Police hunt burglars after gold and cash worth more than 6 million baht stolen from Kathu home

Police in Kathu are searching for burglars who stole gold and cash worth more than 6 million baht from a house in a housing estate in the district, according to local police.

Kathu police chief Col. Chalermchai Hernsawat reported the case on June 9 to Phuket provincial police commander Maj. Gen. Sinlert Sukhum. He said investigators from Kathu Police Station and the Phuket provincial investigation unit had been ordered to expand the inquiry by reviewing CCTV footage from surrounding areas to track down the suspects.

Police said forensic officers had also been asked to collect latent fingerprints for checks against criminal records.

The case was reported to Kathu police at about 2 p.m. on June 8 by a 54-year-old caretaker, identified as Somsak. He told investigators that unknown offenders had broken into the house and stolen valuables including 33 baht-weight of gold bars, 7 baht-weight of gold jewelry, more than 2 million baht in Thai banknotes and euro cash worth more than 1 million baht in Thai currency.

Police said the total value of the stolen property was more than 6 million baht.

According to the caretaker, the house belongs to his younger brother and older sister, both of whom live overseas, and he looks after the property for them. He told police he visits the house once a week. When he arrived on the day of the incident to clean the property, he found signs of forced entry and then discovered the valuables were missing.

Police are continuing efforts to identify and arrest those responsible and to recover the stolen property.