Police are on a manhunt for car thieves

Bangkok Post goes big today with a 'Special Report' on car theft in the capital. Two full pages are devoted to the police's hunt for 334 suspects, including the heavy boys in the illegal car trade.

This trade extends across borders and has ties to international crime syndicates. The Bangkok Municipal Police will soon distribute a list of the names to all police forces in the country.

Arrest warrants are pending against the 334 suspects. It is a mixed group of king pins, petty thieves and owners of so-called chop shops. Stolen cars are dismantled in these workshops, after which the parts are sent abroad. Police have already raided many garages, which has helped reduce the crime rate, Detective Inspector Atthapon Suriyaloet of the Metropolitan Police Bureau (Bangkok Municipal Police) said.

A new phenomenon in car thefts are the so-called fake car thefts. Criminals buy cars, sell them abroad, mainly in the three neighboring countries, report the theft to the police and collect the insurance money. According to Atthapon, fake thefts account for half of all thefts.

In Bangkok, most cars are stolen in Phaya Thai, Lumpini and Thong Lor. That's where the car thieves have to sort it out. Phaya Thai is a busy residential area and there are many restaurants and bars in the other two districts. The suburbs of Don Muang, Sai Mai and Lak Si are also popular because car thieves can easily flee there.

Furthermore, many cars are stolen in Bang Na. In this district alone, 170 reports of car theft were made in the first half of the year; this number does not include the reports made to the Royal Thai Police. Some garages in the neighborhood are suspected of collaborating with car thieves.

Atthapon has therefore ordered all district police stations to inspect at least two garages per month. But the police are not there yet, because stolen cars are also sold directly to foreign buyers.

Another chapter is the theft of motorcycles. These are largely hidden from the view of the police, because the thieves have them delivered by transport companies. The police have asked the companies to be alert to irregularities. Police at border posts have been asked to inspect vehicles in case the thieves have forged serial numbers.

In Saraburi, the police have succeeded in reducing the number of thefts with decoy motorcycles. The motorcycles were equipped with GPS and were parked in places where theft was common. The method has also been successfully applied in the Huai Khwang district.

More about the thefts later today in News from Thailand.

(Source: Bangkok Post, July 14, 2014)