Jirapa Pasomsub answers questions at Phuket City Police
Station.
PHUKET CITY: A woman who, in a three-year spree, allegedly
robbed at least 15 homes of as much as 570,000 baht
apiece, has been caught in a police sting.
The woman, named as Jirapa “Ying” Pasomsub, 34, from
Nakhon Sri Thammarat, got into the homes by answering
advertisements for a maid. Once in a home she would
work for a few hours before disappearing with her
swag.
Pol Capt Prawit Engchuan explained that, in order
to catch Jirapa, he posted notices around Phuket City
on April 12, purportedly seeking a maid.
Many women applied but he rejected all those who did
not fit the description given to him by Jirapa’s victims.
On June 3, however, a woman matching the description
applied for the job and Capt Prawit videotaped the
“job interview”. He then showed photos taken from
the video to a number of Jirapa’s victims, who identified
her as the culprit.
Three days later, Capt Prawit went to Jirapa’s home
in Komarapaj Rd, Phuket City, and “invited” her to
come to the police station, where she was confronted
by some of the victims and other witnesses, and identified
as the perpetrator.
Capt Prawit said that Jirapa admitted to 15 counts
of theft: 10 in Phuket City, three in Patong and two
in Tung Tong. He added that he was sure there were
more. “She started stealing in 2003, taking cash,
jewelry, gold ornaments, gems and gold amulets,” he
said.
Jirapa, who used a variety of names when pretending
to be a maid, including Koy, Noi and Poo, sold the
stolen objects to the Jib Heng Luang Gold shop in
Tambon Srisoontorn, in Thalang District.
On Monday, Phuket City Police Station Superintendent
Col Paween Pongsirin, along with an entourage consisting
of the accused, Capt Prawit and other police officers,
five of the victims and three members of the press,
paid a visit to the gold shop and asked to see all
the objects Jirapa had sold.
The owner promptly fetched a variety of items and
stressed that she did not know that Jirapa was a thief.
“She said she had won the articles gambling. I didn’t
think a women could be a thief,” said the gold shop
owner, whose name police withheld.
The shop owner added that some items had already been
sent to jewelers in Bangkok to be melted down. “The
jewelry you can see here is from the past two months,”
she said.
Jirapa told the police that she had already spent
the profits from the three-year spree but Capt Prawit
said he found this difficult to believe. “There was
a lot of money – in April alone she stole around one
million baht. We will be investigating this further,”
he said.
Capt Prawit added that the total Jirpapa was known
to have stolen over the three years was estimated
to be worth around three million baht.
“Besides this, there are other victims who have not
yet identified her [as the culprit], and I have been
in touch with other police stations to see whether
more victims can be identified,” he said.
One victim was Poolarp Sophontanasir, 25, the owner
of Phuket Leasing, a car finance company. He told
the Gazette that he and his wife had lost a valuable
amulet of Phra Somdej Wat Rakung, three gold rings
and two gold necklaces, the total value of which he
estimated at more than 570,000 baht.
“We hired her on April 12, and she worked for just
four hours before leaving with the valuables,” he
explained.
She even took items from the bedroom while he was
asleep on the bed, he added. “She may be fat but she
knows how to move silently. She’s a real professional,”
K. Poolarp said.
Capt Prawit urged all gold shops to be suspicious
of people who came to their shop frequently to sell
valuables. “Under the law,” he noted, “the owners
of gold shops are obliged to ask for the ID cards
of sellers and keep a record of them, but the Jib
Heng Luang shop didn’t do that.”
Jirapa has been charged with stealing from someone’s
home, an offense punishable by up to five years in
jail and a fine of up to 10,000 baht.
Jirapa Pasomsub answers questions at Phuket City Police
Station.
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