Bank Employee Grilled In Safe Deposit Box Thefts

[Lite Beer]

Bank employee grilled in box thefts

By The Nation on Sunday

Police yesterday continued to question a bank employee arrested Friday for allegedly stealing assets from safe-deposit boxes at a branch of Bangkok Bank.

Suwichan Saengkaeo, 25, an employee of the Ratchadaphisek-Lat Phrao branch, had earlier confessed to stealing amulets and other valuables worth a combined Bt25 million from the boxes, according to police.

The suspect yesterday gave police more information on where he had sold the items. Police took the case to the criminal court.

Police said Suwichan sold dozens of amulets at Pantip Plaza Ngamwongwan and sold gold ornaments in the Yaowarat area. They were able to retrieve some of the sold contraband, while other allegedly stolen objects were found in his condominium in the Lat Phrao area, they said.

They warned anyone who had purchased items from Suwichan to talk to police or face charges.

Police said the victims were bank employees who had deposited assets there for safekeeping. Suwichan reportedly confessed to using stolen keys to the boxes to steal their contents in May. He later sold them to pay his debts, they said.

-- The Nation 2011-09-11

[chooka]

"SAFE" deposit boxes. I guess there is no such thing in Thailand. Don't carry your your valuables on you because you will get robbed, don't store them at home because you will get burgled and don't deposit them in the bank because they will get stolen.

[katasyd]

Suwichan Saengkaeo, 25, an employee of the Ratchadaphisek-Lat Phrao branch, had earlier confessed to stealing amulets and other valuables worth a combined Bt25 million from the boxes, according to police.

Police said the victims were bank employees who had deposited assets there for safekeeping.

I want to know how bank employees have 25 million baht is assets when on minimal salaries?

My friend had been at SCB for 15 years and is only on 35k a month as a branch manager.

[elgato]

"SAFE" deposit boxes. I guess there is no such thing in Thailand. Don't carry your your valuables on you because you will get robbed, don't store them at home because you will get burgled and don't deposit them in the bank because they will get stolen.

I spend all my money on beer with nothing left over for valuables.

[OzMick]

Amulets "worth" B25 million - made from fool's gold.

[bushwacker]

I wonder if after the court case the Bank will transfer the employee to another branch and cancel any future promotions?

[tombkk]

Suwichan reportedly confessed to using stolen keys to the boxes to steal their contents in May.

Not sure about this one... If my safe deposit key is lost, it gets reported and the lock changed.

You cannot duplicate those keys, can you? Anyway, it says "stolen" not "duplicated " keys, so that's moot.

How many stolen keys did he have? Apart from a lucky strike, how would you steal these keys anyway? Did the employees leave them lying around and never noticed that they were gone? If the employees didn't even care about their safety deposit keys, what does that say about their mindset?

- No excuse for the thief, just wondering aloud how this could happen in the first place.

[morphic]

Suwichan reportedly confessed to using stolen keys to the boxes to steal their contents in May.

Not sure about this one... If my safe deposit key is lost, it gets reported and the lock changed.

You cannot duplicate those keys, can you? Anyway, it says "stolen" not "duplicated " keys, so that's moot.

How many stolen keys did he have? Apart from a lucky strike, how would you steal these keys anyway? Did the employees leave them lying around and never noticed that they were gone? If the employees didn't even care about their safety deposit keys, what does that say about their mindset?

- No excuse for the thief, just wondering aloud how this could happen in the first place.

"You cannot duplicate those keys, can you? "....don't be too sure about that. when it was made in the first place then it could have been duplicated then, i.e., more made, or could just have been duplicated by a good metal worker. the fact is there seems to be nothing and nobody that can be trusted in thailand.

[USNret]

Suwichan reportedly confessed to using stolen keys to the boxes to steal their contents in May.

Not sure about this one... If my safe deposit key is lost, it gets reported and the lock changed.

You cannot duplicate those keys, can you? Anyway, it says "stolen" not "duplicated " keys, so that's moot.

How many stolen keys did he have? Apart from a lucky strike, how would you steal these keys anyway? Did the employees leave them lying around and never noticed that they were gone? If the employees didn't even care about their safety deposit keys, what does that say about their mindset?

- No excuse for the thief, just wondering aloud how this could happen in the first place.

