A Malaysian man was recently captured by police in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for robbing an influencer and university student from China last Sunday (May 25).
Thai news outlet Thaiger reported that police from the Mueang Chiang Mai Police Station held a press conference yesterday (May 27) to provide more details on how the event unfolded.
M’sian robs China student at knife point at Chiang Mai
According to police, the suspect, 34-year-old Eng Chee Hon, had previously exchanged cryptocurrency with 28-year-old Tan Liaing.
On the day of the robbery, Eng came up with a lucrative exchange rate and invited him to come over to the car park of a luxury condominium on Tha Phae Road.
When Tan arrived with 135,000 baht (approx. RM17,500) in cash, Eng didn’t follow through on the transaction and instead robbed Tan at knife point before fleeing on a motorcycle.
However, Eng’s heist proved to be short-lived as police tracked him down to his condominium in the San Sai district after reviewing CCTV footage and arrested him. They also recovered 101,160 baht (approx. RM13,100) of the stolen cash.
Admitted to robbing to fund travels
Police investigations later revealed that Eng worked as an eyewear vendor back in Malaysia and also ran a cryptocurrency exchange.
Additionally, he was also allegedly a professional gambler who engaged in both online and offline betting, where he’d spend most of his winnings on travelling throughout Chiang Mai.
When interrogated by police, Eng confessed to robbing Tan to fund his travels in Thailand. He also said he was invited to Chiang Mai by a Vietnamese friend and had a romantic relationship with a Burmese woman he met during the trip.
Aside from the robbery charge, Eng is also facing two criminal charges including:
- Overstaying his tourist visa, which carries a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to 20,000 baht (approx. RM2,600), or both under Section 81 of the Immigration Act
- Committing robbery with the use or threat of violence, which provided a jail term of five to 10 years and a fine of 100,000 to 200,000 baht (approx. RM12,900 and RM25,900) under Section 339 of the Criminal Law
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