By Praj Kiatpongsan
Fried Mackerel is one of Thailand’s most appetizing traditional cuisines (especially with shrimp paste dipping sauce), but never in the Thai history of crime has it assisted police with putting someone in prison.
Until now.
On a normal Tuesday morning, a woman contacted police to report that belongings of hers worth nearly THB100,000 were stolen at approximately 6:00am on Feb. 21 from her apartment in Sattahip, Chonburi Province, about 80 kilometers southeast of Bangkok.
The stolen goods included a mackerel…
According to Komchadluek Newspaper, victim Srisupha Sopha, 33, told police who arrived at the scene at 9:30am that the visitor had gained entry to her room by breaking through the ceiling and climbing down the wall, then stole her possessions including a television, amplifiers, and a computer. She also mentioned that one of two mackerels, which she had put on the table for her lunch later that day, were missing too.
While collecting more information and looking for fingerprints, police smelled the fried fish coming from next door. Without hesitation, they forced entry to the adjacent room and saw a man enjoying the fish, surrounded by the electronics that he had just stolen from his neighbor hours ago.
Sathit Nganlumyuang, 39, admitted to committing burglary, with cutting pliers, a slim jim, and screw driver used as evidence against him. Sathit revealed that he was starving during the looting and decided to take the fish with him, not expecting that the fish could be what so aromatically led the police to him.
He confessed to spending all the stolen money on drinks to please girls at karaoke cafes and night clubs.
Police stated that the hungry burglar was in fact a professional and had struck several homes in the past years. He would move into a random residence, break into a house while people were at work, and move out.
Regarding the helpful mackerels, Srisupha said that she originally fried some up for her boyfriend as breakfast before he went to work.
After seeing her partner off, she went away for a while to run errands and got back home to discover that nearly all her property was gone, including the mackerel.
A clip below from Komchadluek’s YouTube channel shows the leftover fish and the thief who flip-flopped.
