Phuket Phone Heist: Foreign Thief Steals iPhone 15 Pro Max in Broad Daylight

In a daring escapade that has left both locals and tourists agog, a brazen foreign thief remains at large after making off with a state-of-the-art iPhone at a bustling phone shop near Chalong Intersection in the sunny paradise of Phuket. A Thai resident has embarked on a digital manhunt via social media to track down the audacious foreigner who liberated an iPhone 15 Pro Max 1TB from his sister’s shop on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, February 5th.

The tech-savvy sleuth took to Facebook, posting CCTV footage that captures the caginess of the culprit, along with the phone’s specifics, just in case the thief tries to hawk it amid Phuket’s lively marketplace. With an urgent message for the online masses, he cried, “Warning! A foreigner stole an iPhone 15 Pro Max 1TB (terabyte) from a showcase at the front of the store in broad daylight.” And with those words, the hunt was on!

Sporting a glaring neon pink shirt that screamed ‘look at me’, the sneaky foreigner craftily exploited a fleeting distraction—taking advantage of a moment when an employee had his back turned. Like a magic trick gone wrong (for everyone but him), he lunged stealthily over the showcase, seizing the iPhone with panache. With the case conveniently left ajar, the deed was done in a blink. Brazenly, he didn’t bother to conceal the pilfered gadget; instead, he brandished the phone openly, as if obscuring it would insult his chutzpah. He lingered outside for a few beats, blending in with the shoppers, before setting off on foot, lost like a wisp of smoke over the horizon.

Meanwhile, three unsuspecting Thai patrons who happened to be browsing the display as the foreigner made his hasty exit were momentarily caught in the web of suspicion. However, technology—and their innocence—prevailed as the CCTV footage vouched unwaveringly for their integrity.

For those not fluent in Baht, an iPhone 15 Pro Max armored with a solid 1TB spirit can set you back a princely sum of around 56,000 to 60,000 baht, depending on where your peregrinations of purchase lead you. With the IMEI and other pertinent details dispatched into the virtual ether, all eyes remain peeled for any signs of the phone in the wild.

As you might surmise, the case made its way to the precinct of the Chalong Police Station. Though efforts are afoot and the call to action echoes throughout the province, the artful dodger remains at large, leaving our protagonist iPhone in uncertain hands.

In another chapter from the annals of Phuket’s police blotter—on February 7th—a daring Russian national was apprehended, not for pilfering modern tech, but for commandeering a local’s scout uniform. Cherng Talay Police Station officers were left pondering whether it was a caper fueled by spirits or a mischievous interplay of a wandering mind.

And if there’s one thing that can’t escape the careful eyes of CCTV across this land, it seems it’s foreign disarray. On January 17th, a duo of foreign rogues were captured (in footage, not in cuffs) purloining cannabis from a Krabi province shop. They, too, are elusive as ever, with a juicy 2,000-baht reward glinting for anyone sharp-eyed enough to bring this dynamic duo to light.

Elsewhere in Thailand, the news rolls on like a who’s-who of quirk and crime: A deputy mayor’s daughter booked for a call center scam… a toxic air crisis claiming over 100 young lives daily in East Asia… and anglers stirring the waters over contaminated exports. Such are the myriad and mysterious threads weaving through the fabric of the Land of Smiles—where sunlight bounces off sandy shores and stories of audacious deeds and curious crimes find their chapters unfurling in the tropical breeze.