A thief was caught on CCTV breaking into a phone store by making a hole through the ceiling.

The burglar wearing a black shirt, blue vest, and baggy green shorts was captured on CCTV ambling outside the mobile phone shop in Pattani, Thailand, at around 4:24 am on December 17.

Minutes later, he was seen on surveillance footage lowering himself into the shop through the ceiling boards he had removed.

The man removed two CCTV cameras inside the store, unaware that there were at least eight others still left recording his movements. He then grabbed as many phones as he can from a glass display case before escaping through the back door.

Shop owner Warunee Korlae learned of the theft when her employee came in the next day only to find a large hole in the ceiling, a destroyed glass counter, two missing cameras, and more than 10 phones missing.

Warunee checked the surveillance recordings and was shocked to find the alleged burglar making off with the gadgets worth 30,000 THB (857 USD). She reported the incident to police and submitted the footage as evidence.

Warunee said: 'I usually sleep inside the shop, but on that day, I went to Narathiwat province and forgot to turn on the alarms. I don't think the man is from around here because his face was unfamiliar. He must have been observing the store and waiting for a chance to break in.'

The worried owner added that her store had been robbed earlier this year. The suspect in that case has been caught by police.

She added that burglaries were frequent in the area, targeting various businesses such as mobile phone shops, restaurants, and convenience stores.

Authorities were tracking down the robbery suspect, who was believed to have swam across a pond next to Warunee's store.