A bungling thief suffered instant karma when a quick-thinking owner locked him in her shop.

Nattanon Kwantong, 27, walked into the gold shop unarmed and pretended to browse through the jewellery in Hat Yai, Thailand, on December 26.

The clerks assisted him as he tried on different necklaces. However, he suddenly swung around and ran for the door while still wearing the accessory - only to find that the doors were locked and he was trapped inside.

CCTV footage shows the awkward moment Nattanon, with a sheepish grin on his face, turned back to return the stolen item to the staff.

He begged them not to call police and made a praying motion.

However, the two female workers - an employee and the shop owner - called the cops while the suspected burglar carried on asking them to forgive him.

Gold shop owner Piwaporn Pimluang said: ‘I was suspicious of him when he first arrived at the shop. He was acting shifty and even left the engine of his motorcycle on as if he wanted to keep it ready to escape.

'He pretended to be interested in buying a 0.49oz necklace. He tried the first one, but it was too small so he asked for something bigger.

'The moment he wore the necklace and found that it fit perfectly, he pulled out his phone and pretended to make an online payment. But then he ran and tried to leave through the back door.

'Fortunately, the back door was a safety door so it was locked. We phoned the police while the robber slowly walked to return the necklace and apologised.'

Colonel Akarawut Thanirat, superintendent of the Hat Yai police station, said Nattanon had recently been released from prison for a similar crime. He told cops he had no money so tried to steal gold.

The policeman said: ‘After the incident, Hat Yai Police Station detained Nattanon for an interrogation and to charge him with robbery.

'He told us that he needed the money to celebrate the New Year. He drove from his hometown in the Sadao district just to steal in Hat Yai.

'We ran a background check and learned that he had just recently been released from jail for robbery. He was about to commit the same crime.'