Stealing Under the Buddha’s Eyes! Chinese Man Pickpockets Korean Tourist—Caught on Camera but Argues 'The Person in the Footage Looks Older Than Me'

A 59-year-old Chinese national is suspected of stealing at Bangkok's famous Wat Pho temple in Thailand. After stealing a Korean tourist’s credit card, he made multiple purchases with it before finally being tracked down and arrested by the police. He now faces charges of theft at a religious venue and illegal use of someone else’s credit card.

The police stated the incident occurred around 1:30pm on July 5. While visiting Wat Pho, a Korean tourist noticed that his credit card had gone missing from his wallet and soon began to receive a string of notifications about transactions and payment attempts at several stores. Suspecting card theft, the tourist immediately reported the matter to the Grand Palace Police Station.

After receiving the report, police launched an investigation and used CCTV footage to identify the suspect. They then applied to the court for an arrest warrant as prescribed by law.

Two days later, on the afternoon of July 7, investigators, acting on intelligence, staked out outside a hotel on Inthamara 45 Alley, Din Daeng District, Bangkok, and successfully apprehended the suspect.

According to police, the man denied any involvement after being arrested. Even when police showed him the CCTV footage on the spot, he still argued, “The person in the video looks older than me—that’s not me.”

However, with a complete chain of evidence in hand, the police left the suspect unable to defend himself.

Police then searched his hotel room, finding clothing worn during the crime, two mobile phones, multiple wallets, and various currencies including Thai baht, Malaysian ringgit, Vietnamese dong, Japanese yen, Australian dollars, Indian rupees, and Korean won. In total, 21 items were seized as evidence to aid in the investigation.

It is understood that the arrested man has now been charged with theft at a religious venue and illegal use of another person’s electronic payment card (credit card). The case has been handed over to the Grand Palace Police Station for further investigation and prosecution according to the law.