I'm thinking he took & duplicated keys for unused/unassigned safe deposit boxes, then waited until someone got that box. After all, the bank has to keep these unused keys somewhere; he probably had access to that storage area. Maybe he even had some say in who got assigned what box, so he got to cherry-pick his victims. Once someone started using that box, bingo! Any key can be duplicated; you just have to find a crooked locksmith.

[ExpatOilWorker]

"SAFE" deposit boxes. I guess there is no such thing in Thailand. Don't carry your your valuables on you because you will get robbed, don't store them at home because you will get burgled and don't deposit them in the bank because they will get stolen.

I spend all my money on beer with nothing left over for valuables.

I spend most of my money on beer and women..............the rest I just wasted!

[ExpatOilWorker]

Suwichan reportedly confessed to using stolen keys to the boxes to steal their contents in May.

Not sure about this one... If my safe deposit key is lost, it gets reported and the lock changed.

You cannot duplicate those keys, can you? Anyway, it says "stolen" not "duplicated " keys, so that's moot.

How many stolen keys did he have? Apart from a lucky strike, how would you steal these keys anyway? Did the employees leave them lying around and never noticed that they were gone? If the employees didn't even care about their safety deposit keys, what does that say about their mindset?

- No excuse for the thief, just wondering aloud how this could happen in the first place.

I'm thinking he took & duplicated keys for unused/unassigned safe deposit boxes, then waited until someone got that box. After all, the bank has to keep these unused keys somewhere; he probably had access to that storage area. Maybe he even had some say in who got assigned what box, so he got to cherry-pick his victims. Once someone started using that box, bingo! Any key can be duplicated; you just have to find a crooked locksmith.

Sherlock Holmes, you solved the mystery and this is your first post! Have you been in the "night time banking business" for a long time?

[apetley]

Suwichan Saengkaeo, 25, an employee of the Ratchadaphisek-Lat Phrao branch, had earlier confessed to stealing amulets and other valuables worth a combined Bt25 million from the boxes, according to police.

Police said the victims were bank employees who had deposited assets there for safekeeping.

I want to know how bank employees have 25 million baht is assets when on minimal salaries?

My friend had been at SCB for 15 years and is only on 35k a month as a branch manager.

I think you'll find his assets were the proceeds of theft not a lifetimes honest labour.

[scorecard]

Suwichan reportedly confessed to using stolen keys to the boxes to steal their contents in May.

Not sure about this one... If my safe deposit key is lost, it gets reported and the lock changed.

You cannot duplicate those keys, can you? Anyway, it says "stolen" not "duplicated " keys, so that's moot.

How many stolen keys did he have? Apart from a lucky strike, how would you steal these keys anyway? Did the employees leave them lying around and never noticed that they were gone? If the employees didn't even care about their safety deposit keys, what does that say about their mindset?

- No excuse for the thief, just wondering aloud how this could happen in the first place.

Not sure about Bkk Bank but I know many safety deposit boxes need two keys, the bank has one and the box 'owner' has the other and there is no duplicate at all. Meaning that if the owner losesd his/her key then it must be reported to the police, then the bank goes through a process to have a locksmith open the box and replace the lock and of course new keys.

So what happened in this case? Seems to be lacking in how he could open the boxes.

Personally I wouldn't be quick to trust any Thai bank. Years ago I had a deposit box at the XXX bank in North Pattaya. After a long spell, I went to the bank to discover that several years earlier the HO had decided to remove the safe boxes from that branch.

Nobody knew what branch my box had been moved to and they were less than helpful. My lawyer got involved and after a lot of frustration he found my box had been moved to the Chonburi city branch.

I went there to clean out the box, but was confronted with a bill of 5,000Baht for the costs of transporting my box (along with many others) from Pattaya to Chonburi city. Again I got my lawyer involved and at first the bank refused to budge. My lawyer did his dedective work and found the name of the second in command of the bank, he was horrified when he heard the details.

Bottom line, several employees were sacked on the spot, 5,00Baht bill cancelled and lots of apologies.

[ralphlsasser]

He has been indoctrinated by western media, so he is a victim of western capitalism

lol. So the powers that be seem to think.

[rotary]

Good reason to buy a good high quality safe with dual custody locks and not one of these B25K things that are fire safes then bolt to the floor

Suwichan reportedly confessed to using stolen keys to the boxes to steal their contents in May.

