Receptionist Drugged, Hotel Robbed By Foreigner In Phuket

[96tehtarp 1,460]

Are these Roma?

[BradinAsia 723]

falang is any non-thai

He-he-he... where did you learn that?

Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans are not called farang.

[Jimi007 1,653]

Danish man wanted for Phuket hotel robbery

PHUKET: Police have issued an arrest warrant for the man believed to have drugged a Karon hotel receptionist on Monday and made off with B3 million worth of belongings from security boxes.

Tanyaluk Sakoot

Friday 18 January 2013, 03:18PM

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The man who goes by the names Tony, Robert, Michael and Philippe, is wanted by police for the Karon robbery.

A man who variously goes by the names Tony, Robert, Michael and Philippe, holding a Danish passport, is understood to have committed the crime.

The belongings of 21 hotel guests, believed to worth as much as B3 million, were stolen from the Karon Place hotel when the robber gave coffee to the receptionist, causing her to feel drowsy and then fall asleep.

The thief also took away the recording from the hotel’s CCTV camera.

Police are also looking for another person believed to know details of the crime – a Danish man named Mustafa Rahmi Bildirir, 197cm tall and 48 years of age.

Karon policeman and Deputy Phuket Provincial commander Pol Col Arun Keawwati announced details of “Tony” and Mr Bildirir at a press conference in Karon earlier today.

Col Arun said the man used the name “Tony” to try to check into a room at the Lankans Hotel in Patong, but no rooms were available. He then used the name “Philippe” to rent a motorbike.

Col Arun said details of Tony and Mr Bildirir had been forwarded to all police stations and checkpoints around Phuket, and police were searching for both men.

Edited January 18, 2013 by Jimi007

[Payboy 7,113]

Doesn't look so middle eastern, does he?

[meatboy 4,155]

danish man with the name mustafa,must afa laugh

[tingtongtourist 1,517]

If you offer a drink to a Thai guy who you just met, a caffeine/sugar energy drink will get accepted better than coffee.

and offer Lao Khao accepted even easier

[Udox 136]

The hotel has 55 rooms. If they had 100% occupancy you can say (for the sake of argument) that perhaps half the rooms decided to use the 'safety' boxes. With an estimated 3 million value stolen - that equates to about 27 safety boxes each averaging contents inside of 111,000 baht.

Not making any accusations here but it does seem rather an excessive amount.

Most guests will put a passport, tickets and perhaps a mobile phone inside.

Just saying...............

Edited January 18, 2013 by Udox

[maidu 1,357]

Will be interesting to see whether the cops find any incriminating evidence associated with either Tony/Robert/Michael/Philippe or Mustafa Rahmi Bildirir the Dane (!) .....and how about a lie-dectector exam for the receptionist.

Just yesterday, had some Danes (and 4 other nationalities) trekking around the countryside, having a lovely wholesome time together. It's like a whole different world up here in northernmost Thailand, compared to the southern resort cities.

[Payboy 7,113]

Mustafa Rahmi Bildirir, 197cm tall

Guess he's ducked out of sight somewhere.

[hawker9000 4,445]

Not quite sure why this should become a Phuket bashing thread. There are enough of those anyway.

This could have happened anywhere.

I know this hotel (in fact I nearly posted this story on TV on Tuesday when I knew about this but didn't for the sake of the hotel owners and guests). It's in a fairly quiet area, mostly frequented by Swedish and just inside there's a front desk with one security person and the safety lockers are right behind. I'd never looked to see how secure they seemed but the fact they were forced open (not mentioned in the story) implies not very. Rooms are quite a distance from the front desk so I can see how nobody heard anything. It was obviously a targeted robbery.

Room safes are far from perfect but are they a better option than security lockers at the front desk?

I agree. When making hotel reservations through Agoda or whatever, if there's no in-room safe, that's pretty much a deal-killer for me, unless I know the place and the safety deposit boxes are behind the reception desk and in open view, and require the guest to provide his own lock. The hotel must be big enough that there'll be at least a few staff around at all times and more than likely some guest traffic through the lobby. No such thing as 100% security - as in this case forcing safety boxes open is often a possibility - but you can take steps to manage the risk. (I also would never bring my personal cellphone from the US into Thailand - which isn't going to work anyway - in the 1st place. 'Would consider carefully what exactly I'm leaving in the safety deposit box as well.) I hardly ever keep anything of much value in my suitcase, but I keep it locked in my room anyway, and have never had one messed with. The small "budget" hotels can be a tradeoff between room rate and security; many of the guesthouses probably a better option if you're on a tight budget.

[smotherb 6,143]

Farangs drugging Thais? That's a twist.

My understanding, farang refers to the westerners, especially the white ones.

Not sure that middle-easterners fall into this category.

falang is any non-thai

More like "any westerner", including southerners (Australians, New Zealanders) and northerners (Russians, etc).

I live in Hatyai, Malaysians are referred to as falang

[maturebrit 65]

as a non thai farang is really not used in only one context.... its foreigner...non Thai or Caucasian... take your pic

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[noob7 289]

I don't believe the story. Never been to an hotel yet where you've needed to drug the receptionists. They seem to be able to fall asleep on their own!!

I've never been to a hotel where the receptionist would accept a cup of coffee from a guest.

The whole story sounds wrong to me.

Security guard, not receptionist.

I don't know the scenario but not difficult to imagine how the perpetrator could gain a guard's confidence, walk around the corner to the 7-Eleven and return with a couple of coffees.

But it could just as well have involved collusion with the guard. If I find out more I will post it.

Security guard, isn't that the guy, who you have to wake up, in case you want that the id card get checked, from your escort?

[noob7 289]

Complete fabrication.

Thai security never sleep.

[noob7 289]

I don't believe a word of this. Why would a farang make coffee for the hotel receptionist? Why would the recetionist take a coffee from a farang? Then all the CCTV tapes go missing......I vote for The Receptionist - In The Lobby, and the Candlestick.

Why would a farang make coffee for a receptionist?

Possibly so he could drug it! And he didn't make it, he allegedly bought it at the 7-Eleven just around the corner. And they do have working CCTV, so I have been told.

And why would the receptionist take the coffee?

Because the perpetrator(s) had befriended the guy over the previous couple of evenings.

Is it only me?

Why the hell is a security guard or receptionist partying with people , who strolling around in 'his' hotel, late in the night, but aren't guests of this hotel?

On 3 nights in a row?

What ever is wrong on this story, the owner off the hotel has to fire this guy, anyway!