British tourist arrested on first day of holiday after 'stealing motorcycle and bag pack from locals'

A British tourist was arrested after an alleged stealing spree on the first day of his Thai holiday.

A British tourist was arrested after an alleged stealing spree on the first day of his Thai holiday.

Ben Frost, 39, was reportedly seen on CCTV riding away on a woman's motorcycle while she worked in her office in Pattaya, eastern Thailand last Monday (December 30) afternoon.

He then appeared at a pub in the evening and allegedly stole a fanny pack containing a mobile phone and 900 THB cash (22 GBP) from customer Natthawut Damkong, 23.

Police Colonel Khemmarin Pitsamai went to see the complainants and asked for more information last Saturday (January 4).

The motorcycle owner Chanida Muangsak, 30, told the police that she had forgotten to take the key with her after parking.

She said: "I came to work and parked across from the office as I usually do, but I forgot to take the key with me.

"I realised that I didn't have the key after half an hour had passed but when I went out to take the motorcycle, it had gone.

My friend who saw the incident told me that he tried to chase the thief but he managed to escape." The police also visited Natthawut who said he was at the pub drinking alone.

He said: "The British guy came to sit with me.

I went to the counter to grab him a bottle of beer leaving my f a n n y pack at the table but when I turned around, he ran away with my belongings." The police took the CCTV footage from the two places and investigated before they found and arrested the Brit when he was wandering around the busy city, a popular destination for western visitors.

The police claimed that the tourist had denied the crimes but they said they are confident that the evidence they have will be sufficient for him to be convicted.

Colonel Khemmarin said: "From our investigation we found that he came to Thailand with tourist visa and had been here for five days before we caught him.

"We patrolled the town and fortunately found him wandering around in the centre.

"We planned to charge him with theft but he denied it.

We believe the evidence we have is enough for him to be convicted eventually, but we will have to go through the legal process.''