Taxi driver arrested for stealing from two abandoned British tourists
A taxi driver has been arrested for leaving two British tourists in Nakhon Pathom and fleeing with their cash and credit cards after they chartered his taxi for a trip to a floating market in Ratchaburi.
Tourist Police deputy commissioner Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal held a press conference on Tuesday to announce the arrest of Sanya Ngamsima, 59, a resident of Bangkok's Jomthong district.
He was arrested on Monday, a day after he left two British women at an NGV station in Nakhon Pathom.
Surachet said Sanya had been hired by Lucida Emma Moore and April Berton-Burgur to take them from Khao San Road in Bangkok to visit the Damnone Saduak floating market in Ratchaburi on Sunday.
During the trip back to Bangkok, the taxi driver stopped at an NGV station and the two tourists were asked to wait outside the vehicle. But after Sanya filled the tank, he sped off, leaving the two tourists behind.
The women's bags with Bt6,000 in cash, more than US$200 (Bt6,730) in US dollars, four credit cards and both their passports were in the taxi.
The two tourists were later assisted by a Nakhon Pathom police patrol.
Surachet said they were helped by police to return to their rooms on Khao San Road and left Thailand on Monday.
Surachet said the taxi driver was charged with robbery, failing to use his meter and failing to deliver passengers to their destination.