Burglars broke into the Big C supermarket in Bophut at the height of a storm on the night of Nov. 6. Police said the burglars broke the glass door of Big Camera shop located in the Big C complex. The burglary was discovered the next day and reported to the police at 9:30 of Nov. 7. Stolen from Big Camera were 50 video and digital cameras worth Bt300,000. No other shops in the supermarket complex had reported any burglary incident that night.

No arrests have been made so far in connection with the break-in.

There has been a rash of burglaries on the island lately, according to residents. In Nathon, a pickup truck belonging to a certain Mr. Parnthep was the object of a break-in attempt at 10 p.m. on Nov. 5.

Nathoncity.com reports that a theft tried to get into the vehicle by trying to break the truck’s windshield. Luckily, the vehicle had an alarm system. The sound of the alarm scared the theft away, the website said.

An expat who lives in “a nice upscale community in Chaweng where the houses average Bt15-20 million each” said the place has had six burglary cases during the last three months.

“For three years, we have not had any type of burglary to think of, but this past three months, six homes were burglarized, including mine,” he told the Thaivisa forum.

“I lost only a laptop with the backup drive, but was still traumatized over it,” he said.

The incident had been reported to the police.

The expat said the police had told him that such burglaries were usually the handiwork of a group. “Typically, one man serves as a lookout while the other ransacks the house,” he said.

“When we came home that night (of the burglary),” the expat said, “we did notice one suspicious character on a motorcycle outside of the entrance gate all dressed in black.”