PATTAYA, Thailand – Two Ugandan women, Mariam Nakaisa, 38, and Sheebah Ainembabazi, 28, were arrested at a hotel in the Phra Tamnak Hill area of South Pattaya on June 17, following the issuance of arrest warrants by the Pattaya Provincial Court on charges of “night-time theft.”
The arrests are connected to an incident reported on June 10 by Mr. Khalid, a Canadian tourist who informed Banglamung Police that he had been robbed. He recounted that after a night of drinking on Walking Street in South Pattaya, he invited two African women to his hotel room on Pattaya-Naklua Road for paid companionship, offering 2,000 baht each. He claimed that after he fell asleep, he awoke to find approximately 90,000 baht in various currencies missing from his room’s safe and suspected the two women of the theft.
Pol. Col. Navin Sinthurat, Superintendent of Banglamung Police Station, promptly coordinated with immigration police to expedite the investigation, emphasizing the negative impact the incident had on Pattaya’s tourism image. The investigation soon identified the suspects as Ugandan nationals.
Following the gathering of substantial evidence, including CCTV footage, arrest warrants were issued. The suspects were traced to a hotel in the Phra Tamnak Hill area, where they were apprehended. During the arrest, police seized key evidence such as clothing worn on the day of the incident and an Afro wig allegedly used for disguise.
Despite the evidence against them, the suspects denied all charges. They claimed they were not sex workers as Mr. Khalid had alleged, insisting that he hired them for a massage and that they left when he fell asleep. Nonetheless, the police, armed with significant evidence including the CCTV footage, have handed the suspects over to investigators for further legal proceedings.
