Theerapat Klaiya, 24, had a fetish for flip-flops and was found with a staggering 126 pairs that he had pinched from locals in Nonthaburi, central Thailand, police said.
Officers identified Klaiya using footage from CCTV set up outside his latest alleged victim’s home. When they searched the man’s home, they found his sprawling collection of shoes that he claimed he had been collecting for more than two years.
Klaiya said he would wear them around his home as it turned him on, police claimed. He allegedly told officers that after several hours of wearing the flip-flops, he cuddled and kissed them, stripping off and rubbing them on his body, before ‘having s.e.x with them’.
Police said his collection included dozens of different brands, sizes and colours of shoes, all of them well worn. The vast array of footwear was laid out in front of the Nonthaburi police station as part of a press conference on Monday.
Klaiya admitted three charges of night time theft and snatching, possessing a digital transceiver without permission, and violating the coronavirus curfew, police said.
Major Colonel Ekkaphop Prasitwattanachai told local media it was not Klaiya’s first offence for similar acts.
He said: ‘After we arrested the suspect, we also found out that he had already been arrested last year for stealing flip-flops in another district.
‘He fully admitted stealing the sandals for lewd purposes, so will be detained at the station until a court appearance for prosecutors to decide on the next part of the legal process for him.’