Embassy Of Saudi Arabia In Bangkok Issues Another Angry Statement

[tim armstrong]

I think one of the problems is the Thai authorities never know how to communicate without being condescending to the other persons concerns. They have an inflated image of themselves. Add to it the fact that this promotion moves along because he may have the most valuable thing in Thai politics. Information about others. Rock and a Hard place.

Agree with you. But not so much condescending. as naieve about international communication and diplomacy,- with a few exceptions.

Many thais really do know about the background to all this, and also know that a day of reckoning will eventually come. But learning how to communicate directly has a way to go yet.

[elcent]

You people just don't get it. The photo of the blue diamond on someone neck is fake, and it is done to make it an obvious fake, as a red herring. In fact, the blue diamond was never seen in public since. However, there are photos in the internet of other jewelry on famous people, especially wife of army generals and police chiefs. Those photos are what the Saudi are screaming about. (Not the big blue diamond photo).

Looks like you got something right here.

The other thing is to smear the name of a very high institution who also holds the majority of gem mining licenses in Cambodia.

[wintermute]

I believe that the amount of cooperation that the Thai's have provided far exceeds what the Saudis would have provided if the boot was upon the other foot. I spent a little time in Saudi Arabia so I'm reasonably aware of what these people think of every other race or nationality, and so I was not particularly surprised to learn that 15 out of 17 World Trade Centre hijackers were Saudi Arabian. The Thai's have ample experience of the condescending arrogance and general demanding of these Arabs, so there is no sympathy. For those of us that remember, it used to be common-place to see a "No Arab" sign in the beer-bars of Thailand - and for good reason in my opinion.

to correct a wrong with other wrongs doesn't help either

Yeah but getting their gaudy filthy rich person's diamond lifted is a lot lower on the scale of "things that matter" than having citizens of your country fly planes into other country's buildings.

[wintermute]

I think one of the problems is the Thai authorities never know how to communicate without being condescending to the other persons concerns. They have an inflated image of themselves. Add to it the fact that this promotion moves along because he may have the most valuable thing in Thai politics. Information about others. Rock and a Hard place.

Agree with you. But not so much condescending. as naieve about international communication and diplomacy,- with a few exceptions.

Many thais really do know about the background to all this, and also know that a day of reckoning will eventually come. But learning how to communicate directly has a way to go yet.

They aren't naive, it just simply doesn't matter much because relations have been icy for so long that any perceived economic "fallout" is easy to ignore. Especially since Thailand is located in a position where it can easily make up for any shortfall in whatever Saudi Arabia has to offer..

Besides it might be beneficial for Thais overall not to have their people be used as abused housemaids or blue collar workers in a Saudi household.

[canmaninpat]

This Saudi guy's basically put in a nutshell the entire Thai authority's playbook on 'How To Deflect Criticism or Unwanted Attention'.

In general terms, the procedure is:

1) Give a contrived explanation involving issues the complainant isn't/can't be aware of, preferably involving the deliberate use of disengenious misinterperetations of obscure laws/guidelines.

2) Repeat with alternative contrivances until complainant is satisfied or sufficiently baffled into inaction.

3) Claim that you have given sufficient reasons/responses to the point where it now looks like the complainant is being obtuse and stubborn in the continued pursuit of truth/justice.

4) Claim the complainant has been misinformed so that he /she doesn't even know what they're talking about.

5) Claim the complainant just doesn't understand the culture/laws/issues at hand.

And by 'Thai Authority', I mean any kind of authority in this country at whatever level from the government down to the people who issue driving licenses.

Well before the end of this procedure, the complainant has usually given up. The interesting thing about this case is that the complainant very clearly isn't giving up. This is is one relationship that isn't going to be mended any time soon.

That Thai playbook is also well known by the bureaucrats of my country, Canada, and I daresay, many other countries.

But cheering on the Saudis? What's the matter with you? It's one of the most evil kingdoms on earth. They fund terrorism, abuse women and children, rape and murder foreign maids with impunity, and care nothing for the disadvantaged of the world. "Go Saudi." I say go to H***!

Fully agree with Canuck!

[wintermute]

Corrupt hi-so Thai politicians/police having a spat with equally unscrupulous high ranking Saudis is like the Iran/Iraq war...it doesn't matter who wins in the end both groups are terrible with nasty people in charge.

