The Chonburi police chief was happy to close the case file. He told reporters that the gang had spent the ฿400,000 taken in the raid and were beginning to look for work in Sa Kaeo Province where they had fled after the police manhunt to track them down.
Thai police have apprehended a criminal gang that escaped after a shootout earlier in the month in Rayong. This followed the robbery of a house party of Chinese tourists in the Bang Lamung area of Pattaya. The culprits were betrayed to police when one of the young men opened his smartphone which police had kept under constant surveillance leading an arrest party to the gang’s door.
Thai police have announced the apprehension of a criminal gang that staged a raid on a house used by Chinese tourists in Pattaya at the beginning of the month in which the gang leader and some of his associates later escaped from police in an early morning shootout in neighbouring Rayong province.
On Wednesday, Police Major General Kumpol Leelaprapaporn, the Chonburi police chief announced the arrest of 31-year-old Sarawut Suthapoj, the gang leader who is also known as ‘Beer Kho Phai’ along with two other younger men, 26-year-old Nakarin Sae Teo and 27-year-old Wanchai Kreedkrai.
Gang stole ฿400,000 from Chinese tourist party after ‘pretty’ planted at the house betrayed her hosts when leaving giving the gang a signal and access
The group had used a female plant at a party of Chinese tourists at a rental house in the Bang Lamung district of Pattaya on Wednesday, May 3rd to gain access and coerce the Chinese tourists at gunpoint into paying over ฿400,000 in their bank accounts.
They also took with them a ฿1 million sedan car which was later found abandoned in a forested area as they rushed to make their escape from a quick police response and chase at their heels.
Two arrested after gang used woman planted at a party to gain access to the home of Chinese visitors
The trio were arrested on Wednesday in the Aranyaprathet area of Sa Kaeo Province where they had moved following their escape.
Money ran out and the gang were seeking work
The men, the police chief explained, had been seeking work in the area after the money they robbed had run out.
It is understood that the gang thought at the outset they were raiding a group of Chinese criminals with mafia connections who they supposed would be unlikely to report the crime but it transpired that the group in residence at the Pattaya home were normal Chinese tourists visiting Thailand.
Police, in early May, had already arrested two members of the gang who stayed in Pattaya after the raid.
The second group of men were betrayed on Wednesday when one of the members of the gang switched on his smartphone which led the police to their door.
Suspects make a full confession after their arrest last week, police still examining the role of the ‘pretty’ and subterfuge on the night of the crime
‘After knowing that the other two friends were caught, they decided to flee to the Cambodian side in and out until the money they earned began to run out. Then fled to hide at the Thai-Cambodian border, Sa Kaeo Province, intending to find a job, but accidentally turned on the mobile phone until the police caught him,’ revealed the senior officer this week.
Police Major General Kumol said police can now close the case after having arrested all those involved.
He said the culprits had confessed to the crime and had been motivated by financial gain.
Police are now going to look more closely at the role of the woman or ‘pretty’ involved in the initial subterfuge of the tourist party.
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