No joke: Thai police don Halloween costumes to nab thief watching horror movie

All he wanted to do was celebrate Halloween, but one thief got an unforeseen fright instead when he was ambushed by undercover policemen in skeleton costumes.

The suspect, identified as 32-year-old Wanchai Saeng-udom, had allegedly stolen various items from a restaurant in Bangkok's Silom, including five iPads and a laptop, worth over one hundred thousand baht (S$3,795), reported Khaosod English.

He had fled the scene on the night of Oct 20, and a warrant for his arrest was reportedly issued on Oct 26, according to Thairath newspaper.

Pol Maj Gen Teeradej Thumsutee, commander of the Metropolitan Police Bureau's Investigation Division, said he had received a tip off that Wanchai and his girlfriend would be watching the horror movie Death Whispering: Tee Yod at a cinema on Halloween night (Oct 31), reported Thai PBS World.

An investigation team then went undercover, dressing as skeletons and donning Halloween masks to pose as employees. They then mingled with other movie goers for over three hours before finally spotting their target, according to The Thaiger.

Seeing that Wanchai was about to enter the cinema, the undercover officers quickly approached him and his girlfriend to take a photo with the couple. They then surrounded the confused man to reveal their identities as police officers and arrested him.

According to the Thai police, Wanchai confessed to the charges and said he decided to resign from the restaurant he worked at after an argument with his colleagues, and stole the items out of anger.

He then tried to resell the stolen items but got cheated and did not make the money he had hoped for.

Wanchai has a history of several criminal offences including drug dealing, gambling and theft, and was recently released from prison. 

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com