Not sure about this one... If my safe deposit key is lost, it gets reported and the lock changed.

You cannot duplicate those keys, can you? Anyway, it says "stolen" not "duplicated " keys, so that's moot.

How many stolen keys did he have? Apart from a lucky strike, how would you steal these keys anyway? Did the employees leave them lying around and never noticed that they were gone? If the employees didn't even care about their safety deposit keys, what does that say about their mindset?

- No excuse for the thief, just wondering aloud how this could happen in the first place.

Not sure about Bkk Bank but I know many safety deposit boxes need two keys, the bank has one and the box 'owner' has the other and there is no duplicate at all. Meaning that if the owner losesd his/her key then it must be reported to the police, then the bank goes through a process to have a locksmith open the box and replace the lock and of course new keys.

So what happened in this case? Seems to be lacking in how he could open the boxes.

Personally I wouldn't be quick to trust any Thai bank. Years ago I had a deposit box at the XXX bank in North Pattaya. After a long spell, I went to the bank to discover that several years earlier the HO had decided to remove the safe boxes from that branch.

Nobody knew what branch my box had been moved to and they were less than helpful. My lawyer got involved and after a lot of frustration he found my box had been moved to the Chonburi city branch.

I went there to clean out the box, but was confronted with a bill of 5,000Baht for the costs of transporting my box (along with many others) from Pattaya to Chonburi city. Again I got my lawyer involved and at first the bank refused to budge. My lawyer did his dedective work and found the name of the second in command of the bank, he was horrified when he heard the details.

Bottom line, several employees were sacked on the spot, 5,00Baht bill cancelled and lots of apologies.

[Postmaster]

Suwichan reportedly confessed to using stolen keys to the boxes to steal their contents in May.

Not sure about this one... If my safe deposit key is lost, it gets reported and the lock changed.

You cannot duplicate those keys, can you? Anyway, it says "stolen" not "duplicated " keys, so that's moot.

How many stolen keys did he have? Apart from a lucky strike, how would you steal these keys anyway? Did the employees leave them lying around and never noticed that they were gone? If the employees didn't even care about their safety deposit keys, what does that say about their mindset?

- No excuse for the thief, just wondering aloud how this could happen in the first place.

I'm thinking he took & duplicated keys for unused/unassigned safe deposit boxes, then waited until someone got that box. After all, the bank has to keep these unused keys somewhere; he probably had access to that storage area. Maybe he even had some say in who got assigned what box, so he got to cherry-pick his victims. Once someone started using that box, bingo! Any key can be duplicated; you just have to find a crooked locksmith.

Sherlock Holmes, you solved the mystery and this is your first post! Have you been in the "night time banking business" for a long time?

Yes, well done, Sherlock. That must be the way he did it. The security of unused/unallocated box keys would'nt be so high on the agenda, though of course, we know now that they should be. I am impressed young man.

[1bbcd5]

"SAFE" deposit boxes. I guess there is no such thing in Thailand.

[softgeorge]

"SAFE" deposit boxes. I guess there is no such thing in Thailand. Don't carry your your valuables on you because you will get robbed, don't store them at home because you will get burgled and don't deposit them in the bank because they will get stolen.

I spend all my money on beer with nothing left over for valuables.

I spend most of my money on beer and women..............the rest I just wasted!

Sounds like the wise thing to do in Thailand, enjoy yourself before you are fleeced.

[jeanelie]

Safety boxes not always safe! I remember a story that happend in Indonesia in a central Java city called surakarta solo, 1995. I stayed in the center of the city in an old sultanpalace transformed into a hotel. I was staying there regularlywith a group of European tourists. Several times someone came telling me they thougt they were missing money in their safe. People were not to upset because they were thinking about small amounts of about 100-200 baht worth. A certain day my group gets split for departure to Bali. One group leaves in the morning, the second in the afternoon. A lady from the morninggroup telephones me about 2 hours before departure of the second group to let me know that she forgot to empty her safetybox so that all her valuables were still in Surakarta. She still has the key with her in Bali. I inform the hotel about this situation and they inform me that there is only one posibility, that is someone comes to break the lock this will cost the lady 2.000Bht. The lady agrees and I wait near the safe. After 2 hours nobody showed up. I warned the manager on duty several times that such a minor problem should be resolved before my departure or that the hotel might receive less, or even no more bookings in the near future. The moment of departure the manager has shown up a key that could open all of the safetyboxes. No need no more to pay the 2.000Bht and I knew for sure now that someone could easily steal in the safety boxes too. Short after this situation we have abandoned this hotel.