Edited September 20, 2010 by wintermute

[SomTumTiger]

That Thai playbook is also well known by the bureaucrats of my country, Canada, and I daresay, many other countries.

But cheering on the Saudis? What's the matter with you? It's one of the most evil kingdoms on earth. They fund terrorism, abuse women and children, rape and murder foreign maids with impunity, and care nothing for the disadvantaged of the world. "Go Saudi." I say go to H***!

Fully agree with Canuck!

That makes 3 of us.

[SamritT]

http://www.thailandoutlook.tv/tan/ViewData.aspx?DataID=1035050 PM Defends Assistance Police Chief Appointment. Just came in. I wonder who is more stubborn. Mark or the Saudi? What a tug of war.

[BaronCasey]

And, has anyone ever seen any kind of media report emanating from Saudi Arabia that shows what Saudi authorities did in their country (by way of investigation and/or enquiry) about investigating the wider groups of Saudi people connected with supporting the World trade Centre massacre? No? Nor me either! That’s because they don’t give a dam. One would think that they’d take ample measures to do so, and then publicise their findings via the international media in order to demonstrate that they don’t want a similar event to happen again. But they dismissed any international suggestion with a simple wave of a grubby camel-pooh stained hand. And yet we seem to have a number of ex-pats on this forum openly criticising the Thai authorities for ‘bending the law’, when Saudi Arabia is a law unto itself.

[LJW]

sigh! This is the blue death Diamond

http://www.time.com/...1969920,00.html

http://en.wikipedia...._Diamond_Affair

When this was an item in the news, there was a picture of General Chavalit's wife wearing the stone at a Hong Kong party..

Edited September 20, 2010 by LJW

[MAJIC]

In this instance, prevarication by introducing more and more Thai Law,does not seem to be working.

To drag out a 20 year old prosecution,only goes to show it was never intended

to favour the Saudi's and Justice in the first place.

[Steely Dan]

Hmm, So many red herrings here. True the Saudi regime is about as unappealing as a victim ever can be, but this was not just the theft of valuables from some rich Saudi prince but also involves the murder of three Saudi nationals, who were diplomatic staff to boot. It is also a red herring to say this is a partizan democrat vs PTP issue, a real investigation would likely prove hideously embarassing to both political parties. The issue is one of rule of law and governance, both of which put Thailand in the same league as Nigeria - something is rotten to the core and it permeates from the top through all strata of society.

Here is a link to make a point. It concerns the Thai policeman in Pai accused of murdering a Canadian three years ago. After the usual whitewash the accused resumed active duty where he went about intimidating witnesses. Fast forward to today when the news comes out that he just murdered his pregnant wife of two weeks.

Contempt for the rule of law and arrogance to think that stonewalling is the answer in these cases puts Thailand in a very bad light indeed - However embarassing this case is a proper investigation needs to be carried out and not to hide behind any statute of limitations.

Edited September 21, 2010 by Tywais
Link removed to to a privacy issue

[pgangeles]

Since it's a slow night and even mod's have a sense of humour (I hope)

My dear Chantorn, for you :

Rules by Men, all numbered one on purpose.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.

1. Sunday = sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days!

1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted in two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it's not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.

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1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round is a shape.

1. Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight, but did you know men really don't mind that, it's like camping

AMUSING & BRILLIANT !!

[souvenirdeparis]

How can he say he 's well -informed when he can't get two people to tell him the same story? He has asked the wrong persons, who did their Thaï best to give him the answer they thought he expected.

Not this govt's fault if the diamonds could be stolen so easily.

Anybody knows about the whereabouts of the thief ? He had been briefly detained then released and back to his village last thing I read.

[rubl]

How can he say he 's well -informed when he can't get two people to tell him the same story? He has asked the wrong persons, who did their Tha� best to give him the answer they thought he expected.

Not this govt's fault if the diamonds could be stolen so easily.

Anybody knows about the whereabouts of the thief ? He had been briefly detained then released and back to his village last thing I read.

The Saudi chap probably has the complete dossier collected by his government over the last 20 years. Thais tend to have shorter memories in cases like this.

