Singaporean says hotel blunder led to his arrest at Bangkok airport for room theft

A beach holiday in Pattaya turned into a nightmare for a Singaporean man, who said he was wrongly arrested at Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport on Monday, after being falsely accused of stealing the belongings of a German tourist.

Speaking to The Straits Times, Mr Kenny Teo said he had flown to Thailand with three friends on July 6.

He planned to return home on Monday, but to his horror, he was arrested at the airport before he could board the return flight. He also found his full name mentioned in several Thai and Singapore news outlets, linking him to a case of theft in a Pattaya hotel.

Mr Teo, who returned to Singapore at midnight on Friday, said he has been cleared of the charges.

Mr Teo told ST that the misunderstanding arose due to a blunder on the part of T Pattaya Hotel, where he and his friends stayed in.

On Sunday, his friend, who wanted to be identified as Mr Chee, checked out of Room 614 to move into a smaller room, he said.

Mr Chee then left the hotel while Mr Teo stayed in his room as he was not feeling well.

The hotel staff tried to contact Mr Chee to collect items that he supposedly left behind in Room 614, but failed to reach him, so they asked Mr Teo to collect them instead.

“I went down to the reception and collected a laptop and a small sling bag,” Mr Teo said.

In the bag was 86,000 baht (S$3,840) and €‎150 (S$222) in cash, and a BMW car key, according to Thai newspaper Siam Rath.

At that point, Mr Teo was not aware that the items were, in fact, retrieved by mistake from Room 416, instead of 614. He said he had just kept the items in his carry-on luggage, thinking that they belong to his friend.

“Mr Teo did not think much of it because he had noticed Mr Chee with a laptop on their trip,” another travel companion who wished to be identified as Mr Huang told ST.

On Monday, the group of friends left the hotel at 11am to catch their flight at the Bangkok airport.

Mr Teo said: “We were about to board our flight when I was arrested by the airport police.”

That was when he realised the guest staying in Room 416, a German tourist, had made a police report in Pattaya regarding the “theft”.

Mr Teo said was detained by both the immigration police and the tourist police in Pattaya for a total of 20 hours.

“I was arrested around 4.35pm on Monday and held at the airport till midnight on Tuesday,” he said, adding that he was then taken back to Pattaya, about two hours’ drive away.

He was then kept in a holding cell until 1pm before giving his police statement.

Two of his friends returned to Singapore first, while one of them stayed back to post bail for him.

Mr Teo said his passport was withheld while police investigation was ongoing, but it was returned to him at noon on Thursday, after the case was dropped.

The police dismissed the case as a misunderstanding, he added.

Mr Teo said he had spent around $2,000 in legal fees and another $500 for the extra two nights of hotel stay and his flight home.

“This whole incident has been a nightmare and very disruptive for me. My plans at work have all been held back,” he added.

He was just grateful that his family, friends and colleagues remained supportive after seeing the initial news reports.

“I think their reaction to the news that I had stolen a laptop and passport was that it seemed weird and probably untrue,” he said.

The news reports mainly cited a Facebook post by the Thai immigration police, which said they arrested a Singaporean man for “robbery or receiving stolen goods” on Monday.

As at Friday evening, the post has not been taken down.

Mr Teo said the hotel has apologised to him and gave him free-stay vouchers as compensation.

The Straits Times has contacted the T Pattaya Hotel, Bangkok Airport Immigration Police and Pattaya Tourist Police for more information.