THAILAND: Belgian Tourist Accused Of Theft In Phuket

The owner of a mobile phone accessory shop in Phuket province has accused a Belgian tourist of stealing an accessory costing Bt699 from her shop on Friday.

Nichapha-orn Chaiviriyawong, the owner of Remax shop in Tambon Talad Yai in Phuket’s Muang district, posted a video clip on her Facebook wall that purportedly showed one of two tourists putting something from her shop into a bag of purchased goods before leaving the shop.

Nichapha-orn filed a complaint with the Phuket Muang police station that the theft took place at around 3.14pm.

She said she was monitoring CCTVs in her shop when the two Belgian tourists entered and she saw one of them put something into the bag of goods he had already paid for while his friend was paying for his goods.

The shop owner said she called her staff to check their bags but it was too late as the tourists had left the shop. The staff checked their stocks and found that a dashboard phone holder costing Bt699 had gone missing.

The two Belgian tourists had together bought goods with their credit cards totalling Bt5,365.

She said she had posted the clip to warn other shops.

Pol Lt-Colonel Naruewat Phutthawir, an inspector at Phuket Tourist Police Station 2, said efforts would be made to locate the two tourists.

Meanwhile, a pregnant British woman was killed in a hit and run with an 18-wheeled-truck on Thepkrasattri road in Thalang at noon today.

She was riding on a motorbike with her partner, who did not sustain injuries. While driving, they changed lanes to avoid a vehicle parked on the left side of the road (the motorbike lane).

As they did this, the truck hit their bike from behind, said Lt Col Sanit Nukhong of Thalang Police.

“The woman was then run over by the truck and sustained fatal head injuries,” he added.

Her partner is also a British national. Both were taken to Thalang Hospital. Their names are being withheld until their families have been notified.

Police are now looking for the truck driver, who fled the scene in his vehicle.