Two women wanted for allegedly drugging and robbing foreign tourists in Pattaya, mainly elderly men, have been arrested, police said on Wednesday.
Netsai Panyakham, 40, and her cousin Manee Panyakham, 40, both from Tak’s Mae Sot district, were presented at a police press conference in Pattaya on Wednesday morning.
When they were arrested, police also seized three mobile phones, several stolen room keys and cash in Thai and foreign currencies. Three Frenchmen who were victims were present to identify the suspects.
Pol Col Sukkhathat Pumpanmuang, chief of Pattaya police, said the arrest followed complaints by several foreign nationals holidaying in Pattaya that two Thai women had approached them and offered to provide sex services.
When they showed an interest in the offer, the women persuaded them to drink whiskey or beer laced with sleeping pills. As they slept, the women stole their money and other valuables.
After receiving the complaints, Pattaya police and Chon Buri provincial transnational crime suppression centre officers jointly investigated and found that Ms Netsai and Ms Manee were involved. They tracked them to a rented room near Jomtien beach where they were apprehended, said Pol Col Sukkhathat.
The women told police it was the first time they had ever done anything like that, but investigators found out they had preyed on foreign tourists in Pattaya on several occasions.
The first case was reported in mid-December last year at a resort hotel on Pattaya Nua, where they drugged a foreign man and made off with 100 euros. They robbed another foreigner they met at a beer bar on Pattaya-Na Kluea Road in early January, and did it again on Feb 11 when they stole 140,000 baht from the victim, the Pattaya police chief said.
The two women targeted elderly foreign men, he added.
The two cousins were charged with theft and detained at Pattaya police station. Victims were urged to come forward and identify them.