On May 3, police in Pattaya apprehended all remaining suspects in the robbery case that targeted Chinese tourists. The arrests were made in Thailand’s eastern Sa Kaeo province at a border crossing.
The three remaining suspects connected to the robbery were captured by Pattaya Police early yesterday morning. The suspects were named as Wanchai Kreedkrai, 27, Nakarin Sae Teo, 26, and 31-year-old Sarawut Suthaphot, the suspected mastermind behind the crime.The arrest happened at the Khlong Luek sub-district of the Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo province, close to the Aranyaprathet Border Checkpoint and the natural border crossing point. Guns and some of the stolen property from the Chinese victims’ homes were also taken into custody with the suspects.
All three suspects admitted to taking part in the crime during the course of the inquiry. They said that they had believed, in error, that their targets were a group of prosperous Chinese businessmen. But after they had committed the heist, they realized that the victims were regular Chinese tourists.The remaining three suspects made an effort to flee to Cambodia through the Chanthaburi province after learning that the other two conspirators had been detained by the police. They traveled back and forth between the two nations up until their financial resources were exhausted, according to The Pattaya News.
The suspects then moved to Sa Kaeo, close to the Thai-Cambodian border, in search of work. They used a mobile phone inadvertently to reveal their location, which allowed the police to apprehend them.
The suspects admitted that their dependence on internet gambling served as the inspiration behind the crime. The investigative team led all three of the individuals to the Khlong Luek Police Station after their arrests so they could provide statements. They were then taken to the Pattaya Police Station for more interrogation.When the authorities looked into the criminal histories of the culprits, they found that Sarawut had previously been charged with drug-related offenses. Wanchai had a history of being prosecuted for engaging in illegal gambling while Nakarin had previously been charged with possessing Category 1 narcotics and participating in illegal gambling.
All suspects are still being held by police.
