German Loses Bt500,000 Baht Ring In Airport X-ray Machine

[george]

Ring went missing in an X-ray scanning machine at airport

BANGKOK: -- Pictures recorded by X-ray scanning machine showed that the diamond ring of a German tourist disappeared after it entered the machine at Suvarnabhumi Airport on April 24.

That 2.5-karat diamond ring worth about worth about Bt500,000 belonged to a German tourist, Dr Richard Chrobop.

Piyarat Donbandit, 34, who is a relative to Dr Chrobop represented him in lodging a complaint with police. She said the German tourist put his waistcoat and other possessions, including the ring, into a basket to pass the scanning machine at the departure exit. But when the basket went out from the machine, the ring disappeared.

--TNA 2007-05-06

[TAWP]

Magic.

[colino]

Down in one is my bet

[Rinrada]

Nice one...always knew that there must be a wee man inside those X-ray machines going through all the tourist baskets double checking for naughty gear.... ....expensive Ring ...and lost it .....yes of course......

[timonase]

any conclusiojn to the story yet?

will they tell the small people to get out of the x-ry machine??

regards

Timo

[geoffphuket]

Obviously it vaporised

[Head Snake]

Usually, one must wait until arriving to another city before realizing you have been nicked. 3 times that I've known for myself and my friend.

I will need to make sure I remember the post immigration security now.

[Phil Conners]

Idiot for spending 1/2 mil on a ring. Som nam nah!

[geoffphuket]

Idiot for spending 1/2 mil on a ring. Som nam nah!

Who's to say it was worth 1/2 million?

[gummy]

So this guy claims he put an expensive ring in a bag instead of wearing it !!!! The Germans still claim that the Mercedes Benz is the best car in the world, so that say everything about the ring story.

Edited May 6, 2007 by gummy

[DFCarlson]

I never had to take my rings off (I wear 5) for airport security.

Never any problem! But then I don't have any worth 500,000 baht.

[gummy]

I never had to take my rings off (I wear 5) for airport security.

Never any problem! But then I don't have any worth 500,000 baht.

Quite so and neither do I although I am very fortunate to wear a ring far in excess of that value and for that matter a watch also, but there again, you and I are not con men obviously.

Edited May 6, 2007 by gummy

[Maestro]

So this guy claims he put an expensive ring in a bag instead of wearing it

Worse than that: in his waistcoat.

--

Maestro

[KireB]

So this guy claims he put an expensive ring in a bag instead of wearing it !!!! The Germans still claim that the Mercedes Benz is the best car in the world, so that say everything about the ring story.

I wonder how many Germans you know for such slander!

[george]

Update:

Tourists lose valuables in scanner scam at airport

BANGKOK: -- There have been numerous reports of theft at Suvarnabhumi Airport, police say, including at least two from tourists who say their valuables disappeared while they were being scanned.

German tourist Dr Richard Chrobop, 60, said his 2.5-karat diamond ring, worth about Bt500,000, disappeared while going through a scanner at the airport when he was flying back to Germany on April 24.

Police also received a complaint yesterday from a Japanese tourist who said 800 euros (Bt 35,400) in cash disappeared from his bag while it was being scanned at the airport.

Photographs retrieved from the scanning machine show that Chrobop's diamond ring disappeared after it entered the machine, said an airport official who asked not to be named.

Piyarat Donbandit, a relative of the doctor, filed a complaint with Rachadheva Police on his behalf.

Piyarat said Chrobop put a jacket and other possessions, including the ring, into a basket to pass through the scanning machine at the departure exit. The ring was gone when the basket came out from the other side, Piyarat said.

Airport staff refused the doctor's request to meet police but gave him a compensation claim form and rushed him to his plane, Piyarat said.

The airport official said photographs from the scanner showed that the ring was in the basket as it passed through the scanner.

The official declined, however, to comment further, saying it might affect the reputation of Airports of Thailand.

Piyarat said he had written to airport officials asking to check the scanner's photographic record but was provided with unclear CCTV pictures taken from one angle. He was told that there was only one camera in the area.

Lt-Colonel Sitthichai Champa-ngam, an investigator at Rachadheva Police Station, said there had been numerous complaints about possessions lost at the airport.

It has been difficult to investigate the claims because the airport does not cooperate, Sitthichai said. To examine CCTV records at the airport, police have to send official letters asking for permission from the airport.

"I believe someone took the ring while it was passing through the machine," Sitthichai said.

It is difficult to believe there is only one CCTV in the area, he said.

"[Theft by airport staff] is not good for image of the country," he added.

--The Nation 2007-05-07

[sriracha john]

For the doubters that the ring even existed or that he put it into the coat.... here's clarification:

Tourists lose valuables in scanner scam at airport

There have been numerous reports of theft at Suvarnabhumi Airport, police say, including at least two from tourists who say their valuables disappeared while they were being scanned.

German tourist Dr Richard Chrobop, 60, said his 2.5-karat diamond ring, worth about Bt500,000, disappeared while going through a scanner at the airport when he was flying back to Germany on April 24.

Police also received a complaint yesterday from a Japanese tourist who said 800 euros (Bt 35,400) in cash disappeared from his bag while it was being scanned at the airport.

Photographs retrieved from the scanning machine show that Chrobop's diamond ring disappeared after it entered the machine, said an airport official who asked not to be named.

Piyarat Donbandit, a relative of the doctor, filed a complaint with Rachadheva Police on his behalf.

Piyarat said Chrobop put a jacket and other possessions, including the ring, into a basket to pass through the scanning machine at the departure exit. The ring was gone when the basket came out from the other side, Piyarat said.

