A Thai van driver on Koh Samui confessed to stealing from a Chinese tourist after overwhelming evidence of foreign currency worth around 15,000 baht was found hidden in his vehicle.
Bo Phut Police Station arrested the 49 year old van driver, Sawawut, on Koh Samui, Surat Thani, yesterday, August 23, for stealing foreign currency from the 69 year old Chinese tourist, Lingjun Zhang.
This included two US$100 banknotes (worth around 6,536 baht), two 10,000 yen banknotes (around 4,200 baht) and one 100 euro banknote (around 3,826 baht).
The arrest followed a complaint from Zhang. He explained that he and his family had hired the driver to take them from their hotel to the Big Buddha Temple.
After arriving, Zhang and his family got out to visit the temple, leaving Sawawut alone inside the vehicle. He left his black shoulder bag on the passenger seat behind the driver. When they returned, they found the bag open and realised that the foreign banknotes were missing.
Zhang questioned Sarawut, who denied knowing anything about the missing money. Both parties then went to Bo Phut Police Station to speak to the investigators.
The investigation team questioned Sarawut again, but he continued to deny taking the money. Officers then searched Sarawut and his van. During the search, they found the banknotes hidden under the driver’s seat.
Confronted with this evidence, Sarawut admitted stealing the cash. He told the police that, while Zhang and his family were visiting Big Buddha Temple, he had opened the black shoulder bag and found foreign currency in several different denominations inside it. He took some of the banknotes and hid them under the driver’s seat.
The police initially charged Sarawut with theft, an offence that carries a maximum prison sentence of three years and a fine of up to 60,000 baht under Section 334 of the Criminal Law.
Related news
- Bangkok homeless man steals luxury bag from Chinese tourist
- Thief nabs 127,000 baht worth of goods from tourists on Koh Samui
- Luxury Koh Samui hotel robbed of 70 million baht worth of assets
The story Koh Samui van driver arrested for stealing from Chinese family as seen on Thaiger News.
