Police have arrested the driver of an advertising tycoon on charges of stealing century-old photos from the mansion of his boss during a fire in May.

Police arrested Nava Hongsakul, 36, while he was driving in Bangkok at 2pm on Tuesday.

Police said Mr Nava applied to be a driver for Krisana Thanomsab, chief executive officer of Belink Media, in 2022. Within a year, Nava was entrusted to enter all areas of his boss’s mansion on Udomsuk Road.

On May 4, a fire broke out in the house. The suspect brought his boss out of the residence safely. 

Detectives learned that the suspect then returned to the mansion and stole four photographs of King Rama V that date from about 120 years ago. Later the suspect returned to work as usual.

After the fire was put out, the employer found out that the photographs, which have royal autographs and are part of a family inheritance, were missing. He filed a complaint with police.

Police learned that collectors in Chon Buri, Nakhon Pathom and Nonthaburi had bought the photographs at a combined price of 100,000 baht.