A German tourist has been arrested after he stole a British holidaymaker's suitcase from an airport baggage carousel.

Michael Joerg, 39, was seen on CCTV lifting the woman's black medium-sized case onto his trolley before wheeling it away at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 13.

The victim told airport staff that her case was missing and they identified the thief from surveillance cameras. He left the airport in a taxi and an arrest warrant was issued.

Joerg was finally detained after he tried to leave the country through a border checkpoint in Trat, southern Thailand last Saturday (January 19) more than a month after the crime.

Officials detained the German and he was driven back to the airport where he confessed to making off with the British woman's suitcase.

He told police that he had performed the same theft several times before and would ''sell the valuables and keep the money''.

He said: ''This is the first time that I have been caught. I have stolen suitcases before and then left and re-entered the country to do it again.''

Joerg told police he had always targeted dark suitcases that were hard to identify. Police believe that is how he had evaded capture in the past.

The German now faces charges of ''stealing from an airport'' which is punishable with a prison term of between one year and five years and/or a fine of between 20,000 baht and 100,000 baht.