Pattaya —
A Thai man in Pattaya stole a pickup truck from a delivery man but was quickly arrested by police. The suspect desperately claimed that he missed his home in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand, and needed to steal the truck to get there.
Pattaya police on Monday, July 24th, arrested an alleged car thief, Mr. Sao Songsaeng, a 27-year-old beach chair rental vendor at Pattaya Beach, while he was trying to flee the city in a stolen white Isuzu D-Max pickup truck.
According to the police, they received a complaint from the delivery driver, Mr. Somchai Khetkhan, 47, that his truck, parked on Pattaya-Naklua Road with a running engine, had been stolen by a male suspect.
Somchai later told The Pattaya News that he left the engine on as he went to deliver a parcel, thinking that it would not take long. Once he returned to the truck, however, he saw that the suspect, Sao, was sneaking into his truck before quickly racing away.
Somchai tried unsuccessfully to jump onto the back of the truck. He then shouted for help from people around him until someone notified the police.
Sao attempted to evade the police blockade and nearly collided with the officers but was eventually captured in front of the Lan Pho Market on Pattaya-Naklua Road, 10 kilometers from where he took the truck. Upon confronting the undeniable evidence, he confessed that he stole the truck for a trip back to his hometown in Chiang Rai province.
The Pattaya police put Sao into custody and pressed charges against him for theft. Somchai praised the police for their swift action.
