Blue Diamond Affair

The Blue Diamond Affair is an ongoing saga of unsolved crimes and embittered diplomatic relations triggered by the 1989 theft of gems belonging to the House of Saud by a Thai employee. The affair has soured relations between Saudi Arabia and Thailand for more than 20 years.[1]

Theft and recovery

In 1989, Kriangkrai Techamong, a Thai worker, stole jewellery and other valuable gems from the palace of Prince Faisal bin Fahd, where he was employed as a janitor.[2] Kriangkrai had access to the prince's bedroom and hid the stolen jewellery in a vacuum cleaner bag at the palace. It included a valuable blue diamond and other gems, which Kriangkrai shipped back to his home in Lampang Province, Thailand.

An investigation launched by a team from the Royal Thai Police, headed by Lieutenant-General Chalor Kerdthes, led to the arrest of Kriangkrai and recovery of most of the stolen jewellery. Kriangkai was sentenced to seven years in prison, but he was released after three years because he confessed to the crime.

The team of Royal Thai policemen under Lieutenant-General Chalor flew to Saudi Arabia to return the stolen jewellery, but the Saudi Arabian authorities discovered that about half of it was fake and the blue diamond was missing.[3][4]

Mohammad al-Ruwaili, a Saudi Arabian businessman close to the Saudi royal family, travelled to Bangkok to investigate, but went missing on 12 February 1990 and is presumed to have been murdered.[5] Days earlier, three officials from the Saudi Embassy had been shot dead in Bangkok.[6] The murders remain unsolved,[7] and no connection to the jewelry theft has been established despite the Saudi government's view "...that the Thai government had not done enough to resolve the mystery surrounding Al-Ruwaili's assassination and that of three other Saudi diplomats,..."[6]

Lieutenant-General Chalor was later charged and convicted of ordering the 1995 murder of the wife and son of a gem dealer involved in the affair, and was sentenced to death.[8] The supreme court upheld the ruling and sentenced Lieutenant-General Chalor to death on 16 October 2009. Six other policemen were also found guilty of involvement in the murders. However, Chalor's sentence was reduced to fifty years imprisonment by King Bhumibol Adulyadej on the King's 84th birthday.[9]

Diplomatic and economic repercussions

Relations between the two countries worsened further following the murders, Saudi Arabia stopped issuing working visas for Thais and discouraged its citizens from visiting Bangkok. Diplomatic missions were downgraded to the chargé d'affaires level. The number of Thais working in Saudi Arabia fell from 150,000-200,000 in 1989 to just 10,000 in 2008. The cost to Thailand is 200 billion baht in remittances as fewer Thai workers were permitted to go to Saudi Arabia.[10]

Aftermath

On 17 March 2016 Kriangkrai Techamong, then 65, told reporters at his home in Lampang that he would become a monk for the rest of his life to repent for his thievery. Kriangkrai spent nearly five years in a Thai prison for the theft. Kriangkrai believes the Blue Diamond is cursed and said the theft brought on a series of calamities to his life and family. In 1994, the wife and son of a Thai gem dealer were abducted and later murdered in a botched attempt by rogue police officers to determine the location of the stolen Saudi jewels. Lt. Gen. Chalor Kerdthes was later convicted of plotting the killing and sentenced to life in prison. He was granted a royal pardon and released in August 2015. Chalor was present at Kriangkrai's ordination ceremony.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Shay, Christopher (2010-03-07). "Thailand's Blue Diamond Heist: Still a Sore Point". Time. Retrieved 14 Feb 2015.
  2. ↑ Mccarthy, Terry (25 September 1994). "Saudi gems theft leaves deadly trail in Thailand". The Independent (London).
  3. ↑ "The Thai police: A law unto themselves". The Economist. 2008-04-17. Retrieved 14 Feb 2015.
  4. ↑ "The Blue Diamond Affair". Unofficial Royalty. Retrieved 14 Feb 2015.
  5. ↑ "Court stands by ex-policeman's acquittal". Bangkok Post. 2016-05-04. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  6. 1 2 Al-Ruwaili, Mohammed (2014-07-04). "Thai Blue Diamond Affair: Kingdom demands justice". Arab News. Retrieved 14 Feb 2015.
  7. ↑ McClincy, Meghan A. (Apr 2012). "A Blue Thai Affair: The Blue Diamond Affair's Illustration of the Royal Thai Police Force's Standards of Corruption". Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs 1 (1): 185. Retrieved 14 Feb 2015.
  8. ↑ "Thai cop convicted of Saudi gem theft". Television New Zealand. Retrieved 21 Sep 2011.
  9. ↑ Laohong, King-oua (2013-10-26). "Saudi gem killer Chalor freed". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 14 Feb 2015.
  10. ↑ "Thai Foreign Minister to reopen Saudi gems scandal case". 2Thailand.net. Mathaba. 2008-03-06. Retrieved 14 Feb 2015.
  11. ↑ Charuvastra, Teeranai (2016-03-17). "Man Behind Saudi Diamond Heist Ordained ‘For Life’". Khaosod English. Retrieved 27 March 2016.

Further reading

External links

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