Airport staff refused the doctor's request to meet police but gave him a compensation claim form and rushed him to his plane, Piyarat said.

The airport official said photographs from the scanner showed that the ring was in the basket as it passed through the scanner.

The official declined, however, to comment further, saying it might affect the reputation of Airports of Thailand.

Piyarat said he had written to airport officials asking to check the scanner's photographic record but was provided with unclear CCTV pictures taken from one angle. He was told that there was only one camera in the area.

Lt-Colonel Sitthichai Champa-ngam, an investigator at Rachadheva Police Station, said there had been numerous complaints about possessions lost at the airport.

It has been difficult to investigate the claims because the airport does not cooperate, Sitthichai said. To examine CCTV records at the airport, police have to send official letters asking for permission from the airport.

"I believe someone took the ring while it was passing through the machine," Sitthichai said.

It is difficult to believe there is only one CCTV in the area, he said.

"[Theft by airport staff] is not good for image of the country," he added.

- The Nation

[Jamie]

"The official declined, however, to comment further, saying it might affect the reputation of Airports of Thailand."

By not saying anything, aren't you basically doing the same thing?

I think it's a good idea not to bring your 500,000 baht rings or other bling with you on vacation. It doesn't make the theft right but use some common sense.

[buzz]

This is so ridiculous ... the ring can not dissapear inside the machine ... if it showed up on the x-ray, then it went thru the machine and came out the other end ... someone must have grabbed it when it cam thru ... either another passenger or the security staff ... why didn't the Dr realise his ring was missing when he got his stuff out of the basket ? If he did, then, he could've alarmed security and other passengers or staff could have been searched !

Why take the ring off in the first place ? as some one else mentioned, I've never been asked to take my ring off ...

[sriracha john]

why didn't the Dr realise his ring was missing when he got his stuff out of the basket ? If he did, then, he could've alarmed security and other passengers or staff could have been searched !

one could deduce that he did realize it then and having realized it then, one might deduce that he also might have said something about it at the time... since it was a half million baht and all:

The ring was gone when the basket came out from the other side, Piyarat said.

Edited May 6, 2007 by sriracha john

[oevna]

This is so ridiculous ... the ring can not dissapear inside the machine ... if it showed up on the x-ray, then it went thru the machine and came out the other end ... someone must have grabbed it when it cam thru ... either another passenger or the security staff ... why didn't the Dr realise his ring was missing when he got his stuff out of the basket ? If he did, then, he could've alarmed security and other passengers or staff could have been searched !

Why take the ring off in the first place ? as some one else mentioned, I've never been asked to take my ring off ...

Well, it sounds like he did notice right after his other belongings came out of the scanner. Contrary to what others have been posting, the article doesn't say that he put the ring in his waistcoat, so it would have been out in the open, and its absence quicly noticed. It also states that they gave him a compensation claim form and rushed him to his plane, which sounds like he started complaining and they tried to get him out of there before he could start too much trouble. Give him a claim form to fill out. That'll keep him busy until he's safely on the plane and out of our hands.

[Rinrada]

Long bit of string job....init

[sriracha john]

some "slight of hand" experts working the machines... palming diamond rings and wads of Euro bills

[Lesumare]

What thugs working at the Airport like most places here in Thailand..

All thought out to steal our money...!

Bastards....

[bander]

some "slight of hand" experts working the machines... palming diamond rings and wads of Euro bills

Why not put up a spy cam near the x-ray machines?

But then again, thais dont' like tourist's who take money and gold out of Thailand.

Spend it all and then go home!

[TBWG]

What thugs working at the Airport like most places here in Thailand..

All thought out to steal our money...!

Bastards....

Hi Just a thought...If they put the operating staff through the X ray machine immediately after said disappearance would the ring show up on the screen say if one of them had accidently swallowed it.

Afraid this can happen anywhere in the world not just Thailand.

I recall being behind an elderly lady at Colombo airport Sri Lanka when her purse mysteriously vanished, however she was sharp as a knife and had seen an operator drop in on the floor under the table. He denied it but she tore into him and gave him such a hard time that it suddenly re-appeared.

I suppose the moral is if you are wealthy don't flaunt it but then I suppose these victims are wannabe millionaires.

TBWG

[Tony Clifton]

What thugs working at the Airport like most places here in Thailand..

All thought out to steal our money...!

Bastards....

Simply look at the taxi and limousine scams with way too much annoying personnel all taking too much needed room. Not a very good impression when you first walk out. Anything done about that. No.

Theft has been reported previously. Anything done about that? See answer above.

A security guy spends his whole day on a motorcycle beeping his little horn for taxis to keep moving, do they listen? See first answer.

Apart from guys holding automatic weapons and immigration stamps, security there is a farce.

[Lesumare]

It's about time for Thai officials to reinforce Security, Honesty and Fairness over here in Thailand for both foreigners and Thais.

At Paragon, such a High-end shopping mall, I noticed there were quite a lot of Guards at the main Entrance door with checking devices for explosives and all.

But on the other entrances at the Car Park downstairs and on the sides no security at all.

Instead of using their Brain to over-price, scam and steal our Hard earned money, I have hopes one day this ludicrous "Government" will change for the better to keep the good Image the "Land of Smiles" is supposed to have.

[torrenova]

Like hel_l would I have gotton on the plane if my Bt500,000 ring had been pinched. I'd have stopped the whole machine, wanted to haul all before x-ray machines then if the culprit was found, had then trampelled by a 747 on the tarmac. All on video.

[sonnyJ]

Thailand, now truly the hub of scams?

[torrenova]

Thailand, now truly the hub of scams?

ROTFLMAO