Police Arrest Three Foreigners For Bt30mn Jewelry Heist In Phuket

[Ferangled]

So i guess all the comments from yesterday of a set up or bogus 30million claim will now be removed and the shallow minded idiotic forum members banned thought not this is TV

Why should anyone get banned for suggesting it may be a setup? Might well be, for all we know this might have all been planned by the "victim", who rather than planning an insurance fraud, was planning to take a cut from the robbery... sounds improbable but it's certainly plausible...

I'll repeat my earlier question, does anyone actually know for a fact how many people have even been caught ie. numbers of men and woman and corresponding nationalities? Given that even this seems to be confused with conflicting information given, I don't see how anyone can be so clear as to what exactly has transpired...

Suggesting that members be banned for posting opinions you don't agree with would seem rather contrary to the whole point of an internet forum/ debate... and to use your own words, a tad shallow and idiotic.

Edited May 15, 2012 by Ferangled

[foxboy]

When this story first broke I read a great number posters jumping to conclusions based on nothing that this was an insurance scam. Where are all those posters now. It is a sad statement how ridiculous and embarrassing the farangs on this forum really are.

couldn't agree more. When presented with an early string of vacuous assumptions on any given subject, I just think 'oh, for God's sake, bore off' exactly the type of blokes I tried to avoid in bars. You know the ones.. spent a few years here, been ripped off a couple of times, slate Thailand all the time but refuse to leave!

[peterdk]

So to try and clear out confusion.

Yesterday 12:30PM "The Phuket Gazette has received confirmed reports that police have launched a manhunt for three foreign men who carried out a smash-and-grab robbery of about 30 million baht in jewelry this morning."

And " The men were seen by eyewitnesses and caught on CCTV making their getaway in a white Toyota Vios."

Today 09:52 AM "Police have arrested at least four people traveling inside the vehicle: one Russian man, two Malaysian women and one Thai man."

So now 3 foreign men is turned into 1 Russian male, 1 Thai male and 2 Malaysian women.

That was what got me going. How can 3 foreign men be 1 foreign male and now 2 women + 1 Thai male ? ( Remember only eye witnesses and CCTV footage )

No way to distinguish a Thai from a Malaysian from a distance or from CCTV.

Details omitted...

The follow up report today 10:56 AM somewhat clears it up.

"There were five passengers on the pickup truck, including three men and two women of Spanish, Malaysian, Turkish, Russian and Thai nationalities."

So now it sort of fits.

They hunted 3 foreign men yesterday.

Early report today is faulty, details omitted. Too many Asians and not enough men ( yes they can be foreign Asians, but who could tell from just CCTV )

Last report suggest indeed a host of foreign men and that fits with the report from yesterday, that they in fact was looking for 3 foreign men.

[mrdome]

“While the police officers were questioning the suspects, one of the Malaysian woman, the large one, asked to use the bathroom at the police station. But she ended up running away from the station. We are now searching for her,” Col Jakkrapan said.

Oh, what a classic! And it worked too!!!!

That's the funniest thing I've read on TV in a long time.

[elektrified]

When this story first broke I read a great number posters jumping to conclusions based on nothing that this was an insurance scam. Where are all those posters now. It is a sad statement how ridiculous and embarrassing the farangs on this forum really are.

I was thinking the same. There was a similar situation only a couple of months ago where another jeweler left a briefcase inside a Bangkok taxi that also contained 30 million Baht worth of jewelry. So it does happen. In the West it would indeed be very unusual to leave a case with that much valuable jewelry inside a car but apparently it is not so unusual in Thailand. A friend who lives in Bangkok has a neighbor who owns a gold shop. This guy and his wife bring all the gold home each night in their Mercedes.

[elektrified]

So the BIB thought that Chubby couldn't break for the border. That must be a sight, hefty Malay chick sweating and jogging through rubber plantations with strip of toilet roll caught on her short ..... makin for the border

What an asinine and childish post. Grow up.

