Police are hunting down an underwear thief who specifically targets black and pink knickers.

The unidentified suspect was seen allegedly plucking the undergarments left out to dry in a neighbourhood in Pathum Thani, Thailand, at around 5:15 am on October 27.

CCTV footage shows the man grabbing a set of bras and panties left on a house gate, before running toward his pickup truck to leave the housing estate.

The alleged victim Sukanda Kaewkanya, 35, said her neighbors had also reported black and pink underwear had been going missing while their white and cream panties were left untouched.

Sukanda said she had washed her bras and hung them outside to dry after her night shift. However, when she was about to take them inside, she found several bras were missing.

She added: 'The thief had only taken my black and pink bras. I talked to my female neighbours and they also said only their black and pink bras were missing. He left the plain ones behind.'

Police Lieutenant Colonel Vacharapong Thienpratham, the inquiry officer at Sam Khok Police Station, said: 'We received a report about the unidentified man seen on CCTV stealing women's underwear.

'He took eight bras - five black and three pink - worth 2,300 baht (52 GBP). Investigators are checking security cameras along his escape route to track him down.'

Residents in the area said the alleged thief had stolen their underwear in the past.

Police said investigations are now ongoing to determine his identity.

In February, a prolific underwear thief who allegedly stole knickers for 20 years was caught in Bangkok.

Randy burglar Nattawut Songchai, 38, allegedly had a stash of around 600 undergarments before he was nabbed by police at an apartment in Bangkok on February 12. His arrest came after a female resident from the same apartment reported that the underwear she had hung out to dry had gone missing on February 11 evening, despite the anti-theft mesh screen around her balcony.

Stealing underwear is a type of fetish or 'paraphilia' - intense sexual arousal derived from objects, fantasies, or behaviours.

In an interview with the New Straits Times, Dr. Shazli Ezzat Ghazali, Clinical Psychology and Behavioural Health Program Associate Professor at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said stealing underwear in particular may make the perpetrator 'feel closer' to the knicker owners.

He added the thieves may feel excitement from committing such taboo activities.