WITH a stunning smile, Valeriya Verbitskaya boarded a flight home to Russia yesterday carrying a mixture of memories of her Phuket holiday.

Victim of a bag snatch, the 23-year-old Phuket visitor did not expect to see her stolen digital camera again. But persistent Phuket police kept on the case.

They managed to track down the camera, which had been sold for 1300 baht by the thieves, and yesterday at Chalong police station, in southern Phuket, officers returned it to the beaming Valeriya.

After a man snatched her bag on Karon's beach road on September 27, sharp-eyed Valeriya noted the registration number of the motorcycle that the thief and his accomplice used to make their getaway.

As a result, police had the suspects under arrest at a nearby traffic checkpoint within days.

While Valeriya will be taking home a tan, she won't have any photos of her holiday.

The thieves erased her shots. But she did get a kick out of looking up the Phuketwan coverage of her case on a laptop at the police station.

Officers say the person who bought the stolen camera will have to bear the cost of the illegal purchase. The two suspects confessed to three other bag-snatchings.

Most tourists who come to Phuket enjoy their holidays without trouble. Phuket Police Commander, Major General Pekad Tantipong, told Phuketwan this week that the crime rate had not risen.

In fact, police are making arrests in more cases, he said. Valeriya's bag-snatch has been one of them.