[Kerryd]

a) PHUKET: -- The Phuket Gazette has received confirmed reports that police have launched a manhunt for three foreign men who carried out a smash-and-grab robbery of about 30 million baht in jewelry this morning.

The thieves, believed to be a male and two females, took this opportunity to break the car’s window and take the jewellery, police said.

c) CCTV footage from the scene revealed three foreigners – two male and one female – driving away from the area in a Toyota Vios.

d) UPDATE: Police have arrested three Canadian men suspected of stealing B30 million worth of jewellery this morning.

e) The four suspects currently being detained – a Russian, a Turk, a Spaniard and a Malaysian – were arrested in Trang province while allegedly preparing to flee the country.

The fifth suspect, a Malaysian woman, was also arrested but apparently escaped while making a toilet stop.

The suspects were incorrectly reported earlier as being three Canadians.

f) Police have arrested at least four people travelling inside the vehicle: one Russian man, two Malaysian women and one Thai man.

Wow. In that short space of time we've gone from:

"3 foreign men" to

"2 males and a female" to

"a male and 2 females" to

"3 Canadian men" to

"A Russian, a Turk, a Spaniard and 2 Malaysians" and finally (??)

"1 Russian, 1 Thai and 2 Malaysians"

Good thing they caught them within a day. Buddha only knows how many different nationalities may have been involved had this gone on for a couple more days !

[theajarn]

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

is the same as

"Can I go abroad and not pay my taxes?"

Brilliant.

[Debothai]

The headline is correct as foreigner in Thailand means not-thai .

[oldsailor35]

Is anyone else getting confused by the conflicting information here. First we are told that:

"Police have arrested at least four people travelling inside the vehicle*: one Russian man, two Malaysian women and one Thai man."

*Said vehicle was reported to be a Toyota Fortuner. Then the latest report:

"There were five passengers on the pickup truck, including three men and two women of Spanish, Malaysian, Turkish, Russian and Thai nationalities."

So this report states that these suspects were arrested in a pickup not a Fortuner... which makes me think perhaps this was a 2nd group linked to the first, but then it goes on to say about one woman escaping...?! So did they let one woman escape from each group or are they confusing the same incident with conflicting information?

If there were 2x Malaysian women, as we were told then how could the three men be Turkish, Russian, Thai and Spanish... that would require at least 4 men, one of each nationality!

Clear as mud this one... at least the standards of journalism here are fairly consistent....ly bad!

Its all done with mirrors

[candyman123]

When this story first broke I read a great number posters jumping to conclusions based on nothing that this was an insurance scam. Where are all those posters now. It is a sad statement how ridiculous and embarrassing the farangs on this forum really are.

I was thinking the same. There was a similar situation only a couple of months ago where another jeweler left a briefcase inside a Bangkok taxi that also contained 30 million Baht worth of jewelry. So it does happen. In the West it would indeed be very unusual to leave a case with that much valuable jewelry inside a car but apparently it is not so unusual in Thailand. A friend who lives in Bangkok has a neighbor who owns a gold shop. This guy and his wife bring all the gold home each night in their Mercedes.

Please give details of the address and what time they get home?

And going back to the post I would say there are still people at large and the women...!

[kruangfaifar]

“While the police officers were questioning the suspects, one of the Malaysian woman, the large one, asked to use the bathroom at the police station.

“But she ended up running away from the station. We are now searching for her,” Col Jakkrapan said.

It's always the large one isn't it?

That's a bit of egg on the face of the local constabulary.... any more and it will be an omlette.

Still, the apprehension of this lot appears to have involved some real police work. I am impressed. The foreign criminals don't appear to be quite as retarded as the usual pattaya/phuket suspects either.

I think you are being a bit generous there. Not checking for CCTV before doing the deed is a bit retarded IMO!

[Honkytowner]

This wasn't a "robbery". It was a simple theft from a parked car.

[Shot]

So the BIB thought that Chubby couldn't break for the border. That must be a sight, hefty Malay chick sweating and jogging through rubber plantations with strip of toilet roll caught on her short ..... makin for the border

What an asinine and childish post. Grow up.

