PATTAYA, THAILAND – A masked gang armed with knives stormed a house in a Nong Prue estate, threatening a British resident and his Thai girlfriend before fleeing with a safe containing more than 2 million baht.
Violent home invasion in Nong Prue estate
The robbery took place late Thursday night at about 11:06 p.m. in a two-storey townhouse in Chokchai Village 9 in Nong Prue, Banglamung district of Chonburi province. Police classified the incident as a targeted home-invasion robbery and launched an urgent search for the suspects, who escaped in a black pickup truck.
Deputy investigation chief Pol. Lt. Col. Chanchai Songwansaksri was notified and immediately alerted Pol. Col. Natthaphon PhongSukSakun, head of Nong Prue Police Station. Natthaphon went to the scene with investigators and Tourist Police officers.
Victims threatened and tied up
Inside the house were 32-year-old British national Wesleigh, who worked as a cook abroad, his 34-year-old Thai girlfriend Chandee, and another British friend. According to their statements, three dark-clothed, masked men rushed into the house, held a knife to the Briton’s neck and demanded to know where the money was.
The intruders forced the three into the kitchen, robbed two iPhones – an iPhone 16 and an iPhone 14 – and tied them up. Chandee was dragged back into the house after trying to flee.
Safe with over 2 million baht stolen
The men then went upstairs and carried out a home safe containing more than 2 million baht in cash, which had been prepared for the purchase of a house. They left the building calmly after removing the safe.
Outside the estate, the suspects got into a waiting black pickup and, according to the victims, broke through the barrier at the guard post as they drove away. The visibly shaken victims immediately alerted the police.
Escape in pickup and CCTV trail
Officers reviewed the home’s CCTV system and saw three tall, strongly built men wearing long black hooded tops and trousers, with only their eyes visible. The images formed the first key visual description of the suspects.
Pol. Col. Natthaphon ordered a radio alert for the fleeing vehicle and the suspects along the presumed escape route. Several investigation teams began searching the surroundings of the estate and nearby areas, and collected additional video footage, as police believed it was a planned home-invasion robbery.
Key clue: stolen phones found in roadside brush
In the early hours of 27 February, police reported progress in the case. At about 1:36 a.m., Pol. Col. Natthaphon personally led a search along the road running parallel to the railway line towards Sattahip.
Officers found the two stolen mobile phones belonging to the victims, which the suspects had thrown into a wooded roadside ditch near Nong Krabok Soi, about 200 metres apart. The discovery provided investigators with potential physical evidence.
Forensics and public appeal
The phones were photographed, secured and sent to the Region 2 Forensic Science Office in Chonburi for fingerprint and trace analysis. Speaking to the media, Pol. Col. Natthaphon said the gang had acted
“with the utmost audacity, without any fear of the law.”
said Pol. Col. Natthaphon PhongSukSakun, station chief, and he instructed his investigators to track down the group with the highest urgency.
Authorities appealed to the public for information about a suspicious black pickup or anyone matching the description of the three masked men. The station chief expressed confidence that arrests would follow in the near future, citing ongoing analysis of CCTV footage and forensic evidence, while the investigation continued at full speed.