KHON KAEN — A Cambodian construction worker has been arrested for allegedly stealing electrical cables from a shopping mall construction site in northeastern Thailand, with police saying he admitted selling the metal inside the wires to support his family back home.
Police in Khon Kaen announced the arrest of the 34-year-old Cambodian national on Friday following an investigation into the theft of electrical cables from the newly completed Central Campus Khon Kaen development. The stolen cables were valued at about 10,000 baht.
Investigators said they searched the suspect’s accommodation at a workers’ camp and found aluminum stripped from electrical cables, clothing and shoes matching those worn by the suspect during the theft, as well as pieces of the stolen cables.
During questioning, the suspect allegedly confessed to cutting the cables to extract aluminum and copper, which he then sold to scrap dealers. He told police he sent the money to his family in Cambodia.
Police are coordinating with the contractor to determine how long the suspect had been employed at the site and with the provincial labor office to verify whether he was legally working in Thailand.
The suspect has been charged with theft, while investigators are tracing the scrap shop where the stolen metals were allegedly sold and are considering additional charges if any labor law violations are found.