[Semper]

First you say '1 foreigner' and then you say '1 falang (foreigner)'. You also mentioned 2 Malay women,

Since when are only farang foreigners? The headline is completely correct.

Hello Mr nitpick ; And usually the concensus in Thailand is, that you got to have white skin, before labelled falang.

Didn't you read that sentence ?

How about cctv footage revealing 3 foreign men ( read article from yesterday ), that now really is 1 foreign male and 1 Thai man and 2 Asian women ?

I have asked around the office, 4 Thais all agreeing that a falang ( foreigner ) must have white skin, and is not Asian.

Agree with you, a farang has white skin. I am not contesting that at all, what I am contesting is your conclusion that the header is wrong. Even if only 1 farang is involved, it are still 3 foreigners.

Don't you see you're contradicting yourself here? First you say: farang has to be white skinned, than you say: 1 foreign male, 1 Thai man and 2 asian women, so header is wrong, only 1 foreigner involved.

Sorry, not only farang are foreigners.

So don't forget to ask in the office, if 1 Russian man, 2 Malay women and 1 Thai man are arrested, how many foreigners have been arrested?

So by your reasoning the lady who does the late night news on channel 7 is a farang then, have you seen her i've never seen anyone that white she glows on screen.

Maybe you could adjust the brightness on your TV-set?

[candyman123]

TRANG - Police have arrested four foreigners and a Thai man on charges of stealing diamonds and gems worth 30 million baht in a smash and grab heist in Phuket.

Thongsak Jittakarnlert (inset) and his damaged car.

Pol Lt Col Chakraphan Chantawana, chief of Trang Highway Police, announced the arrests at a press briefing on Tuesday morning.

He did not identify them or give their nationalities.

He said the five suspects on May 9 allegedly smashed the rear window of a car belonging to Thongsak Jittakarnlert, owner of Expert Gems Manufacturing Co Ltd, and stole a bag containing diamonds and gems worth more than 30 million baht in the vehicle.

Mr Thongsak told the police that he brought the jewelry from his business in Bangkok to a jewellery fair in Phuket.

Police used footage from a closed-circuit television camera to identify and track down the suspects.

The thieves fled in a rented pickup truck, which was traced, and were later caught at a security checkpoint while driving in Trang province.

The stolen jewellery and an amount of crystal methamphetamine, or ice, were found in the vehicle.

One of the five suspects, a female foreigner, was able to escape during the arrest.

The four suspects refused to give statements to investigators, Pol Lt Col Chakraphan said.

-- Bangkok Post 2012-05-15

Source one other Thai newspaper and now we have drugs on the list of items found.

Edited May 15, 2012 by george
Added source

[Semper]

no mention of the weapon used to smash the window or did the police forget its part of the evidence.

It was an umbrella, but 'the large woman' run away with it.

[Totster]

But that didn’t fool the Phuket investigators

"While the police officers were questioning the suspects, one of the Malaysian woman, the large one, asked to use the bathroom at the police station.

“But she ended up running away from the station. We are now searching for her,” Col Jakkrapan said

totster

[ib1b4]

So to try and clear out confusion.

Yesterday 12:30PM "The Phuket Gazette has received confirmed reports that police have launched a manhunt for three foreign men who carried out a smash-and-grab robbery of about 30 million baht in jewelry this morning."

And " The men were seen by eyewitnesses and caught on CCTV making their getaway in a white Toyota Vios."

Today 09:52 AM "Police have arrested at least four people traveling inside the vehicle: one Russian man, two Malaysian women and one Thai man."

So now 3 foreign men is turned into 1 Russian male, 1 Thai male and 2 Malaysian women.

That was what got me going. How can 3 foreign men be 1 foreign male and now 2 women + 1 Thai male ? ( Remember only eye witnesses and CCTV footage )

No way to distinguish a Thai from a Malaysian from a distance or from CCTV.

Details omitted...

The follow up report today 10:56 AM somewhat clears it up.

