A British pensioner was having coffee with his friend with a sneaky thief brazenly snatched his mobile phone.

Martin Robins, 68, was chatting with his pal at the coffee shop in Udon Thani, northeastern Thailand, when the crook crept up behind him.

CCTV footage from October 16 in the evening shows how the man grabbed Martin's smartphone, which was on the table next to him. He then rode away on a motorcycle.

Martin's friend noticed what had happened and alerted the pensioner but it was too late to catch the thief.

The Brit said: ''I was just relaxing with my friends having a coffee. I didn't even notice the phone had gone. He was so quick.''

Cafe owner Nathamon Banks, 29, checked the CCTV footage to see and handed video of the incident to police.

Nathamonsaid: "The victim is a regular customer. He always came here with his pals around six pm but never once has anybody had their belongings stolen by a thief until today.

"I can remember the thief well, he is about 5'6'' tall and must be aged around 30 or 40 years old. He wore a long sleeve tee and had a beard."

Police Captain Venich Prasert said that they hope catch the culprit soon.

He said: "We have already seen the CCTV footage from the cafe and together with her statements from the victim, we are confident that we will arrest the suspect soon."