CHON BURI: After arresting three youngsters for passing a counterfeit 1,000-baht note, Pattaya Police have been surprised to learn that two of them had just stolen it from a close-by financial institution. After a tipoff by a vendor on the To Rung Mae Wilai Market, police arrested two homeless boys, 15-year-old “A” and 14-year-old “B” [real names withheld because they are minors], together with a lady, Piyaporn Koon-harn, 19. The vendor became suspicious when the three tried to alter a dodgy-looking 1,000-baht observe for lower denomination bills. When police arrived, a search of the boys turned up the counterfeit 1,000-baht notice. Also discovered on the boys was an assortment of fifty financial institution playing cards issued by the Siam Commercial Bank. The boys immediately confessed to having stolen all of the objects during a break-in at a nearby branch of the bank. The lady had no involvement in the crime and was just someone they met and had lunch with at the market, the boys stated. “A” informed police that he was a runaway and had been dwelling on the streets of Pattaya for about a 12 months, sleeping behind a shopping mall and working round with other road kids. He eventually met “B”, who had a similar story. The two grew to become friends, every night time breaking into homes or stealing bikes and selling no matter they could thieve. “A” stated that to break into the financial institution they first surveyed the world and decided that a wall surrounding the bank was not too high for “B” to scale. Once, inside “B”, after breaking In record time closed-circuit TV camera to avoid detection, unscrewed a steel grate covering a window. Once eliminated, it was child’s play for him to pressure out the panes from the louvered glass window and acquire entry to the poorly fortified bank. Inside, he searched the drawers and found the 1,000-baht banknote and other objects, before escaping with out notice. The boys then went to the market where they met their friend Piyaporn, and tried to exchange the invoice for actual money so they could all enjoy a pleasant breakfast. That was when the police arrived and arrested all three. The young suspects will re