Gold Snatcher Arrested Hours After Surin Shop Theft
A 21-year-old man from Sisaket province was arrested within hours of snatching gold jewelry worth 256,000 baht from a shop in Surin city. The suspect, identified as Rittichai, confessed he targeted the store because it had no security barriers and planned to sell the stolen items to pay off debts. Police recovered the gold and charged him with theft.
Within hours, police tracked down and arrested a young man who snatched gold jewelry from a gold shop, finding him at his rental home. The suspect confessed he planned to sell the stolen items to pay off debts. The shop owner noted the store had no security doors or barriers, which the thief had scoped out during multiple visits before the robbery.
At 11:50 a.m. on November 2, 2026, officers at Mueang Surin Police Station received a report of a gold snatching at a shop on Krung Sri Nai Road in Mueang Surin district. The shop owner stated the perpetrator was a man who asked to view gold ornaments before seizing a 2-baht-weight gold bracelet and a 2-baht-weight gold necklace, totaling 256,000 baht in value, and fleeing on foot. The incident was captured on CCTV.
Following the crime, Pol. Lt. Col. Worayut Chan-yiam, Superintendent of Surin Provincial Police, ordered investigators from Mueang Surin Police Station and the Provincial Special Operations Unit to pursue the suspect. They apprehended him at a rental house in Mueang Thi subdistrict, Mueang Surin district. The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Rittichai, a native of Sisaket province, and the stolen gold jewelry was recovered.
During questioning, the suspect confessed he had deliberately targeted this shop because it lacked security doors or barriers. Before the theft, he parked a sedan on the adjacent street and walked past the shop twice to survey it before entering and committing the crime. He intended to sell the gold to repay debts. Police then took him to reenact the crime before proceeding with formal charges.
