A Pattaya watch trader made a citizen’s arrest of a Russian man who stole a timepiece from his shop.
At around 9:30pm on March 8th, Pattaya police were called to the scene of the incident in South Pattaya where a Russian was being held under arrest by a trader.
Trader Phairat Kanchananithi, 44, said Grigoli Korolkov, 44, came into his shop ostensibly to buy a watch on Wednesday.
Everything seemed normal, and Mr. Kanchananithi noticed nothing strange about the customer, but while his attention was distracted for just a second or two he pocketed a Naviforce watch worth 1,200 baht.
He soon realized the Russian had stolen it and went in search of him. He eventually caught up to the Russian at the Wat Chaimonkhon intersection in South Pattaya and held onto him before police arrived.
At Pattaya police station Korolkov denied theft saying he did not intend to keep the watch that he was in possesion off. In fact, all he wanted to do was have a look at it, before returning it to the shop owner.
Police were quick to dismiss his excuse as nonsense and charged him accordingly for his crime.
