By The Straits Times | Created at 2025-03-18 16:44:02 | Updated at 2025-03-20 15:19:24
1 day ago
A suspected burglar thought he had devised the perfect plan to rob a gold shop in a Thai shopping mall – by hiding inside the mall until closing time before breaking into the shop.
However, his plan backfired when he found himself trapped inside the store, unable to escape.
Police easily arrested the suspect, Aesara (surname withheld), 21, after finding him locked inside the gold shop in the shopping centre on the Chiang Mai-Lampang Superhighway in Chiang Mai’s Mueang district, the next morning on March 18.
Aesara admitted to police that he had studied his target for three days in preparation for what he believed would be the perfect robbery. Travelling from Na Noi district in Nan province, he wore a black outfit and the infamous “Ghostface” mask from the Scream film franchise, intending to evade security cameras.
Police Colonel Yannapol Pattanachai, commander of Mae Ping police station, said that the suspect parked his motorcycle at a petrol station opposite the mall before entering the mall at 5pm on March 17.
After hiding inside the mall until closing time, he changed into a black outfit and put on the Ghostface mask. Using a metal bar, he pried open the lock on the retractable iron gate of the gold shop. Once inside, he pulled the gate shut behind him to avoid detection.
However, after grabbing several gold necklaces, he realised he could not lift the iron gate from the inside, as it was too close to the shop’s display counter. Desperate, he searched for another way out through the back of the shop but failed to find an escape route.
In the morning, staff arriving for work discovered him trapped inside. They secured the door with an additional lock and immediately called the police, leading to his swift arrest. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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