CHON BURI - Four Russian tourists were robbed at gunpoint early Wednesday morning outside their accommodation complex in Pattaya.
Police said the tourists were held up at Corrilb Village, an accommodation complex, in tambon Nong Prue, Bang Lamung district of Chon Buri province.
A 27 year-old Russian woman told the investigators that prior to the incident she and her husband, along with two Russian friends, another woman and a man, had been out drinking and decided hang out by the street curb in front of their lodge.
She went back to her room with her woman friend, leaving her purse with her husband. While walking back, she saw two men on a motorcycle hold her husband at gunpoint and take her purse before speeding away. The robbers made off with about 5,000 baht and 5,000 rubles in cash, a cell phone and a camera, the victim reported to police.
Jakkrit Srikasang, 29, a security guard at a resort situated opposite the crime scene, said that he saw the robbers, wearing crash helmets, approach the two men after the women walked away. They were joined by another two men on another bike.
Pol Col Suwan Cheawnawinthawat, the superintendent of Pattaya police station, said investigators would review the footage from all CCTV cameras installed along possible escape routes in order to catch the robberes.
The hold up took place not far from where two Russian women were abducted and later raped on the morning of Dec 26, 2012.
Police say more more than 80 crimes against tourists were reported nationwide in 2012, involving 172 foreigners. More than 20 million tourists travelled to Thailand in 2012.