It is not this governments fault the diamonds could be stolen so easily. True, meaningless remark as well. The current government inherited this problem. It needs to be resolved. Not easy with influential figures involved (remember this is Thailand )

Over 20 years Thailand and it's people must have lost billions because of Saudi boycot. All this for less than US$ 20 million with a minor part returned ?

The thief is no longer important, he sold the stuff for peanuts, was apprehended, served five years in jail, clean slate. It's the police and/or military involved who should be charged, independent of their current position. A bit difficult the way Thailand works I'm afraid. Never the less if you want to be taken serious in a world with less and less borders, DO SOMETHING !

Edited September 20, 2010 by rubl

[mt365]

Will probably be still awaiting the outcome 20 years from now.

After going through this thread and additional links, would the satirical Blue Diamond sketch on You Tube be allowed on here?

[dighambara]

  This case is a fascinating look at Thailand, and the Teflon abilities of the high society. I can fully understand the anger of Saudi Arabia. If I was them, I would in fact go way out of my way to punish Thailand until this case is solved.

  It is equally interesting to look at the numbers. I think the value of the gems was around 20 million dollars. The response of Saudi Arabia was to give the boot to all the Thai workers, in essence costing the working class of Isan hundreds of millions of dollars in lost wages. Saudi Arabia has said if the gems were returned, everything would be normalized. So all the @#$%&$# high society people have to do is open their safes, return the jewels, and all will be well again. In order to not lose face, do it anonymously.........Instead they hang onto the jewels, and indirectly stick it to the working class of Thailand. 

  I think Thailand is hoping this case will fade away, but clearly it is not. Best for Thailand to make a clean sweep of this while they still can. This case is so amazing, it is just a matter of time until a movie is made of it, which I am sure Thailand would not be happy about.......

  

I guess it's easy for us to forget that we're not in fact living in a 'land of the free'. Any such movie would no doubt be banned, and there's plenty of evidence to point to this. A popular family movie starring Yul Brynner springs to mind, for example.

A popular movie that shows up in Thai markets from time to time, with dubbed Thai and Thai subtitles...

Meaning, no matter how much effort is put into hiding something, the truth is out in public...

[mca]

A popular family movie starring Yul Brynner springs to mind, for example.

I never could fathom the Thai powers that be and their irrational fear of cowboys.

[SamritT]

That Yul Brynner movie is ban in Thailand.

[yellow1red1]

Will probably be still awaiting the outcome 20 years from now.

After going through this thread and additional links, would the satirical Blue Diamond sketch on You Tube be allowed on here?

No!

[yellow1red1]

sigh! This is the blue death Diamond

http://www.time.com/...1969920,00.html

http://en.wikipedia...._Diamond_Affair

When this was an item in the news, there was a picture of General Chavalit's wife wearing the stone at a Hong Kong party..

How did she get it from Smithsonian??? The picture is of Hope diamond, largest blue diamond in the world 45 c, well except for the Saudi one, alleged, to be 50c, but there is not history of it on the dozens of diamond and the few blue diamond websites on the internet???

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Hope_Diamond

Edit:: even this undocumeted 50 c Saudi blue would be the size of post stamp. How could a photo PROOF it was the stolen one???

Thailand and Arabia deserve each other! The whole 'incident' saved 100's of thousands from slaving in Arabia to slaving in Thailand.

When the Saudi agents were killed, Iranian agents took credit!!!???

Even BIB should be innocent until proven guilty, but not in Arabia where that doesn't matter.

Edited September 20, 2010 by yellow1red1

[souvenirdeparis]

@Rubl

(remember this is Thailand ) ""

OOOOps ! thought I was on Mongolia Visa .

The thief is no longer important, he sold the stuff for peanuts, was apprehended, served five years in jail,""

So you don't know more than I do .

if he has all the story in a file from the past 20 years, why is he so upset he can't get answers?

I say he's a cheeky nosey-parker who's losing his cool. Not all questions have an answer; there is something we call raison d' état, it exists everywhere

.The three envoys asked too many questions maybe.

Maybe they had bad intents; I don't know what sort of 'envoy' they were.

[dumball]

'sevenhills' timestamp='1284905939' post='3893531']='Suttisan' timestamp='1284905677' post='3893526']

How long before this guy accidentally slips off his balcony?

That's something he needs to be very careful of, especially if he visits Pattaya. If it wasn't so serious, it would be funny.

