Sometimes it’s best not to mess with backpackers, especially if they have a righteous mob backing them up.

A 25-year-old man was beaten up by a motley crew of angry villagers and a motodop after he snatched a phone off a Chinese tourist, also 25, in the capital’s Daun Penh district on Tuesday.

Police arrested him and returned the phone to the woman, but not before warning villagers not to injure any suspects lest they be arrested as well. KOH SANTEPHEAP