Pattaya hotel theft suspect caught

Pattaya hotel theft suspect caught

Suspect Yothin Phutpradit, 36, wearing a face mask, is arrested for stealing from a hotel room of William Joseph, 70, of Ireland, (centre) in Pattaya and making off with cash and valuables worth almost 100,000 baht. (Photo by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
Suspect Yothin Phutpradit, 36, wearing a face mask, is arrested for stealing from a hotel room of William Joseph, 70, of Ireland, (centre) in Pattaya and making off with cash and valuables worth almost 100,000 baht. (Photo by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)

CHON BURI: A man posing as a hotel guest has been arrested for stealing valuable items and cash worth almost 100,000 baht from a room of an Irish tourist in Pattaya.

Yothin Phutpradit, 36, was apprehended on Pattaya Walking Street in South Pattaya on theft charges and taken to Pattaya city police station on Tuesday.

Seized from him were an iPad tablet and a Samsung mobile phone he stole from a hotel room in Pattaya.

The arrest came after William Joseph, 70, of Ireland, filed a complaint with Pattaya police that some belongings in his hotel room in Jomtien area had been stolen on Friday, said Pol Col Apichai Krobphet, chief of Pattaya police.

According to the tourist, he was sleeping inside the room on that day and later woke up to see his room was ransacked. A tablet, mobile phone, and cash in foreign currencies worth almost 100,000 were missing.

Police found clues about the thief from the hotel's closed-circuit television camera footage. He was later caught on Tuesday.

A police investigation found that the suspect had pretended to be a customer at the hotel. At night, he would walk around to see which rooms were left unlocked. After he found an unlocked room, he would enter to steal cash and other valuable items.

A criminal record showed Mr Yothin had been arrested on a motorcycle theft case in Chokchai area, Bangkok, in 2009 and having illicit drugs in his possession in Pattaya in 2012.

Mr Yothin claimed he sold the stolen items for cash to finance his drug habit. He was held in police custody on theft and drug charges.

(Photo by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)

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