Chiang Mai: A rookie thief, donning a ghost mask from a famous movie, spent the entire night hiding inside a shopping mall in Mueang District, Chiang Mai Province, with the intention of stealing gold. However, his plan went awry when he failed to find an exit and was discovered by a shop employee who alerted the police.
According to Thai News Agency, surveillance footage showed the 21-year-old suspect, clad in black and wearing a mask resembling the iconic ghost from the movie “Scream,” emerging from a restroom around midnight. He then attempted to break into a gold shop using a crowbar to pry open the iron door, only to find that all the gold was locked in a safe. Unable to escape the premises, the thief wandered around and eventually resorted to hiding in the shop until morning.
Around 9:00 a.m., gold shop staff opened the door and were startled to find the masked man hiding inside. Acting quickly, they locked the door and contacted Mae Ping Police Station, leading to the thief’s arrest and a reenactment of the crime scene. The suspect confessed that he had been in the mall since the previous evening, hiding in the restroom until it closed. His motive was to steal gold to finance his university studies. He admitted to planning the heist over three days and preparing for it for an entire day.
The police have charged him with theft by damaging an object, theft at night, and theft by disguising his face. The mask, synonymous with the psychopathic killer in the 1996 American detective film “Scream,” has become an iconic symbol in the horror genre and pop culture, spawning a franchise with six films and a series adaptation by HBO. The seventh installment is anticipated for release in February 2026.
