Another Indian tourist strolling around Pattaya flashing gold had his necklace stolen.
Shivanjaneya Kapuram, 42, became the latest victim of snatch-and-run thieves May 14, this time at the entrance to Walking Street.
He was accosted by a transgender prostitute who, while soliciting him, grabbed his chain and ran off.
The thick necklace was worth 45,000 baht. Police are investigating.
This is the fourth reported theft involving beach prostitutes and Indian tourists in less than a month.
An Indian tourist who picked up a Beach Road prostitute had his expensive gold necklace stolen while he was in the shower.
The unidentified tourist told police May 11 that he took the streetwalker to a hotel. While he was cleaning up, she took the 45,000-baht gold chain he left in the bedroom and fled.
The tourist told the media that the police told him to go back to his hotel after making the report without even asking him to sign it, so he wondered if police were taking the case seriously.
On May 5, Pravin Sutrave, 43, reported to Pattaya police that while he was walking along Second Road late at night, two transgender women on a motorbike stopped and got off, hugging him as they propositioned him for sex.
Sutrave said he refused and pushed them away, but realized almost immediately afterward that they had stolen his gold necklace worth 37,000 baht.
Police checked out the scene of the crime, but found it dark and deserted. Officers pulled CCTV camera footage for their investigation.
A few days earlier on April 21, an Indian tourist identified only as “Kumar”, was walking on Second Road, he was accosted by a Thai woman and a transgender prostitute, who hugged him while propositioning him. Kumar declined and the pair scooted off. Only afterward did Kumar realize his 16-ounce gold necklace worth 33,000 baht was gone.
Pattaya police are warning newly arriving tourists especially Indians to be extra careful when walking the dark streets of Pattaya late at night. They said that most of Pattaya streets are dark and deserted because the majority of shops are still closed due to the pandemic. Criminals are lurking in the darkness to attack and rob unwary tourists of their valuables.
Police are adding another warning to the long list of Dos and Don’ts for new tourists to Pattaya. “Don’t pick up a roadside prostitute and take her or him to your room. The chances are statistically high, you will get robbed.”
As Pattaya is opening up to an influx of tourists again, residents and business operators dread to think that the two-year Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis, compounded by the lack of foreign tourists to Pattaya had also deprived criminals of their livelihood, so now they see an opportunity to get back to work again. If this trend continues unabated, Pattaya’s will lose its reputation as being a safe tourist destination.
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