A gambling addict was arrested after stealing thousands of pounds from passengers - as they waited inside an airport.

Juan Carlos Yanez Miranda, 64, targeted groups of holidaymakers inside Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.

Staff said they had seen a surge in the number of complaints from people whose bags were stolen.

They checked CCTV and identified the Chilean national before pouncing on him as arrived to carry out more thefts on August 20.

Juan Carlos told police he had stolen more than 100,000 (2,400gbp) baht from groups of tourists to fund his gambling addiction.

He said: ''I took bags from Chinese tourists and Thais. I spent a lot of the money on gambling. I needed the money for this. I want to apologise to all of the people I have stolen from.''

Officers searched Juan Carlos and found 39,000 baht (927gbp) in cash and stolen credit cards.

Police Lieutenant Surachet Kidpalan, Deputy Commander of Samut Prakan police station, said: ''There were many victims from inside the airport. The offender had stolen no less than 100,000 baht.

''He will be prosecuted for theft. We will try to return the money to as many people as possible.

''We will begin to examine foreigners more carefully, especially Nigerians as this nationality has high crime statistics in Thailand.''