a member of the foundation shortly after. After notifying police, foundation workers initially tried driving around the area to locate the ambulance, with rescue worker Pasikorn Surichuchoti saying he knew the ambulance was low on fuel.

Guessing that the person who’d stolen the ambulance might try to leave the island, he stopped at every fuel station on the way, in an attempt to track down the thief. At one station, an employee told him an ambulance had come in for fuel, with the driver saying he didn’t have any cash but would return later to pay. The employee says he refused to sell him gasoline and the ambulance drove off.

Shortly after, the foundation received a call from Takua Police station in Phang Nga province at around 6am, to say they’d found the ambulance parked at Phang Nga bus station. The driver was arrested, yet somehow managed to escape while police were noting down his information. He was recaptured some 20 minutes later. The Phuket News reports that he is 19 year old Anurak Boonkham from the southern province of Surat Thani. He says he stole the ambulance because he was trying to get home. He has now been taken to Kathu police station for processing.

SOURCE: Thai Residents | The Phuket News