Frenchman arrested for shoplifting meat from North Pattaya Supermarket

[Thaddeus]

Blame it on the Euro.

Don't blame it on the sunshine,

Don't blame it on the moonlight

Don't blame it on the Euro

Blame it on the bludger.

[StasD]

one more quality tourist

[Torrens54]

Why does he need to steal? Perhaps he should return to his country to build more wealth, before coming back here for his fun.

Send him home but only after they "hang him out to dry" in a local lock-up for a while. He needs to be made an Example of.

This will let others know what happens if you make a "silly sausage" of yourself here.

[balo]

Nice picture for the family photo album back home. He should return to France and seek help.

[northernphil]

Remember Inspector Clouseau loved our hamburgers so much, he would stuff his pockets full of l'ambergere...and get stopped by officials at the airport?

This may be his younger brother...on a case.

L'ambergere . Remember it fondly.. Maybe this poor chap wanted a last one before climbing to the top of condo and taking the last dive. Maybe a French Topping.

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

He would get pity from me if he would have bolted out the store with the meat because he had no money for which to pay. He hungry and or taking for his family I would give him a choice. Go to jail or pay for the meat by doing work that would equal the value of meat.

[Lupatria]

Silly sausage

He missed this one on the shelves

[transam]

Sacre bleu !!!.......................

[Tchooptip]

He should be deported as he is a habitual thief who has been caught before. Having suffered losses in excess of GBP100,000 through thieves shop lifting, I have no sympathy. If he stole from your pocket would you have any sympathy?

I hate shop lifters

Those bastards threaten "hypocritically" many shops and could do that for years without being caught.

[Toknarok]

No sympathy at all for shoplifters. For every item stolen the shopkeeper has to raise his prices to make his profit margin. In other words the honest have to make up the shortfall. Same with false insurance claims. In 2010 shoplifting was costing the UK economy 12 million GBPounds A DAY. That meant every year you the shopper had to pay an extra 180 GBP because of shoplifters dishonesty.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/oct/19/shoplifting-costs-retailers-consumers

[Bangkok Barry]

I have known people who have shoplifted and they had plenty of money. They used to buy some steal some. Did it all the time at a Circle K convience store in Taipei. Caught on cctv and he got 6 months in jail. He was very bitter about it as he felt it was very unfair.

I used to manage a record store in London and my store detective caught the manager of a major international bank stealing, and he must have been loaded. I gave it a lot of thought and decided not to take it any further as the punishment (criminal record, loss of job) would have far outweighed the seriousness of the crime.

[trogers]

Why does he need to steal? Perhaps he should return to his country to build more wealth, before coming back here for his fun.

Many people who steal, have an illness, nothing to do with poor

Then back to France quickly for first class psychiatric treatment.

[Sviss Geez]

The police didn't make any effort, they were summoned. The security guard also did his duty. The foreigner made a mistake, no other person did.

One other person did, you, with your unjustified little Thai police bash, why do you say the police made no effort, where you there? Do you think the police should be patrolling inside private premises looking for shoplifters?

[Sviss Geez]

one more quality tourist

That's a good one.

[leither69]

Horse meat on sale?

[Deknoi2]

Why does he need to steal? Perhaps he should return to his country to build more wealth, before coming back here for his fun.

Many people who steal, have an illness, nothing to do with poor

Kleptomania is the inability to refrain from the urge to steal items and is done for reasons other than personal use or financial gain.

[96tehtarp]

I rarely give the store security guards much of a second look. I don't steal so I don't need to. I always check my cart before going through the checkout in order to make sure there are no "misunderstandings" over pre-weighed items etc. as mentioned in the OP.

Recently I had a family member of an acquaintance from Europe pass through town. He'd be best described as a punk complete with Mohawk haircut. The security guards went wild in Tesco lotus. They were all over us like flies on honey, peeping around corners, talking to each other on walkie talkies together and monitoring our every move. There were more than half a dozen plain-clothed security guards watching us closely. The punk was oblivious. I wasn't. It was a real eye opener.

I always check my pockets before going through the checkout, just in case something ended up in there that shouldn't be there.

[RJF]

Why does he need to steal? Perhaps he should return to his country to build more wealth, before coming back here for his fun.

Many people who steal, have an illness, nothing to do with poor

Don't you just love it, how everything is an illness these days? The great thing about that is that it totally discards personal responsibility which will appeal to those that don't have it. Drinking 3 liters of soda a day and being obese? Oh, I just have this illness. Shoplifting? Sorry, I'm sick. Alcohol abuse, leading to road carnage or domestic abuse? Well, alcoholism is a disease, nothing I can do about it.

