Pattaya —
 Masked burglars broke into the house of Chinese tourists in Pattaya while brandishing firearms and stole various valuables before escaping. Police have arrested one of the three suspects so far.
The house burglary was reported to Pattaya Police early Wednesday morning, May 3rd. The officers rushed to the scene at the Pattaya Muang Mai Village, in the Nongprue sub-district, Banglamung district, to find three Chinese victims, Mr. Wang Zhijun, 35, Ms. Lin Xuerui, 27, and Mr. Gu Junjie, 37, in a state of shock at the dwelling.
Upon questioning the victims, the officers learned that three masked robbers broke into their premises in the small hours of May 3rd. They brandished guns, tied up each victim’s hands and feet with wire, and threatened the victims to hand over their belongings.
The robbery lasted about 15 minutes, and the robbers made off with 170,000 baht in cash, four mobile phones, one iPad, three wrist watches, one gold ring, and a black Honda City sedan. Additionally, the perpetrators forced Mr. Wang to transfer 207,400 baht out of his bank account and also removed the house’s surveillance camera server with them.
According to the victims, the suspects spoke Thai. They fled in a black Ford sedan and the victim’s stolen black Honda City sedan, leaving the victim’s village and turning left onto Jomtien Second Road. Police believed that the robbers had carefully planned the crime in advance.
Pattaya Police began tracking the GPS trail of the victim’s stolen vehicle and later found that it had been abandoned in the deep forest by the side of Nong Ta Uan Road in the Pong sub-district of Banglamung District, Chonburi. Upon inspection, the criminals had burned and discarded the remote control key of the car and fled.
Police went to investigate another location in the Khao Mai Kaeo sub-district and found a black Isuzu D-Max pickup truck that they believed belonged to the suspects. Its license plates had been removed from both the front and back.
According to the latest reports, police were able to apprehend one of the suspects, 28-year-old Mr. Chai Chanachai of Thai nationality. He was found hiding in a room in the Nern Pra sub-district of Mueang district, Rayong province, along with two other accomplices who reportedly fired shots at police and managed to escape.
Mr. Chai is being interrogated by police. His fleeing accomplices are expected to be captured soon, police said.
