Drafted Soldier Steals Traffic Police Motorcycle From Lodging

A drafted soldier stole a white traffic police motorcycle bearing the Trat insignia that was parked in front of a lodging house, abandoned it elsewhere, and walked back into town, apparently missing home. At 10:53 a.m. on August 19, 2025, Techitr Kulakanistatrakorn, commander of Mueang Trat Police Station, and Boonchai Suttivaree, deputy commander, received a report of the stolen police motorcycle parked in front of the traffic office building at Mueang Trat station. They immediately mobilized forces to track down the suspect with support from volunteer rescue workers. Officers located the white police motorcycle with Trat registration parked in front of a grocery store on Rai Pa-Dan Chumphol Road, Noen Sai subdistrict, Mueang, Trat. Police Lieutenant Somchoke Thiphyasat, head of the patrol unit at Mueang Trat station, apprehended the suspect at a three-way intersection on Sukhumvit Road in Wang Krajae subdistrict, Mueang, Trat. The suspect was a man wearing a green shirt with the name Surathat written on the front and the Navy insignia on the back. He was taken to point out where he abandoned the motorcycle and brought in for questioning at Mueang Trat Police Station for further legal proceedings. Preliminary investigation revealed the suspect was a drafted soldier who likely became homesick and fled, wanting to return home before committing the motorcycle theft. A local resident named Pitak, 52, who witnessed the incident while working nearby, said he saw the suspect ride up at high speed, abandon the motorcycle, and hurry back toward town. At first he thought it was an escaped prisoner and contacted rescue workers to inquire, but no escape had been reported, so he could only wonder why the man had fled. Another resident, a 50-year-old woman living across from where the motorcycle was abandoned, said she was cooking rice at her front door when she saw the suspect arrive and flee. She waved for help but remained unsuspicious, only puzzled why a soldier was riding a police motorcycle. A 44-year-old man named Somyot who gave the suspect a ride said he happened to be at a repair shop when the suspect asked for help getting to the Trat Provincial Transport Station. He agreed to drop the suspect at a three-way intersection in Wang Krajae subdistrict and only later learned the man had stolen a police motorcycle. The suspect had told him he was deceived into coming to work on fruit farms in Noen Sai. Police Lieutenant Nanthiphat Poolsawat, commander of the traffic unit at Mueang Trat station and owner of the motorcycle, said he had parked it in front of his office with the key left in the ignition after completing duties and stepping inside briefly to prepare for the next task. When he came back out, the motorcycle was gone. He initially thought a senior colleague had borrowed it but found no one knew anything about it until learning it had been stolen.