At 8:36 p.m. on Aug.11, an unidentified man snuck out of the Bangkok Poco Thai restaurant with one of its massive, 167 oz. beer towers. Despite managing to sneak past employees, the man was unsuccessful in evading the all-seeing eye of the restaurant’s security camera. More than two weeks have passed since the heist, and the beer tower thief is still at large.
Three-foot tall vases of inebriation with a capacity of 14 beers, the Bangkok Poco beer towers have long been an excuse for rambunctiousness. But with one now missing, the restaurant’s clamor doesn’t quite match up with what it used to be. The man’s exact motives for walking off with the receptacle are unknown, but it is likely the beer tower’s effects were largely responsible for its own theft.
General manager Aittidej “A.J.” Tanvilai was working the day of the robbery when the man quickly paid for his check, wrapped the beer tower in a towel, and ran out the door with an accomplice at a brief moment in which all employees were in the kitchen. A co-worker got on a bike and attempted to catch up to the men as they drove off, but was unable to stop them.
Tanvilai contacted the police the next day, but has so far had no luck in identifying the man and reclaiming the tower.
“This tower is really hard to get—we cannot buy it from here; the owner has to fly to Thailand to get it,” Tanvilai said. “Right now we only have two of the big towers left, and that’s it. If people keep doing this, then we won’t be able to offer them anymore.”
A similar theft has happened before at Bangkok Poco, but the culprit returned the tower the next day. Tanvilai mentioned a potential reward for whomever can help the restaurant recover its stolen item. “To whoever gives us some kind of information regarding this guy’s phone number, email or whereabouts we’re going to give a beer tower,” he said.
Anyone with information regarding the beer tower can contact Bangkok Poco at (619)-265-7626. A video of the security camera footage can also be found on YouTube.
http://youtu.be/rIGV95YmEzE
