Thonglor police today said they are investigating the abduction of a foreign national in Bangkok’s Phrom Phong area, where a woman was forced into a vehicle by kidnappers.
Lt. Col. Samniang Sothorn confirmed early Tuesday afternoon that investigators have been checking CCTV cameras in Soi Phrom Chit, just off Soi Sukhumvit 39, after they were alerted to the abduction of a Chinese woman there. He said they were only informed this morning of the crime which occurred four days earlier.
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No suspects have been identified yet in the Friday afternoon abduction, Samniang said. Capt. Nattapol Chalermnoppakul of the Youth and Women Welfare Center was on the scene today looking at security camera footage and questioning witnesses in the area, he said.
“We aren’t being inactive on this,” Samniang told Coconuts Bangkok.
Songpon Taneekoon, a maintenance worker at the D.S. Tower 2 condo, said four police officers came yesterday to see CCTV footage there. He said the search warrant he was presented indicated that the vehicle involved in the abduction passed by the condo on Friday. The police led him to believe she was abducted from one of the neighboring buildings.
“The cops said that there was an abduction for ransom of a foreigner in broad daylight at 4pm, when traffic was heavy, so they wanted to see a clearer picture of the car,” Songpon said. “It was an old car, but the pic was so small, they couldn’t zoom in and see the license plate clearly. But the suspect wore all black and sunglasses.”
He complained that crimes happen in the soi frequently due to poor lighting.
Rumors have quickly spread on social media that multiple women, upward of four, have been abducted in the area, but the police said they were not aware of any other cases.
Chainarong Chantarawiwat, the manager of nearby condo Raveevan Suites, said that although he hadn’t heard anything directly about the incident, a man claiming to be a police officer came Monday and asked to see the CCTV footage from the building’s cameras. He said he refused his request as the man didn’t show any identification or a search warrant
One Facebook user, Chompu Karawan, posted that a condo security guard said there had been “a few cases of foreign women abducted from the street around soi [Sukhumvit] 49, 39, 31 in the past few days while waiting, perhaps for transportation, on the footpath.” Chompu did not reply to messages seeking comment.
Samniang said the police were not aware of any other reports.
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