A passenger discovered money missing from her bag which she had stowed in the overhead locker during flight from DXB to BKK on Monday. Passenger reported it to the FAs, who carried out a search and found the money under another passengers seat. He was arrested when the flight (EK384) landed at BKK and charged with theft.
It is reported that when he was arrested, the man offered the police some cash to let him go. He has now also been charge with bribery .
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/crim...ir-theft-bribe

This appears to be getting quite common on flights in/out of Asia, HKG especially. There was even a case featured in one of the Ultimate Airport Dubai episodes.

I dunno, an enclosed aluminium tube with no escape route and several hundred potential witnesses seems like a bad place for thievery.

I very nearly took that flight

But why would you let that amount of money out of your sight, thats also just stupid. Also how did the Chinese man know the money was there??

Seems stupidity is major factor to this passenger nearly losing a lot of money.

I don't like stealing a money by other passengers. That's stupid! Why does he doing it? He should never ever touch with her money. No one! If you see someone who touch the purse. You notify the FA right way. They will be arrested.

I've always thought it's just a matter of time before this becomes widespread now that "everyone can fly." Still, would be great to know the context. Was it a crime of opportunity? Otherwise, as @scotclif pointed out above, how did the guy know the money was there in the first place?

And the Bangkok Post comments are hilarious:

If as it says then I can understand why.

After living here for ten years I know that Thais like to flaunt wealth.

I have been in banks and seen people count out silly amounts of money for all to see put it in a hand bag and go outside for a bit of a wonder about.

A person I know went to work draped in all her gold and put in an locker that couldn't be locked. Then was shocked when all of it and one employee went missing never to return.

I think that the victim may have made a big deal about having so much money at the airport or even sat at the departure gate and counted out the money for all too see.

Just saying it as I see it.

I also think that the only reason the bribery charge came up was
A/ it wasn't enough to make the problem go away.
B/ EK were involved with the paper trail that brings.
C/ Good press for the Thaiiand.

SO as i said "stupidity" ^

Please don't put all "Asia" in the same bag.
In countries like Japan or ROK, women's handbags barely have fasteners.
Expensive smartphones are at anybody's hands reach in subways, but nothing happens.

The inflight stealing is very often reported on HKG flights by mainlanders indeed.
A cheap ticket is a very lucrative investment, though people are more informed of the risk nowadays.
Quite frankly, in a Y cabin, it is very difficult to tell if one pax is touching his own bag or not.

Theft from overhead lockers are now becoming a common place occurrence, affecting most airlines throughout the world. It�s just that we only hear about them occasionally. In most cases the victim doesn�t realise that their possessions are missing until they have left the aircraft, or even until they arrive at their destination.

As FFs, those of us fortunate enough to regularly travel in Y are all too well aware of the mad scrum that occurs when it comes to passengers trying to get their array of hand baggage into the overhead lockers (thank goodness for priority boarding ). Unfortunately, most infrequent fliers think that their possessions will safe in the locker above them. Little do they realise that they are unable to see their bags when they seated and the locker above them is open.

Most thefts are opportunistic with only a handful being targeted (e.g. the victim has displayed their valuables whilst they are waiting in the departure gate area or elderly well-dressed passengers who are most likely to be carrying cash in their bag).

The common tactic is that the thief will try to sit towards the rear of the plane in an aisle seat. This means they board early and are able to see what passengers are putting in the lockers ahead of where they are seated.

Most theft tend to occur during the final phase of the flight when the FA�s are busy collecting head sets and blankets etc. and passengers are either dashing to the toilets or filling in their landing cards at the last minute.

The thief walks towards the front of the Y cabin, opens a locker and places a small bag into the locker as a cover up and at the same time they have a quick rummage through the other bags transferring anything worth sealing into their own bag. It all happens in a fraction of a second. Their body shields what they are doing from prying eyes in the middle block of seat, and most people will think that the thief is just getting their bag and going to the toilet.

A quick walk around into the other aisle and they repeat their trick again. This can be done several times down the length of the aircraft before returning to their seat. All over in a matter of 5 minutes. Its such a well practiced routine the chances of being caught are slim.

The moral of the story is, if you must place valuables into the overhead locker make sure the bag is locked or sealed and if possible place it in a locker on the other side of the aisle slightly ahead of where your seated so that you can see the bag if the locker is opened.

Hello mate,

Long time no see!

I wonder whether some of the final security checks at the gate that involve hand searching of carry on items could be a means to identify valuables. It enables a few passengers to see what someone else might be carrying but more importantly a security employee could be working together with the thief on board.

@Oldtiger: An excellent and very helpful post, thanks a lot!

FT: come for the news, stay for the sarcasm.
Love it.

The moral of the story I got was never travel in Y

That they didn't take the bribe is one the most shocking parts of this story.