Police were called to an exclusive housing estate in Pattaya at 9pm last night after a Chinese man was held at gunpoint in his luxury home.
Police were reluctant to reveal any details and had placed a strict security ring around the area to discourage nosy reporters.
The good name of Pattaya must not be tarnished further, they might have said – but that is probably not what they were saying at all.
They did, however, claim that the Chinese victim was a tourist and five armed men had forced their way into his house at gunpoint and stolen more than 10 million baht from the safe.
The house had also been ransacked during the ordeal.
The Chinese victim and a group of his friends, who had arrived at the scene, were working with interpreters to help police understand what had taken place.
The police would not confirm whether the suspects were Chinese or local Thai men.
CCTV footage was being examined in an attempt to find out how the robbers had got into the security protected estate in the first place.
Although I think we know the answer to that already. We have a saying in South Africa that goes something like, ‘Never sack the gardener.’
Which loosely translates as ‘be very careful about who knows how to get in and out of your house and where the weak spots are.’
Meaning, these things are never random crimes and the police will not need to look too far to find out who is either responsible themselves or who sold the information on to others.
If they can be bothered, of course. – Albert Jack