[robertsonmartin]

Safety boxes not always safe! I remember a story that happend in Indonesia in a central Java city called surakarta solo, 1995. I stayed in the center of the city in an old sultanpalace transformed into a hotel. I was staying there regularlywith a group of European tourists. Several times someone came telling me they thougt they were missing money in their safe. People were not to upset because they were thinking about small amounts of about 100-200 baht worth. A certain day my group gets split for departure to Bali. One group leaves in the morning, the second in the afternoon. A lady from the morninggroup telephones me about 2 hours before departure of the second group to let me know that she forgot to empty her safetybox so that all her valuables were still in Surakarta. She still has the key with her in Bali. I inform the hotel about this situation and they inform me that there is only one posibility, that is someone comes to break the lock this will cost the lady 2.000Bht. The lady agrees and I wait near the safe. After 2 hours nobody showed up. I warned the manager on duty several times that such a minor problem should be resolved before my departure or that the hotel might receive less, or even no more bookings in the near future. The moment of departure the manager has shown up a key that could open all of the safetyboxes. No need no more to pay the 2.000Bht and I knew for sure now that someone could easily steal in the safety boxes too. Short after this situation we have abandoned this hotel.

There is no comparison between hotel safety deposit boxes and bank safety desposit boxes. All hotel boxes can be easily opened with master key or programming box.

[zydeco]

My box back in the US with Bank of America requires my palm print, a code, and a key to access it. Otherwise, the vault is under video screening 24/7. This Thai "safety" deposit box sounds like something out of the 19th century.

[jeanpierre]

I wonder if after the court case the Bank will transfer the employee to another branch and cancel any future promotions?

his future is in politics

[Pib]

For you folks who have bought kilo's of gold and keep it in your safe deposit box, you now might want to consider you mattress instead.

Seriously though, this is one of the problems in securing high dollar physical assets...if you can't trust your safe deposit box in the bank then I guess you just need to buy a big arce safe for the house....probably about the same level of security in many cases.

[tombkk]

Suwichan reportedly confessed to using stolen keys to the boxes to steal their contents in May.

Not sure about this one... If my safe deposit key is lost, it gets reported and the lock changed.

You cannot duplicate those keys, can you? Anyway, it says "stolen" not "duplicated " keys, so that's moot.

How many stolen keys did he have? Apart from a lucky strike, how would you steal these keys anyway? Did the employees leave them lying around and never noticed that they were gone? If the employees didn't even care about their safety deposit keys, what does that say about their mindset?

- No excuse for the thief, just wondering aloud how this could happen in the first place.

Not sure about Bkk Bank but I know many safety deposit boxes need two keys, the bank has one and the box 'owner' has the other and there is no duplicate at all. Meaning that if the owner losesd his/her key then it must be reported to the police, then the bank goes through a process to have a locksmith open the box and replace the lock and of course new keys.

So what happened in this case? Seems to be lacking in how he could open the boxes.

The OP says he used stolen keys, some poster suggested he copied keys of boxes that were not yet assigned.

Personally I wouldn't be quick to trust any Thai bank. Years ago I had a deposit box at the XXX bank in North Pattaya. After a long spell, I went to the bank to discover that several years earlier the HO had decided to remove the safe boxes from that branch.

You are supposed to leave an address with the bank at which they can reach you. Apparently, you did not receive their letter.

with a bank in Bangkok, and they sent a letter that they will cancel the service at this branch on such-and-such date. I went and retrieved my valuables, and incidentally moved to another bank altogether. I am not surprised they would charge you for moving your stuff if you do not react to that letter.

[rametindallas]

I wonder if after the court case the Bank will transfer the employee to another branch and cancel any future promotions?

Inactive post, most likely

[bristolgeoff]

how long was he doing for,i think all the things he nicked are long gone

[Junglejumbo]

Suwichan Saengkaeo, 25, an employee of the Ratchadaphisek-Lat Phrao branch, had earlier confessed to stealing amulets and other valuables worth a combined Bt25 million from the boxes, according to police.

Police said the victims were bank employees who had deposited assets there for safekeeping.

