Alangkarn Theatre, Na Jomtien, Sattahip, Chonburi
A famous stage, a quiet night and two men with sacks
By Genext Information Systems Staff
Published 4 October 2026 • 6 min read
Some of the best Pattaya news is the kind where the victim gets tired of waiting for luck and sets a trap. On the night of Friday 2 October 2026, police in Na Jomtien arrested two men they say were caught red-handed leaving the closed Alangkarn Theatre with bags full of electrical cable. It is a modest crime story with a very Pattaya Thailand twist: a once-famous tourist venue, sitting dark and half-abandoned, being stripped piece by piece.
The arrests came after the theatre owner’s family reviewed CCTV, called the police and agreed to wait in the dark. By the time the suspects rode off on a motorbike, the stakeout team was ready.
How the stakeout unfolded
According to reports from Pattaya Mail and The Pattaya News, the trap was coordinated by Samiti Jiaraphaithun, a 46-year-old son of the theatre’s owner, together with officers from Na Jomtien police station. Cameras around the compound had recorded two men entering the grounds and later walking out with bags at about 10.20 pm. Rather than simply file another report, the family asked police to be there the next time.
Officers and theatre staff hid in a wooded patch near the railway road in the Huai Yai area, within sight of the property. When the two men left on a motorcycle carrying black sacks and bags, police moved in and stopped them for questioning. The pair were identified as Preedon Boonkoet and Natthaphong Tangjaidee; Thai-language spellings vary between outlets.
Inside the bags, according to the reports, officers found a large quantity of electrical cable, cable cutters and electrical testing equipment. That last item suggests the men knew what they were looking for: testers help a thief tell live wiring from dead lines, and copper is the real prize.
The sting in brief
- Where — Closed Alangkarn Theatre, Na Jomtien, Sattahip district
- Two arrested — Preedon Boonkoet and Natthaphong Tangjaidee
- Seized — Electrical cable, cable cutters, testing equipment
- Losses — Several million baht, according to the owner’s son
“Almost every night”: millions of baht in losses
The two men reportedly admitted to earlier thefts from the site, including CCTV cameras, steel and zinc roofing sheets, all of which they said they sold on to scrap dealers. That is the usual route for stolen metal in Thailand: a motorbike, a sack, and a buyer who asks few questions at the back of a recycling yard.
Samiti told reporters that thieves had been cutting and removing cable and other items almost every night, and that the accumulated damage had reached several million baht. He also noted that earlier arrests had been made at the site, which suggests this is a long-running problem rather than a single bad week. Security guards are posted at the theatre, but a sprawling property with large grounds is hard to watch from one gatehouse.
As always in a Thai news story like this, the two men are suspects. They have not been convicted of anything, and the case now goes through the normal police and court process.
From things to do in Pattaya to a dark, stripped site
Alangkarn Theatre was long one of the big evening attractions on the Eastern Seaboard, a large venue staging a lavish Thai cultural show that tour groups booked as part of their things to do in Pattaya. It closed around 2020 when COVID-19 shut Thailand’s borders and emptied the tour buses, and it has stayed shut to visitors since. For years it was an obvious item in any Thailand travel guide; today it is a large building with a lot of valuable copper and very few people inside.
That is the real story behind the arrests. Thailand’s tourism recovery has been uneven, and venues that never reopened are exposed. Cable, roofing and cameras are easy to carry, easy to sell and expensive to replace, so empty properties from Pattaya to Bangkok become targets. Our earlier Pattaya news on a Chonburi villa raid and rescue showed how much of the province’s trouble happens out of sight, away from Walking Street.
Living in Thailand: property security, and travel tips
Most visitors will never go near this story. A typical trip is still a mix of beaches, Thai food and nights out, and a theft at a closed theatre in Na Jomtien changes nothing about the best time to visit Thailand or the plans of anyone arriving on a standard Thailand visa. Pattaya remains one of the easiest places in the country to have a budget travel Thailand holiday, with cheap local meals, songthaews for a few baht and day trips to the Thailand islands off the coast.
Residents are another matter. Anyone living in Thailand and responsible for an empty house, a villa between tenants or a shop that is closed for the low season can take a lesson from the owner’s son: cameras are only useful if somebody acts on the footage, and a good relationship with the local police station is worth more than another padlock. Rental villas around Jomtien and Na Jomtien stay empty for weeks, and cables and air-conditioning units are a favourite target. If you are planning a trip that mixes Pattaya with the capital, our Pattaya guides and Bangkok news pages cover the practical details, from things to do in Bangkok to where to find the best Bangkok food after a long bus ride.
What happens next
The two suspects now face the normal process: formal charges, questioning about earlier thefts and a check of whether scrap dealers who bought the metal can be traced. The owner’s family will be hoping that the arrests slow the nightly losses, though the property remains large and hard to secure.
For now, this Pattaya news story is a small win for a community-minded stakeout and a reminder of what a long closure does to a once-bustling venue. ThaiThuk will update this report if police announce further arrests or charges.
Plan the boring bits
Sort the visa and the budget before you land
A trip runs smoother when the paperwork is sorted before you land. Work out which Thailand visa fits with ThaiVisaFinder, then price the whole trip properly with ThaiBudgetPlanner.
Find your visa →
Written by
Genext Information Systems Staff
ThaiThuk’s editorial team at Genext Information Systems — writers and long-term residents based in Thailand who report from the ground on Thai culture, travel, food and community. Every piece is checked against primary sources and updated as details change. More about ThaiThuk →
Sources
- Pattaya Mail — report on the Alangkarn Theatre owner’s trap for suspected cable thieves in Na Jomtien, 4 October 2026, for the stakeout, the seized items and the losses.
- The Pattaya News — report on the Na Jomtien ambush at Alangkarn Theater, 3 October 2026, for the timing and the suspects’ admissions.
Note on photographs: the images on this page are real press photographs of this incident, credited to Pattaya Mail. No AI-generated imagery is used. Note on the people involved: the two men are suspects who have not been convicted of any offence and are entitled to the presumption of innocence. Spellings of Thai names differ between outlets and may be corrected as official information emerges. Nothing here is legal advice. Thailand’s Tourist Police can be reached on 1155.