Australian mother who stole bar mat in Thailand to return home

An Australian mother-of-four, Mrs Annice Smoel, stole a bar mat in Thailand from an Australian-themed bar, where she was celebrating her mother’s 60th birthday. The lady is now returning home after pleading guilty and being fined of A$40 ($31), ending almost three-week ordeal. Earlier she denied stealing the rubber souvenir bar mat from the Aussie Pub in Phuket, but to no avail, she accepted and pleaded guilty for stealing.

This had let down the bar, which has attracted visitors like Ron, who arrived from Australia less than a week ago. Annice Smoel, 36, will return shortly to Australia following the resolution of the case, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in an e-mailed statement.

It was a tense few hours after the court hearing, especially at the immigration center. Not only this the governor of Phuket paid the fine for the sake of good relations between the two countries. The governor of Phuket invited Mrs Smoel and her husband to visit his office as they were leaving back, they apologized profusely for the trouble that his country had caused to them.