Some people need to be reminded of a certain Saudi , who spread his tentacles around the whole world , causing madness and mayhem to millions , who would have thought one individual was capable of that ? Time is like sand to the Saudis , it never funs out and they have lots of it .

[hanuman1]

Time is like sand to the Saudis , it never runs out and they have lots of it .

Time might be like sand to the Saudis, but oil certainly isn't. It will run out.

Maybe waiting for that to happen is the Thai government's best bet. Then they won't have so much to lose with this deteriorating relationship.

[BangrakBob]

If the roles were reversed, the complainant would be given the same treatment or told to do one.

In the Middle East it's one law for a local man, one for a local woman, then one for a western male foreigner, western female foreigner, then the rest of the poor buggers.

They'll never give up their own for an Infi+*#, even with damming evidence

[boggle]

Chatorn

"camel riding Saudi"

This seems to have quite a bit of racisim in it. Is this allowed on TV?

Imagine if the comment was made "buffalo riding Thai" How long would that last on here before the mods axed it and issued warnings.

Amazing somtimes.

[rubl]

Chatorn

"camel riding Saudi"

This seems to have quite a bit of racisim in it. Is this allowed on TV?

Imagine if the comment was made "buffalo riding Thai" How long would that last on here before the mods axed it and issued warnings.

Amazing somtimes.

The difference is (of course) that Thais have ridden buffalo's. Wasn't it in the movie "Bang Rayang" (บางระจัน) where it was shown

Edited September 20, 2010 by rubl

[Thakkar]

Normally, when a corrupt, theocratic, human rights-abusing autocracy demands 'justice', it would be considered rich and laughable.

I've read and reread this entire thread but couldnt find the part where Thailand was demanding 'justice'.

My post, in its entirety was as follows:

Thakkar Posted Today, 12:14

Normally, when a corrupt, theocratic, human rights-abusing autocracy demands 'justice', it would be considered rich and laughable. The fact that, in this case, a representative of such a government comes off looking righteous, aggrieved and eminently reasonable, even when using language that is less than diplomatic, says a lot about how damaging this is for Thailand.

Emoticons confuse me, so I don't know what you meant by the selective quoting.

Edited September 20, 2010 by Thakkar

[yellow1red1]

were can we find the pic of the diamond in hk?

Bump! Link anyone ?

the 'pic' posted in Thread was replica of Hope diamond

here's 50 pages of pics of the Hope, take your pick of pics

http://www.google.ca/images?rlz=1T4ACAW_en___CA379&q=pictures+of+Hope+diamond&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=hpaXTIunCIH2swPLuYjACg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQsAQwAA&biw=842&bih=369

there are several sellers of replica Hopes do a Bing or Yahoo.

http://www.polyvore.com/replica_hope_diamond_necklace/thing?id=4526352

a pic of blue stone, from a distance, would prove NUTHING, excpept under Saudi law enforcement which would amount to conviction.

the Hope is post stamp sized, wot would would a paparzi picture show?

45 c largest Blue in the world housed at Smithsonian...

the alleged Saudi Blue, 50 c would be bigger, a little bit.

NONE of the diamond expert sites and diamond history sites, including all the websites that are call bluediamond dot com even mention the alleged Saudi Blue, which would be the world record blue...

good on the Saudi prince for keeping it a secret. i'm sure he's a boy with other toys

there are way bigger justice issues in Thailand and Arabia, where real people are victims and falsely jailed.

than some poor billionaires lost some gems

[yellow1red1]

Normally, when a corrupt, theocratic, human rights-abusing autocracy demands 'justice', it would be considered rich and laughable.

I've read and reread this entire thread but couldnt find the part where Thailand was demanding 'justice'.

My post, in its entirety was as follows:

Thakkar Posted Today, 12:14

Normally, when a corrupt, theocratic, human rights-abusing autocracy demands 'justice', it would be considered rich and laughable. The fact that, in this case, a representative of such a government comes off looking righteous, aggrieved and eminently reasonable, even when using language that is less than diplomatic, says a lot about how damaging this is for Thailand.

Emoticons confuse me, so I don't know what you meant by the selective quoting.

T I theenk he meant for nice joke,,,? you say Saudi corrupt,, etal he funny you meant Thailand --- get it?