Remember the two Singaporean girls that got caught shoplifting in Bangkok? News has surfaced with more juicy details with regards to the incident.
The episode in Thailand catapulted into headlines because the girls have been reported to show no remorse when they were caught.
Pictures of them smiling while holding onto their apparels were spreading like wildfire through social media.
Did they or did they not feel bad for what they have done? Apparently, those involved in catching the girls said that they were not serious and was smiling throughout the incident, taking the case lightly.
However, that’s just one side of the story. Recently, one of the girls came forward to apologise for her wrongdoing and promised that she would not be making the same mistake again.
This is what she said
Background of the story
The two teenage girls were on vacation for a week in Bangkok with two other male friends when the incident happened. They decided to go shopping at Bangkok’s popular shopping destination, the Platinum Mall.
When interviewed by The New Paper, one of the girls, Miss Low, said that they split up from the guys. They walked past a shop that sold fashion apparels.
A rash and impulsive act
Seeing that the shop was temporarily closed with a bamboo pole blocking the entrance, the girls acted impulsively and stole two spaghetti-strap tops. Their attempt of shoplift from My Faiday was “successful” for two hours before they were caught. The shop attendant of the store had gone for a toilet break hence, the temporary closure of the shop.
Discovery of the thefts
After coming back to the store and checking the closed-circuit television (CCTV), the shop attendant identified the thieves and told her friend, who is an owner of another shop at Platinum Mall.
They proceeded to take a few snapshots of the girls through the CCTV and sent it to a few Line chat groups that total up to at about 1,000 retailers in Bangkok, to spread the news.
Within 2 hours, they received an alert from a fellow retailer saying that the girls were seen at a neighbouring mall, Mahboonkrong (MBK).
Confrontation with the thieves
The shop attendant and her friend went to find the girls at MBK and showed the girls the CCTV proof before requesting to check their bags.
The girls said that they were afraid as there was a group of people with the owners which seemed to be the police.
First insisting that they did not steal, the girls later confessed to the shoplifting when the missing tops were found in their bags.
They were taken back to the security office of Platinum Mall with the owners and told to hand over their passports if they did not want to bring the police into the matter.
Frantic and panicking
The shop owners said that the girls were joking around and did not treat the matter seriously but according to Miss Low, they were frantic and did not know what to do.
They knew that they were in trouble but there was a communication barrier as they did not understand the Thai language and the Thais did not understand them.
Afraid that they would be jailed without bail, Miss Low and her friend decided to do as they were told, handing in their passports. They said that they were solemn and tense throughout the process so the security guard decided to lighten the mood. Hence, they were caught smiling in the photographs.
The mugshots were taken as the mall have a “wall of shame” where they would post photos of shoplifters to warn shop owners of these people to avoid any future cases of theft.
The girls said that they tried communicating to the security guard and the shop attendant friend’s Mr Thom in broken Mandarin to help translate their apologies to the shop attendant, but she did not want to hear any.
Mr Thom said that they did not want to bring in the police and cause any more trouble to the case as the girls were still young.
Common in Thailand, many shops who encountered shoplifters or cases of theft resolved their cases by compensation.
The shop attendant and the girls agreed to not bring in the police by having the girls compensate an amount of 5,000 Baht (SGD 190) to cover the transport fees that were incurred during the incident and to buy the entire stock of 9 tops which were identical.
With a lot of fear and less than 4,000 Baht on hand with them, the girls had to call their guy friends to come over to help out with the remaining amount.
Miss Low said that it was only after the case has been resolved and compensation were paid, then they decided to take photos happily, smiling widely while clutching the paid apparels.
Thinking back, she mentioned that it was completely wrong for them to make light of the situation. She has stood up to apologise profusely and said that it was stupid of them to do such a silly thing as they weren’t thinking straight at the time.
Remorseful
She said that she really regretted what she had done and can’t say sorry enough. They would like to apologise to the people who has shown care and concern for them and for all the trouble that they have caused.
However, Mr Thom said that the girls showed absolutely no remorse and that the girls did not feel sorry at all. He told them that this was a serious matter and it isn’t fun and games but they weren’t sad or sorry and did not say sorry to them at all.
According to Miss Low, both parties also agreed to keep all details confidential when the case is closed but to her horror, the case was all over the social media.
Mr Thom said that they had decided that Ms Auk Thanima, one of the administrators of the Line group who was active throughout the whole process should inform Singaporeans about the two girls by posting the case including pictures on Facebook.
It was mentioned that Thais deemed Singaporeans as nice citizens and tourists hence, they decided that it would be nice to let us know about the incident.
Though the post has since been taken down, I’m sure many Singaporeans would have known about this case. So who do you think is telling the “correct” story, or is it just a case of misunderstanding?
This article was first published on goodyfeed.com
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