An alleged thief was arrested after being caught on CCTV breaking into a home in northern Thailand while wearing only a bikini.

Supannee Uprasen, 36, was detained by officers for attempting to rob a house while half-naked in the Saraphi district of Chiang Mai province on December 13.

Instead of wearing a mask to conceal her identity, she chose to wear a skimpy two-piece while committing the break-in.

Footage shows Supanee in a red bra and brown pants climbing the home's iron fence. Barefooted, she strutted across the garage and managed to pry a wooden door open, but found a second door blocked her entry.

She spent around 30 minutes milling around the property and, failing to take anything valuable, was eventually seen leaving empty-handed.

The shop owner said he checked the security cameras on suspicions that someone had trespassed into the property. He added he was shocked to find Supanee brazenly trying to steal from him at just 6pm in the evening.

After receiving the complaint, local police launched an investigation and tracked down Supanee in a hotel in the Chang Phueak subdistrict where she was arrested.

Police Colonel Kittipong Petchmunee, Chang Phueak police director, said Supanee has previously committed a string of thefts around the province and had sold the stolen goods to buy herself a phone.

He said: 'We are working on locating the stolen items and returning them to their owners.

'It's not clear whether the woman has a mental condition, but from interrogations, she appeared mentally unwell. Police will be checking her history again. We found no traces of drugs in her body.'

Supanee claimed that had no job or income, and merely happened to be walking past the houses she had targetted. She also said she did not have money to buy clothes, so she walked around half-naked in her underwear or a bikini.

Officers said she had been detained in custody and will be charged for trespassing and burglary.

Kittipong added that cops will continue interrogating Supanee as she has not given them all of her personal details and explained her circumstances.