By Tim Binnall
A sticky-fingered ne'er-do-well in Thailand was busted for stealing from a temple with the belief that a 'concealment spell' would prevent him from being caught. According to a local media report, the strange heist occurred on May 30th when someone entered the grounds of Bangkok's Wat Pho temple, smashed two donation boxes, and made off with the money inside. Police investigating the overnight theft identified the suspect via CCTV footage and promptly arrested the culprit, a man identified as Ratchathan, last Thursday. While being questioned by the cops, he offered a rather astonishing explanation for why he thought he could pull off the brazen crime.
Before the heist, the presumably surprised Ratchathan told police, he "apologized to the temple's sacred spirits and recited what he described as a 'concealment spell' that he believed would prevent others from noticing him." Clearly, the plan backfired spectacularly as the man is now facing multiple charges for the caper that he claimed was motivated by a desperate need to pay his rent. Ratchathan's crime is remarkably similar to an infamous 1995 bank robbery in which two crooks covered their faces with lemon juice under the misguided impression that the tactic would somehow render them invisible to security cameras. The bizarre incident led researchers to identify the cognitive bias known as the Dunning–Kruger effect.