Man arrested after abducting 2 kids in On Nut area

An image from a CCTV footage depicts Chaiyo Charoenwai, 27, who approached the 7 and 8 year olds.
An image from a CCTV footage depicts Chaiyo Charoenwai, 27, who approached the 7 and 8 year olds.

A man was arrested Monday morning after he allegedly kidnapped two siblings who had been missing for nearly two days from a supermarket in Bangkok’s On Nut area.

The two kids, 7 and 8, were rescued on Sunday night after police arrested 27-year-old man Chaiyo Charoenwai near Sanam Luang in Bangkok’s old town, according to Col. Wachirakorn Wongboon, chief of Phra Khanong Police Station, on Monday. 

Chaiyo confessed to police that he abducted the two kids, Wachirakorn said, at around 7pm on Saturday from a Tesco Lotus Express supermarket in Soi Sukhumvit 50 after he approached them and promised to buy them a scooter. 

Police were alerted to the siblings’ abduction by their father, Wiroj Wongammart, after they did not come home on the night of the incident. Pictures and posts of the missing kids went viral over the weekend. 

Police inspected CCTV cameras near the supermarket and later received a tip by a witness that the kids were spotted near Soi Charan Sanitwong 34. Police found the children, who were reportedly “weak and tired,” there at around 11pm Sunday.

Chaiyo was charged with the abduction of children under 15 years old, a crime that’s punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of THB200,000 (US$6,688). Chaiyo, who police said had been previously arrested for drug use, is currently under police custody for questioning.

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