Crime
21 Year-Old Australian and 51 Year-Old Algerian Arrested for Theft in Pattaya City
PATTAYA – Tourist Police have arrested a 21 year-old Australian national after he was caught stealing valuable items from a Thai woman in the sin city of Pattaya.
Pattaya tourist police said Oliver Niyonsaba, 21, was arrested at an entertainment venue on Walking Street and sent to Pattaya police station on a theft charge.
The Australian allegedly stole valuable items from a bag belonging to Thannayalak Nasuhai, 40, police said.
Ms Thannalak told police that she left the bag while going to the toilet. Her friend alerted her about the theft and venue staff detained the man until police arrived, she added.
Neither Ms Thannalak nor police gave details about the stolen items.
The Algerian said he did it without thinking: Mouloud Sadat is accused of taking the cash and belongings of a South Korean tourist.
Meanwhile, Tourist Police arrested an Algerian man on charges of stealing cash and valuables from a South Korean tourist at a restaurant in Pattaya.
Mouloud Sadat, 53, was apprehended with a stolen Prada bag, valued at 60,000 baht, a pair of sunglasses and other items while he was walking along Pattaya-Na Klua Road on Friday night, said Pol Capt Apichai Krobphet, the Pattaya police chief.
Lee Seung-chul, 44, a South Korean national, had filed a complaint with police on Tuesday that his bag was stolen while he was eating at a restaurant on Soi Na Klua 27 at around 7.30pm that day. He had placed the bag on the backrest of a chair. It contained about 20,000 baht and 650,000 won (about 18,900 baht) in cash, his sunglasses and credit cards.
Police examined closed-circuit television images which captured the suspect stealing the bag, said Pol Capt Apichai.
Officers said Mr Sadat told them he was in Thailand as a tourist and it was his first offence. He claimed it was something he had done without thinking.
However, police were not convinced. The suspect is being held in police custody on theft charges.
By Chaiyot Pupattanapong
