Four British men have been arrested over an alleged gunpoint robbery of a US tourist in Thailand.
Hussain Meer, 26, Mir Wayne Carew, 25, Yanne Sarkawt, 25, and Malique Kai Walters, 27 are accused of pointing a knife and gun at lawyer Ibrahim Iyun, before snatching his Audemars Piguet watch.
Video footage caught the moment four robbers knocked the American to the ground and grabbed his $75,000 timepiece from his wrist.
Mr Iyun, who is based in Geneva, Switzerland, said he was on his way home after going shopping in the Boat Avenue Mall in Bang Tao when he was mugged by the four men.
The four holidaymakers were detained in Phuket on Thursday Evening.
Police Major General Sinlert Sukum, the commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, said: ‘As of now, there are four suspects. We are interrogating them to determine whether other persons were involved.
‘They arrived in Thailand at different times as tourists. We are investigating their movements and have already located all vehicles used in the crime as well as other evidence.
‘They were charged with jointly committing robbery. We are currently checking their backgrounds. So far, we have not found any similar incidents committed by them in other areas.
‘All four of them are from the same country, but they did not confirm whether they knew each other before coming here or if they only met in Thailand.’
Mr Iyun said he believed these men had attempted this before on other victims, although he said he had not previously seen the quartet.
He said the robbers rammed into him on a motorbike ‘just like in a movie’.
But he praised the ‘swift and efficient’ response by police, who managed to recover and return his watch.
The gang approached the lawyer in a Ford Everest SUV before speeding away in the vehicle, which was later found by officers abandoned at a rubber plantation.
Security footage showed the suspects being collected in a white car.
Onlooker Somphum Nopwankaew, who was driving behind the car, said: ‘The victim ran up to me. I said I had footage of the entire incident, and he told me what was going on. I helped him as much as I could and took him to the police station.
‘I saw both a gun and a knife used to threaten him. It was the first time I’d seen such an attack. I was left shaking too.’
Police are investigating if other individuals were involved in the incident.
Phuket has suffered from over-tourism after the government introduced a visa-free scheme to boost tourism following the pandemic.
Disgruntled locals claim the drive for visitors has attracted poor quality tourists from Russia, India and Australia and that the island has become an enclave for criminality.
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