Vietnamese gangs target unsuspecting Grand Palace crowds, with some booking flights to plunder goods.

The large gathering of mourners for His Majesty the King outside the Grand Palace has been a gold mine for crooks, with some having taken the trouble to fly from other countries to take advantage of the unsuspecting crowds.

Mourners flocking to Sanam Luang and queuing up to enter the Grand Palace to pay tribute to the King have become easy targets for transnational pickpockets, most of whom flew in from Vietnam, according to Chana Songkhram police.

The police team has been investigating instances of pick-pocketing at Sanam Luang and nearby Thammasat University where a graduation ceremony and rehearsals were held recently.

Chana Songkhram police has handled robbery complaints in the area since Oct 14, a day after the King's passing.

Several people who had been queuing up to sign condolence books at the Grand Palace told police that pickpockets were on the prowl. Victims initally though the perpetrators were Thai.

The investigators found many suspects were in fact Vietnamese, and had arrived in Thailand with the sole purpose of stealing from mourners at Sanam Luang.

Police reviewed security camera footage from the area and found the suspects were mostly women who looked to be from a neighbouring country, presumably Vietnam, said Somyot Udomraksasap, deputy chief investigator at the station.

"At the beginning of the month, the detectives began looking for suspects in the crowds with the help of images from security cameras," he said.

A large number of thefts was reported on Nov 4 when Thammasat held a rehearsal for its graduation ceremony at Tha Phrachan campus, Pol Lt Col Somyot said.

"Three suspected pickpockets were apprehended at the university and brought to Chana Songkhram police station for questioning," he said.

Two of them held Vietnamese passports and entered Thailand on a tourist visa. The other suspect was a Cambodian national. They had all travelled by plane directly from their home countries to Thailand.

The Vietnamese suspects landed at Suvarnmabhumi where they immediately caught a public van to Sanam Luang to steal valuables, especially expensive smartphones, from mourners, said Pol Lt Col Somyot.

The Cambodian suspect allegedly said she came to Thailand to steal but backed down after seeing a heavy band of security guards at Sanam Luang.

The suspect returned to Cambodia and waited for the right opportunity to come back, as she did when she heard about Thammasat's graduation ceremony and rehearsals.

She stole smartphones from among the crowds and sold them in her country.

According to police, pickpockets rarely strike alone.

They arrive in groups, with a gang member distracting a potential victim by pretending to bump into him or her.

Then, another gang member quickly snatches a phone or other valuables from the victim's back pocket or from a bag slung over the victim's back.

The stolen objects are then passed on to a third gang member quickly.

"More and more Vietnamese thieves are arriving here to commit robberies. They previously operated on Khao San Road," Pol Lt Col Somyot said.

"They follow public event schedules in Thailand such as graduation ceremonies where opportunities [to pickpocket] are plentiful."

Police have heightened security at Sanam Luang, including setting up check points at eight entry points. The checks have turned up small knives that could be used by thieves to cut bags open.

Police are also keeping an eye on homeless people in the Sanam Luang area.

"Some homeless people had stolen mobile phones at the free phone battery-recharging service points run by mobile phone network operators," he said.

The thieves pretended to be staff at the battery-recharging points. They steal customers' phones when they aren't watching, Pol Lt Col Somyot said.

Visitors to Sanam Luang are advised to check the identity of staff at various service points before handing them their phones for recharging. Staff are supposed to wear a uniform from their affiliated organisations, he said.

Visitors are also warned against tucking a smartphone in the back pocket of their trousers or having their bags slung around their backs when stuck in a crowd.

Source:
courtesy of BANGKOK POST

by WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]