Tourists caught stealing 'priceless' antique bike from Thai restaurant

A furious restaurant owner was hunting two tourists caught on camera today (June 6) stealing an antique bike he used as a decoration.

Pradit Muninam, 49, arrived at his restaurant in Songkhla, southern Thailand yesterday (June 5) when he noticed the ''priceless'' bike was missing.

CCTV footage from the early hours of the morning shows how the two foreigners parked their motorcycle in front of the shop around 4 am.

One man dismounted and sat at the table for a while before walking towards the toilet inside the restaurant where the valuable bike was hanging artistically on the wall.

He walked out with the bicycle to meet his friend who was keeping an eye for him at the entrance. They were then seen hopping on the vehicle and motoring away with the thief carrying the vintage bike over his shoulder.

After checking the CCTV, the owner immediately recognised the thieves as two customers who had dinner there the previous evening on Monday (June 3).

Devastated Pradit said: ''I thought they were just customers because they didn’t look suspicious at all. They also enjoyed the food and drinks, so I didn’t know that they came to plan for stealing.''

The owner also said that his restaurant called Kai Tai Nam was locally known for the authentic southern Thai food and for its old Thai style decoration with many rare and antique objects.

He has decided to wait for three days for the thieves to have a change of hearing and return his precious belongings. But if they do not, he said he will report them to the Hat Yai province police.

They could face lengthy jail terms and fines as Thailand is notoriously strict with thieves.

He added: ''I like to collect old things and I use them for decorating my restaurant. So that bike was one from my personal collection and it was very rare and priceless.

''At first, I couldn’t believe it was foreigners who did this. But I recognise them from the CCTV.

''The law should be more strict otherwise they would think it’s very easy to steal things in Thailand.''