Hoping to ease Pattaya’s pandemic of snatch-and-run robberies, police practiced how to catch such thieves in a real-life simulation.
Pol. Maj. Nuttawat Thanajarivat and Pol. Capt. Panlok Lringrod led the April 9 drill that had two Thai men wearing full-facemask helmets “rob” an Apple iPhone and 5,000 baht cash from a woman buying fruit on Soi Wat Boonkanchanaram and speed off on a motorbike.
Patrol and investigative team officers received and responded to the report, radioing for help in shutting down the likely escape route and passing on descriptions.
Officers set up checkpoints and snared the “thieves” with their booty at the Soi Chaiyapruek intersection in Jomtien Beach.
Nuttawat said the drill was staged under orders from Provincial Police Region 2 which is carrying out a national directive to cut down on snatch-and-run crime, especially during Songkran.
