A brazen thief on Koh Samui thought he could get away with snatching a fan under the cover of darkness—until a hidden GPS tracker led police straight to his door.
Police in Koh Samui, Surat Thani province, arrested a man after a stolen fan equipped with a GPS device exposed his hiding place in a labour camp.
The drama unfolded after 45 year old Maliwan (surname withheld) reported a burglary at a construction site in the Mueang 3 area of Maenam subdistrict. The theft occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, July 8, at around 12.41am.
Security cameras showed a man, believed to be Thai, about 160 centimetres tall, riding a motorcycle into the site. He left at 1.23am carrying the fan. Unbeknownst to the thief, Maliwan had cleverly hidden a GPS tracker inside the appliance.
When the device signalled its location in a nearby labour camp in Mueang 4, officers sprang into action. Police Colonel Panya Niratimanon, superintendent of Koh Samui Police Station, led the operation alongside senior investigators.
At the camp, police found 28 year old Charinphong, surname withheld, loitering near the GPS coordinates. His appearance matched the figure caught on CCTV.
Under questioning, Charinphong admitted he had stolen the fan. He then led officers to the stolen property and the motorcycle used during the crime.
Maliwan confirmed the fan was hers and demonstrated that the GPS tracker remained intact inside it, reported KhaoSod.
But the fan theft was not the only offence. During the arrest, officers discovered evidence of drug use. Charinphong confessed to using methamphetamine, classed as a category 1 narcotic.
Police charged him with nighttime theft using a vehicle for convenience and illegal use of category 1 narcotics, specifically methamphetamine.
“The suspect confessed to all charges,” police said in a statement. Officers seized the fan, the motorcycle, and other evidence before escorting Charinphong to Koh Samui Police Station to face legal proceedings.
The case has drawn attention among residents, who praised Maliwan’s foresight in planting the GPS tracker. Local police urged property owners to take similar precautions to protect valuable equipment, especially at construction sites vulnerable to night-time raids.
The story Koh Samui thief nailed by GPS hidden in stolen fan as seen on Thaiger News.
