PHUKET — Police in southern Thailand have arrested a Vietnamese man accused of stealing cash from a Hong Kong tourist’s luxury villa in Patong resort last weekend.
The arrest came five days after the burglary, which occurred early on October 26 at a pool villa in the Premsap housing estate in Kathu District, Phuket Province, police said Friday.
The victim, identified as Po, 33, from Hong Kong, reported that HK$5,000 and 25,000 baht (about US$1,416 total) were missing from a bag he left in the villa’s living room. CCTV footage reviewed by the villa manager, Pilawan Tathep, 34, showed a man entering the property around 2 a.m. and taking the cash, according to police.
An investigation led officers to the Madame House building on Phra Metta Road on October 29, where they found a red-and-black Honda PCX160 motorcycle matching the one seen in the footage, said Pol. Col. Chalermchai Hernsawat, superintendent of Patong Police Station.
The guesthouse owner identified the bike’s owner as a Vietnamese tenant with tattoos on both arms. Police questioned the man, later identified as H. Van Chay, 40, who admitted to the theft after being shown the footage. Officers also recovered clothing seen in the video and the motorcycle as evidence.
Chay was charged with nighttime theft, which carries a penalty of one to five years in prison and a fine of 20,000 to 100,000 baht (US$620–3,100). He remains in police custody pending prosecution.
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