TIDE OF THEFT; KILN STASH; KNIVES APLENTY; FREE FEED

Brazen thieves in Samut Prakan exploited a rising tide to travel by boat and break into riverside houses, forcing open doors and taking valuables worth over 4 million baht.

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The thieves broke into three homes in Na Kluea sub-district, Phra Samut Chedi district. So confident were they about not getting caught that they even switched on the air con at one place and helped themselves to drinks from the fridge.

The thieves made off with cash and Buddha images, said Pol Lt Sarawut Sermklin, deputy inspector (investigation) of Ban Khlong Suan police. He received reports of multiple break-ins in Village 5 of the district's Ban Sakla community.

The first place, belonging to Sarayut (no surname given), 38, is a single-storey raised wooden house. Beneath the house, on the muddy ground, footprints were visible, and muddy footprints also marked the steps.

The wooden front door had been forced with a screwdriver, breaking the padlock. Inside, belongings were scattered about.

Stolen items included wristwatches, old coins, collectible banknotes, and amulets with a total value over 50,000 baht.

Sarayut, a Buddha amulet trader with a shop in the Phra Pradaeng amulet market, said no one lived in the house permanently, and he only visited occasionally.

His younger sister, who returned to collect a watch for their father in Lampang, discovered the break-in.

The thief likely took advantage of the high tide to bring a boat to the back of the house, slipped through the underfloor space, and stole the goods.

What infuriated him most was that the culprit coolly turned on a fan and the bedroom air-conditioner, and drank two bottles of water from the fridge.

The second house was a three-storey wooden place belonging to 85-year-old twin sisters.

The intruder forced open the back door and stole items from the second and third floors: two 12cm Luang Pho To Buddha images, a medium-sized safe, over 100 collectible antique coins, six CCTV cameras, two old silver betel sets, more than 20 gold rings, and 30 amulets — worth over 40,000 baht.