Pattaya hotel employee arrested for alleged theft of gold jewellery worth Bt2 million
An employee of a hotel in Pattaya has been arrested for allegedly robbing a gold shop in a Pattaya shopping mall of 1.65 kilograms of gold jewellery worth Bt2.18 million at the weekend.
Deputy national police chief Pol General Chalermkiart Sriworakhan, Provincial Police Bureau 2 chief Pol Lt-General Jitti Rodbangyan and Chon Buri police chief Pol Maj-General Nanthachart Supamongkol on Tuesday jointly held a press conference at Sattahip police station to announce the arrest of Sornchai Nilsonthi, 35.
Sornchai is accused of robbing the Suppatra Yaowaraj gold shop at the Big C Sattahip shopping mall in Chon Buri’s Sattahip district at 10.20am on Sunday.
Chalermkiart said Sornchai had used a M92-modelled BB air gun to deceive the shop staff into believing he was carrying a lethal firearm, and robbed the store of gold necklaces and bracelets worth Bt2.18 million.
Although the suspect concealed his face with a mask, police managed to identify him from the licence plate of the motorcycle he had ridden to and from the gold shop, he added.
The deputy national police chief said police had carried out an intensive manhunt following the robbery, with Sornchai eventually turning himself in to Phachi police station in Ayutthaya on Monday night.
This led police to retrieve all of the stolen items from his rented room in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district.