Singaporean steals $4,000 cash and laptop at Pattaya hotel, gets caught while trying to flee country

What this Singaporean tourist might've thought to be a quick buck became a quick arrest for Thai police instead.

A Singaporean tourist has been arrested by Thai police after he allegedly stole cash and valuables from a German man at a hotel in Pattaya, Thailand, on Monday (July 10), according to Thai news outlet Thaiger.

The purported thief, Kenny Teo, had approached hotel staff and told them that items a German man had left with the hotel earlier belonged to him.

The German man had placed 100,000 baht (S$3,840) in cash, a laptop and a passport with the hotel — Teo nabbed all of it and checked out of the hotel.

A complaint was filed by the German man and was received by Thai police.

Kenny managed to make his way over to Don Mueang International Airport before being intercepted by Immigration Bureau officers who swiftly arrested him at around 4.35pm that same day, Thaiger reported, returning all belongings to the German man.

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The superintendent of the Chon Buri Provincial Immigration Office, Parinya Klinkaysorn, praised the efficacy of officers in the operation, stating that it only took 50 minutes between the report and capture of Teo. 

He also stressed that tourists in Thailand can contact immigration officers via their hotline, 1178, should they require assistance pertaining to crimes.

But Teo isn't the first Singaporean to be put behind bars in Thailand — in 2020, a Singaporean man got drunk, stripped naked and started dancing on the streets of Korat.

Officers on patrol spotted him in his drunken state and provided him with spare clothes, also instructing him to cover up.

When they checked his identity, however, officers discovered that the Singaporean had long overstayed his welcome there by five years — his visa expired in 2015.

He was arrested and charged with several offences including overstaying his visa, committing obscene acts in public, being drunk and disorderly, and causing chaos in public among others.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com