Fake Money Stolen From Thai Bank

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Three teenage robbers in Thailand have been arrested after a sharp-eyed street vendor noticed they were trying to spend fake money — that had been stolen from a bank — police said.

The two 15-year-old boys and a 16-year-old girl broke into the Siam Commercial Bank in the seaside resort of Pattaya early Monday, making off with a bundle of notes and mobile telephones, said police Maj. Sutham Chaosithong.

But the teens' haul also included a stack of fake bank notes, Sutham said.

Branch manager Kitiphol Kramwong said the bank had detected 30 fake notes in the past week, marked them as such, and left them in an easy-to-access drawer — which robbers had pilfered. It was not clear whether they realized they had stolen fake money.

While police were inspecting the scene of the crime, they were told that vendors at a nearby market had caught the three teenagers trying to buy goods with forged money, Sutham said Tuesday.

The young suspects have since been detained at a social welfare detention center pending a juvenile court ruling on the case, he said.

Pattaya, 110 kilometers (70 miles) southeast of Bangkok, is a beach town popular with Thai and foreign tourists.