This is the chilling moment a knife-wielding robber held a terrified checkout girl hostage while raiding the till at a convenience store.

The thief wearing a blue, white and red jacket and covering his face with a mask strolled calmly into the shop in Chiang Mai, northern Thiland.

CCTV footage from March 5 shows how he pounced on a worker from behind and held his weapon to her throat.

He then dragged the employee behind the counter and forced her to gather cash into plastic bags. The attacker then walked the terrified young woman to the door before snatching the money bags from her hand and running away with more than 10,000 THB (245 GBP) in cash.

Police used street cameras to track the suspect to a nearby apartment. They then arrested a Sai Sang Nun, 25, from neighbouring Burma, or Mayanmar.

He allegedly admitted carrying out the armed robbery to pay for his monthly motorbike instalments.

Officers said they would charge him with committing theft at night, which carries a maximum of five years imprisonment and a 10,000 THB (245 GBP) fine.

Police Major General Pichet Jiranantasin said the police also found that he was an illegal immigrant who was a suspect in a previous burglary.

He said: "After the arrest we ran the a background check on the thief and found that he had illegally entered the country and his identity matched the suspect in an earlier burglary.

"We will check on the burglary again to confirm whether it was him to climb into a restaurant and steal money.

''He will be held in custody while we gather the evidence to charge him.''