Give me a break.

[transam]

I rarely give the store security guards much of a second look. I don't steal so I don't need to. I always check my cart before going through the checkout in order to make sure there are no "misunderstandings" over pre-weighed items etc. as mentioned in the OP.

Recently I had a family member of an acquaintance from Europe pass through town. He'd be best described as a punk complete with Mohawk haircut. The security guards went wild in Tesco lotus. They were all over us like flies on honey, peeping around corners, talking to each other on walkie talkies together and monitoring our every move. There were more than half a dozen plain-clothed security guards watching us closely. The punk was oblivious. I wasn't. It was a real eye opener.

I always check my pockets before going through the checkout, just in case something ended up in there that shouldn't be there.

Fink I would avoid your family member. Anyone who wants to look like that wants attention, he got it...No problem...

[Briggsy]

Why does he need to steal? Perhaps he should return to his country to build more wealth, before coming back here for his fun.

The psychology of shoplifting is quite interesting.

Research has shown that a considerable proportion of shoplifters have no real financial need to do it. I don't know if Monsieur Micallef is flat broke. If not, he may fit in to one of the two following groups.

1. Shoplifters who perceive their crime as minimal risk. We all evaluate risk constantly. It governs our behaviour. There are risk-taking people who, in their own minds, play down the risk. In this case, they would tell themselves, perhaps correctly, the chance of being caught is almost zero and the punishment if caught is very light. So they simply steal for advantage.

2. Shoplifters who like to win. By stealing something from a shop, this kind of shoplifter has beaten the store in a game or contest. We all like to win. It makes us feel good. There are people who like to win all the time. It is an odd contest to choose, but I am not one of them.

[96tehtarp]

Recently I had a family member of an acquaintance from Europe pass through town. He'd be best described as a punk complete with Mohawk haircut. The security guards went wild in Tesco lotus. They were all over us like flies on honey, peeping around corners, talking to each other on walkie talkies together and monitoring our every move. There were more than half a dozen plain-clothed security guards watching us closely. The punk was oblivious. I wasn't. It was a real eye opener.

Fink I would avoid your family member. Anyone who wants to look like that wants attention, he got it...No problem...

It was a family member of an acquaintance. It's funny as he had a normal haircut before coming to Thailand. He probably thought it would be cool to sport that Mohawk hairdo while gallivanting around Khao San Rd. I've only been there once in 20+ years.

[Benmart]

I read and try not to pass judgement. Those that opt to do so must have never made a bad decision or behavior.

Judgment is best left to those who occupy that position.

[wvavin]

Mate, you look absolutely dazed! Its time to go home. Adieu...............

[Rimmer]

Off topic posts and quoted replies removed

[Yann55]

Intention to steal is important for some people steal luxury handbag, we should not pity of it but this few chicken with intention to eat and survive.

If that's what it was, you're right, it's quite sad... and he does look a frightened and spaced out rabbit caught in the headlights...

Wonder how much has changed since Dickens' 'Great Expectations' ... this guy will probably run into big trouble for a couple of (bad) steaks, while high profile thieves who have stolen millions manage to run away from the country when they're about to get caught ... but then of course they have the means to do it ...

I'm not saying that shoplifting is ok, just that we live in a society with double standards, and that's a very global rule.

[Yann55]

one more quality tourist

That's a good one.

And so rare on this Forum.

[sommsomm]

It sounds like the security guards had set up a Hambush?

[transam]

It sounds like the security guards had set up a Hambush?

OK Tonto...........

[CNXBKKMAN]

I have known people who have shoplifted and they had plenty of money. They used to buy some steal some. Did it all the time at a Circle K convience store in Taipei. Caught on cctv and he got 6 months in jail. He was very bitter about it as he felt it was very unfair.

I used to manage a record store in London and my store detective caught the manager of a major international bank stealing, and he must have been loaded. I gave it a lot of thought and decided not to take it any further as the punishment (criminal record, loss of job) would have far outweighed the seriousness of the crime.

The Circle K staff had footage of the guy stealing on many different days. At first they were embarrassed and didn't know how to proceed. After a few more days of it they had enough and him arrested. The guy doing the shoplifting really thought he was the victim when he ended up in jail.

[55Jay]

It sounds like the security guards had set up a Hambush?

Laughed so hard, it hurt my tender loins....

Edited March 23, 2015 by 55Jay