SONGKHLA - Police on Wednesday arrested a Malaysian man in connection with the armed robbery of about 7 million baht worth of gold jewellery from a shop in Hat Yai on Tuesday.
The arrest was made at 5.30pm at the Southern Bus Terminal in Taling Chan district of Bangkok, said Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, chief of the Central Investigation Bureau.
He gave no other details, beyond saying that the man had been taken to the Crime Suppression Division for further interrogation.
The Songkhla Provincial Court approved an arrest warrant on Wednesday morning for the suspect, identified as Yee Boon Long, 61.
The robbery took place at the Thai Udom 2 gold shop on Montri Road in downtown Hat Yai at 11.55am on Tuesday.
The unmasked, armed man entered the shop, scared off the staff and grabbed 138 baht-weight (about 2.1 kilogrammes) of gold jewellery from the display cabinets before fleeing. He walked out with a shopping bag holding the loot and left on a motorcycle that he later abandoned 300 metres away.
Pol Lt Gen Piyawat Chalermsri, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 9, said earlier that the suspect had a criminal record and went by several names. His Thai name is Anucha Sae Yor and he previously served a prison sentence for robbing a gold shop in Hat Yai in January 2017
He was released from prison on Sept 22, 2023 and deported to Malaysia.
The suspect is also responsible for a gold shop robbery in Malaysia about 20 years ago, police said. The robber made off with gold worth about 50 million baht and fled into hiding in Thailand.
Police detectives gather evidence at the Thai Udom 2 gold shop in Hat Yai after a lone man robbed it on Tuesday. (Photo: Assawin Pakkawan)