Unseen but not unnoticed: Invisible thief raids temple charity box, caught on CCTV

A naked thief with the gift of invisibility was caught on CCTV stealing money from a charity box at Lhem Tai Temple in the central province of Chachoengsao in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The abbot of the temple, 62 year old Jamlong, revealed to Channel 3 that a fellow monk, 52 year old Chantapon, woke up at about 3am for his morning devotions and saw a naked man taking a walk inside the temple. Chantapon did not dare to approach the man because he noticed the man holding a knife.

According to Chantapon, the thief stole something before rushing out of the temple, putting on his clothes and fleeing the scene. Chantapon then informed the abbot and fellow monks. The abbot later filed a complaint with the police.

The abbot, Jamlong, added that the criminal activities were captured on CCTV. Jamlong handed the footage to the police and several news agencies in a bid to arrest the thief as fast as possible.

In the footage, the man is seen standing still and praying outside the temple. Then, he takes off his clothes and strolls into the temple. The abbot believes that the naked thief did not try to hide from cameras or eyewitnesses because he reckoned he had the mystical ability to turn invisible.

The naked thief then grabbed a knife from a shop inside the temple and rushed into the building where the charity box was located. The man carried the box out of the building and used a knife to extract the money.

The abbot stated that he did not know how much money the thief had got but speculated that there was more than 1,000 baht. According to the abbot, police officers have not yet identified the naked thief or launched a further investigation into the case.

A similar incident was reported in February when a naked young man broke into a convenience store in the central province of Ratchaburi and started destroying objects inside the shop while making strange noises.

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Police officers and reporters who were called to the scene managed to capture him before he caused more damage or stole anything. The man was tested on drugs and alcohol, but the result was not disclosed. The Facebook page, Police TV by UCI Media, added that the man committed this kind of chaos at another store across the street before.