PHUKET - A Russian man has told police he was attacked and robbed of US$700 in cash, about 20,000 baht, by another man speaking Russian in his hotel room in Phuket on Sunday night.
The victim, whose details were not released, told police he was sleeping in a room at the hotel in tambon Karon of Muang district and was awoken about 8pm by someone knocking on the door.
He said when he answered the door a Russian-speaking foreigner forced his way into the room and punched him in the face several times, and he fell to the floor, according to Karon station chief Pol Col Khundet Na Nongkhai.
The victim said he could not fight back because had recently had stomach surgery. The intruder asked for an amount of money, but he had not known what the money was for at first.
The intruder then shut the victim’s mouth with tape and bound him with a wire cord, and then put him on a phone to another Russian man. The victim recognised the voice as that of a man he had a problem with involving cryptocurrency business back in Russia.
The victim told police he was threatened with death if he did not return 120,000 cryptodollars to the Russian on the phone.
However, he did not give up his phone’s password, so the attacker failed to access his crypto account. The intruder then stole all his cash, about $700 in total.
The victim told police his assailant tied him to the bathroom door and hit him on the back of the head with something hard, leaving him unconscious. When he awoke hours later he was alone in the room.
Police investigators checked the hotel security recordings and noted that the suspect was a large man wearing a hoodie and a mask.
The investigation is continuing.
The wire cord used to tie up the victim, left at the scene. (Photo: Achadthaya Chuenniran)
