A Canadian tourist and her American partner were arrested after allegedly stealing another passenger's suitcase from a Thai airport.

Heather Leslie Berg, 47, arrived at the Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand, with her partner Jason Cleaves, 40, on August 27.

But after passing through immigration the pair collected a Chinese holidaymaker's bright pink suitcase from the carousel.

Devastated tourist Yi Ming Liao complained to police when she was unable to find her belongings.

Officers checked CCTV footage which shows a moment the couple walked pass the conveyor and snatched the suitcase from it before leaving the airport.

Together with the tourism police they were able to identify the Canadian and her American partner.

They had already left the airport by the time police knew their identity but after checking their tickets, they found that they had a flight booked to Dubai on Friday (06/09) with Emirates.

The vice president of Airports of Thailand (AOT) Kittipong Kittikajorn said that officers pounced on the suspects as soon as they checked in

He said that the theft was ''not an accident'' because the couple would have returned the suitcase. So far after both being arrested, the Canadian woman is the only one charged with theft.

Airport chief Kittipong said: "Thanks to the co-operation from tourism police and the airline, together we could catch the snatcher easier.

"We waited for them at the airport as we knew that they would come back again and we caught them without any problems.

"The woman admitted the crime because she realised that the footage had captured the whole incident.

''If they had been honest they would have immediately returned the bag when they noticed it did not belong to them.''

The Canadian Heather Leslie Berg was detained on charges of stealing from an airport while the American man she was travelling with has not yet been charged while police continue questioning them.

ENDS