From the Nation:
Tuesday February 27, 2007
SUVARNABHUMI
Foreign thieves target travellers
Police urge passengers to be careful with baggage after surge in thefts
Police yesterday warned passengers at Suvarnab-humi Airport not to leave their baggage unattended as a motley group of thieves comprising mainly foreigners have been targeting travellers.
There have been Filipinos, Indonesians, Chinese, Laotians and Peruvians caught stealing at the airport, police said.
The tourist-service unit at the airport received 415 theft reports from tourists since the airport began full commercial services in late September.
Reported thefts at Suvarnabhumi had climbed from just nine in September to 54 in October, 72 in November, 101 in December and 114 in January.
Of these, 152 concerned items that went missing at the airport, 152 were items lost on board flights and 101 involved possessions going missing outside the terminal buildings.
"Keep an eye on your belongings and avoid putting cash or credit cards in your baggage," Lt-Colonel Thammawat Hirunyalekha of the airport's tourist centre said yesterday.
He said police recently arrested a Laotian who had confessed that he would spend nights inside the terminal watching out for unattended bags.
"When we searched his Bangkok apartment, we found many travellers' bags, digital cameras and notebook computers," Thammawat said.
There were Filipino, Indonesian, Chinese and Peruvian thieves in the airport too, Thammawat said.
He said Chinese thieves usually pick-pocketed while criminals of other nationality tended to mingle with crowds waiting to check in and snatched unguarded bags.
"These thieves usually target Japanese tourists because they often keep cash and credit cards in their unattended bags," Thammawat said.
He said the Chinese thieves appeared to work as a gang because when they were caught, they would be bailed fast. "We sometimes arrest people twice at the airport after they have sneaked back to China and changed their names before returning," he said.
Lt-Colonel Pakapong Sai-ubon, of the Police Immigration Bureau, said some criminals flew into the airport purely to steal valuables from other passengers.
"They usually fly from trading cities like Hong Kong and grab the bags of their targets," he said.
Pol Lt-Colonel Satit Prom-utai of the Tourism Division hoped the Immigration Bureau would blacklist foreign thieves caught at the airport.
"We will ask the Immigration Bureau to blacklist them," he said.
Thammawat said that according to passenger complaints, some items were also stolen from luggage after it had been checked in. Complaints have become less frequent, however, since the Airports of Thailand stepped up safety measures along the baggage-belt zones.
Suvarnabhumi Airport director Serirat Prasutanont said the airport was working closely with police in a bid to ensure safety.
"We will add more security cameras," he said.