I want to know how bank employees have 25 million baht is assets when on minimal salaries?

My friend had been at SCB for 15 years and is only on 35k a month as a branch manager.

Corporate titles are misleading in Thailand. Your friend may well be a "manager" but actually this position isn't particularly senior in the banking sector and unlikely to be managing the entire bank as a bank manager would do in say the UK. The titles to look for are Assistant Vice President, Vice President, Assistant Director, Branch director, Director, Executive Vice President, etc.

From my understanding, salaries in most of the finance sector have risen notably in recent years. I know a number of Thai people earnings over 500,000 baht a month who really are managing things.

[ginjag]

For you folks who have bought kilo's of gold and keep it in your safe deposit box, you now might want to consider you mattress instead.

Seriously though, this is one of the problems in securing high dollar physical assets...if you can't trust your safe deposit box in the bank then I guess you just need to buy a big arce safe for the house....probably about the same level of security in many cases.

Oh god these withdrawal symptoms :lol:when you take it out you lose interest !!--play safe -it's best.

[Heng]

Suwichan Saengkaeo, 25, an employee of the Ratchadaphisek-Lat Phrao branch, had earlier confessed to stealing amulets and other valuables worth a combined Bt25 million from the boxes, according to police.

Police said the victims were bank employees who had deposited assets there for safekeeping.

I want to know how bank employees have 25 million baht is assets when on minimal salaries?

My friend had been at SCB for 15 years and is only on 35k a month as a branch manager.

Easy, most do not.

There are plenty of folks though who aren't 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd in the family hierarchy of well to do families that need something to do from day to day though, and they often end up in normal mainstream jobs, because for one reason or the other, they are not directly welcome in the family business. Kind of a tangent from the spoiled children thread, a lot of times these individuals come to realize that they don't have the entrepreneurial drive (or ability) to strike out on their own, but are able to hold onto the most basic thing that these families teach each generation which doesn't require much in terms of other abilities: frugality.

So the income breakdown is more like.... 15,000 from your piker job, 40-50,000 from the interest on funds you have loaned out here and there, 20-30,000 rental income from that far flung but relatively low worth real estate that is your inheritance, and perhaps some residual income from the .005% ownership you have in the family business that big brother or big sister #1 allows to trickle down to you now and then, etc. They live at home, or perhaps in tiny 2/2 or 2/3 homes paid for by the family, keep their expenses well in check, and go about their business in their mundane jobs. In their workplaces, it's pretty well known who these folks are, as apparently was the case in this particular robbery situation.

Edited September 12, 2011 by Heng

[tommyboy928]

Suwichan reportedly confessed to using stolen keys to the boxes to steal their contents in May.

Not sure about this one... If my safe deposit key is lost, it gets reported and the lock changed.

You cannot duplicate those keys, can you? Anyway, it says "stolen" not "duplicated " keys, so that's moot.

How many stolen keys did he have? Apart from a lucky strike, how would you steal these keys anyway? Did the employees leave them lying around and never noticed that they were gone? If the employees didn't even care about their safety deposit keys, what does that say about their mindset?

- No excuse for the thief, just wondering aloud how this could happen in the first place.

Not sure about Bkk Bank but I know many safety deposit boxes need two keys, the bank has one and the box 'owner' has the other and there is no duplicate at all. Meaning that if the owner losesd his/her key then it must be reported to the police, then the bank goes through a process to have a locksmith open the box and replace the lock and of course new keys.

So what happened in this case? Seems to be lacking in how he could open the boxes.

Personally I wouldn't be quick to trust any Thai bank. Years ago I had a deposit box at the XXX bank in North Pattaya. After a long spell, I went to the bank to discover that several years earlier the HO had decided to remove the safe boxes from that branch.

Nobody knew what branch my box had been moved to and they were less than helpful. My lawyer got involved and after a lot of frustration he found my box had been moved to the Chonburi city branch.

I went there to clean out the box, but was confronted with a bill of 5,000Baht for the costs of transporting my box (along with many others) from Pattaya to Chonburi city. Again I got my lawyer involved and at first the bank refused to budge. My lawyer did his dedective work and found the name of the second in command of the bank, he was horrified when he heard the details.

Bottom line, several employees were sacked on the spot, 5,00Baht bill cancelled and lots of apologies.

WELL DONE, BEAT THE STUPID BASTARD!!!