Teen Spends Temple Donation Money Before Returning for More

Bangkok police arrested an 18-year-old accused of stealing 5,800 baht from a donation box at Wat Suthat Thepwararam. The money had been kept behind the temple’s principal Buddha image for worshippers exchanging cash for flowers, candles and incense. CCTV recorded a young man opening the wooden box and taking the money, allowing investigators to identify him when he returned to the temple the following afternoon. The suspect allegedly admitted spending almost everything on sex workers, fried chicken and costly restaurant meals, leaving him with only a few hundred baht. He reportedly told police that he had come back intending to steal again when officers detained him and recovered 220 baht and the clothing seen in the footage.