Water meter thieves on the prowl in Pattaya

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2028
Surapol Permmontri points to the spot where his water meter used to be before the thieves absconded with it.

It’s not uncommon for Pattaya residents to go for days or even weeks without water flowing into their homes. They are used to the city water authority turning off water supply when levels in their tanks run low or when they are making repairs.

But last week when residents in the Khao Mai Kaew area were not getting any water in their homes, they got suspicious and started investigating. Much to their horror, they found that their water meters had disappeared.



Surapol Permmontri 73, a resident of Khao Mai Kaew subdistrict told reporters June 1, that when his neighbour told him that his water meter was stolen, he looked for his and saw that it was missing too.

Mrs. Boonrueng Laison, a security guard at Jindaland Village in the area said that while making her rounds, she saw water gushing out of a pipe at the front of one of the houses. On closer inspection she saw that the pipe was cut and the water meter was gone. She alerted the owner of the house as to what had happened.


She also told the reporter that she saw two men riding off on a motorbike, but didn’t pay much attention to it.

The victims of the thefts rushed to the Huay Yai police station to file a report. Pol. Col. Apichanan Wattanawarangkul, the superintendent said that a CCTV camera belonging to a nearby shop caught the two alleged thieves riding off on a motorbike around the time of the robberies. He assured the aggrieved residents that the culprits have been identified and arrests will be made very soon.

A security camera grab shows the alleged thieves speeding off on a motorbike around the same time as the water meter thefts.