A Roi Et man who has been allegedly stealing valuables from students at several Bangkok universities for months has been arrested, police said on Monday.
Watanaphat Sangmanee, 40, from the Northeastern province of Roi Et, was arrested at 9.50 pm in front of the Sabaidee Guesthouse in Bangkok’s Samsen area.
The warrant for his arrest had earlier been issued by the Dusit District Court for the alleged theft of a Macbook computer from a female Thammasat University student at the Tha Phra Chan campus.
The victim, Pimtawan Methasurak, filed a complaint on September 7 after her Mac notebook, a carrying bag and a Texas Instruments scientific calculator were stolen from a table under the Faculty of Economics’ building.
Police checked footage from security cameras and conducted an investigation that led to the arrest. Police also found that Watanaphat had allegedly committed several thefts from other universities in Bangkok.
Police said the Roi Et man pretended to be a master’s degree student, allowing him to mingle with students and take away bags or valuables from tables left unwatched.
Among the items seized from the suspect were several identification cards, driving licenses and ATM cards of several banks issued in other people’s names.
Two smartphones, several handbags, sunglasses, brandname t-shirts and a pair of expensive Adidas Ultraboost running shoes were also discovered.
Police quoted the suspect as saying that he had been stealing from university students and selling the stolen items online. He said he used the stolen ID cards to buy mobile phones with special discounts with package contracts to resell without having to shoulder the burden of the contracts.
He used the cash to buy meth pills and to rent his room at the guesthouse, which he checked into using a stolen ID card.
The police have issued a list of the thefts allegedly committed by Watanaphat. They include a Kipling purse with Bt600, an ATM card, a driving license and an ID card of Theejutha Supsuwan at Huachiew University two months ago; a Samsung smartphone, Bt300 in cash and an ATM card belonging to Jakkarin Nilsila inside Thephasadin Stadium, next to the National Stadium on June 6; a pair of Adidas UltraBoost Uncaged X Parley shoes belonging to Kittikarn Uamnoon inside the Rajabhat Suan Sunantha University on August 31; and an Asus notebook computer with a carrying case inside which was a purse with Bt500 in cash from Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-Ok: Chakrabongse Bhuwanart Campus on September 12. Police did not release the name of the victim.
On September 27, he allegedly stole a Lenovo notebook computer inside an Adidas carrying case belonging to Panya Saisakol inside Srinakharinwirot University.
