60 million baht of gold stolen in Songkhla heist

Five people have robbed a gold shop in the city centre of Na Thawee district in Songkhla province yesterday (Saturday). The robbers were dressed in military uniforms and armed with assault weapons, fleeing with gold and jewellery valued around 60 million baht.

According to the Thai PBS report, the five bandits arrived at the Suchada Gold Shop in a white van, stolen earlier in the day from a man in the neighbouring Pattani province. Witnesses say there were three men and two women in the robbery team.

They walked into the gold shop and pointed their weapons at five female staff, disabled the CCTV system, grabbed all the gold on display and escaped in the waiting van in a well co-ordinated attack. The whole event was over in less than ten minutes according to police.

Around 40 kilograms of gold and jewellery was stolen in the robbery according to the police report.

Police were able to track the white van to an abandoned rubber plantation about 15 kilometres away in Tambon Tha Pradoo. A motorcycle was also found abandoned at the plantation.

Rawsalee Yohlen, the owner of the van, told police that he was hired by three men to pick up their friend but was bound and dumped by the roadside, at gunpoint, in the Nong Chik district in Pattani.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World