A Thai spa owner living in the United States gave Thai police a 100,000 baht reward for finally catching a man who stole a Pattaya woman’s pick-truck three months earlier.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Surachate Hakparn, deputy chief for the Tourist Police Division, joined Provincial Police Region 2 chief Pol. Lt. Gen. Jitti Rodbangyang and Nongprue police superintendent Pol. Col. Chidecha Songhong June 23 to announce the arrest of Atid Jangmongkol, 34, in Bangkok.
Atid was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Pattaya Provincial Court May 24 for allegedly stealing a Nissan pickup in April from Maneerat Phupanee, 24.
The victim, a Udon Thani model working in Pattaya, filed a complaint with Nongprue police, who expended little effort to track down the suspect, despite having his photo and place of residence.
Fed up, she called her wealthy aunt Sudarat Phupanee in the U.S. on June 17, who posted the photo and details of the crime on the Facebook page of the deputy Tourist Police Bureau chief Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn.
Pol Maj Gen Surachate immediately called the Nongprue police chief and his boss in Chonburi on the carpet for dragging their feet. Lo and behold, four days later they found Atid at an apartment in Bangkok and the missing truck at his family home in Buriram.
Hearing about the truck’s recovery, aunt Sudarat Phupanee bought a $3,000 ticket to fly from Boston to Bangkok where she appeared with the smiling cops at the news conference and presented the law enforcers with a 100,000 baht reward for catching the thief.
Maneerat thanked the police for getting her pick-truck back. She explained she had asked Atid to fix it after the clutch went out and, instead, he absconded with the vehicle.
