Nonthaburi Noodle Vendor Rages Over Teen Thieves' Food Theft
Two teenage suspects on an unlicensed motorcycle stole over 3,000 baht worth of meat and seafood from a Nonthaburi noodle shop's storage containers in an early-morning break-in, with security footage capturing the pair's coordinated theft.
A noodle shop owner in Nonthaburi has reported a theft to police after two teenage suspects on a motorcycle broke into locked food storage containers outside his shop and made off with ingredients worth over 3,000 baht. The incident occurred on August 12 at Hia Kai Rad Nah shop in Bang Bua Thong subdistrict, Bang Bua Thong district, Nonthaburi province, at around 1:26 a.m. Security footage shows a male suspect operating the motorcycle with a female passenger, who acted as lookout while the man used a screwdriver to pry open the lock on two chilled storage tanks containing 10 kilograms of marinated pork, 3 kilograms of fresh shrimp, and 5 kilograms of shrimp balls. The male suspect removed the ingredients in two bags and fled on the motorcycle.
Shop owner Thanon Sawaban, 46, commonly known as Hia Kai, discovered the theft the following morning when his employee arrived to open. He reviewed security footage from within the residential area, which captured the suspects arriving, stationing the motorcycle with the female keeping watch, and the male entering the shop to break into the storage containers. The footage also showed the suspect escaping into a nearby soi at 1:28 a.m. Hia Kai told reporters that the economic situation made the theft particularly frustrating, as business was already struggling. He expressed his belief that the suspects are a young couple, though he did not recognize them. He told police he cursed them, saying that stolen food would never bring happiness, and filed a report at Bang Bua Thong Police Station. Police are investigating using CCTV footage and searching for leads, noting that the motorcycle used in the theft bore no license plate.