"There were five passengers on the pickup truck, including three men and two women of Spanish, Malaysian, Turkish, Russian and Thai nationalities."

So now it sort of fits.

They hunted 3 foreign men yesterday.

Early report today is faulty, details omitted. Too many Asians and not enough men ( yes they can be foreign Asians, but who could tell from just CCTV )

Last report suggest indeed a host of foreign men and that fits with the report from yesterday, that they in fact was looking for 3 foreign men.

Gotta love this? A farang giong through the face saving exercise!

[glenmohr]

An invitation to better minds than mine to clarify one piece of confusion.

As I understand in the 1800s the word " farang" was used in Laos to mean Frenchman.

Sometime in the last 100 years the Thais borrowed this word and use it to mean Caucasion.

Nowhere that I can find does " farang" = " foreign" .

Some clarification please.

[lungmi]

First you say '1 foreigner' and then you say '1 falang (foreigner)'. You also mentioned 2 Malay women,

Since when are only farang foreigners? The headline is completely correct.

Hello Mr nitpick ; And usually the concensus in Thailand is, that you got to have white skin, before labelled falang.

Didn't you read that sentence ?

How about cctv footage revealing 3 foreign men ( read article from yesterday ), that now really is 1 foreign male and 1 Thai man and 2 Asian women ?

I have asked around the office, 4 Thais all agreeing that a falang ( foreigner ) must have white skin, and is not Asian.

IMHO, we are discussing two separate issues - race/ethnicity and nationality/citizenship. The Thai term "farang" (ฝรั่ง) generally refers to race/ethnicity, especially physical features, and can include both Whites and Blacks. An ethnic Japanese person who holds USA citizenship would not be referred to as a "farang" by a Thai-speaker, but Black Americans may be referred to as "farang."

The etymological origin of "Farang" is the french (franc) word for the (frank) crusaders, including

later all European crusaders (Knights of the Cross) with Richard I.

Thailand took the word for Europeans as "Crusaders", but under Rama V. the negative connotation

disappeared.

[Totster]

An invitation to better minds than mine to clarify one piece of confusion.

As I understand in the 1800s the word " farang" was used in Laos to mean Frenchman.

Sometime in the last 100 years the Thais borrowed this word and use it to mean Caucasion.

Nowhere that I can find does " farang" = " foreign" .

Some clarification please.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farang

Not rocket science...

Totster

[Whidbeyboy]

When this story first broke I read a great number posters jumping to conclusions based on nothing that this was an insurance scam. Where are all those posters now. It is a sad statement how ridiculous and embarrassing the farangs on this forum really are.

Maybe the Falangs have seen this type of thing before, and so were suspecious. Still wonder how the three knew there was a case in a car that contained the jewels. Still may be a scam, hasn't been ruled out just yet. Course, what do I know, I'm just another falang. ( I spell it how I say it BTW).

[peterdk]

Gotta love this? A farang giong through the face saving exercise!

If you read my first post, that is exactly what I was trying to get across. However failed miserably at that, hence clarification.

[belg]

too funny, the fat girl managed to get trough a small unsecured police bahtroom ? 55555555555555555555555

[RedNIvar]

First you say '1 foreigner' and then you say '1 falang (foreigner)'. You also mentioned 2 Malay women,

Since when are only farang foreigners? The headline is completely correct.

Hello Mr nitpick ; And usually the concensus in Thailand is, that you got to have white skin, before labelled falang.

Didn't you read that sentence ?

How about cctv footage revealing 3 foreign men ( read article from yesterday ), that now really is 1 foreign male and 1 Thai man and 2 Asian women ?

I have asked around the office, 4 Thais all agreeing that a falang ( foreigner ) must have white skin, and is not Asian.

Weird. 14 years in Thailand and I'd been called farang way too many times. What is even more shocking is that I'm Asian and do not have white skin. I will correct the next Thai person who refers to me as farang. Weird how Thai's get confused with their own language. Thank you for the education peterdk. I assume you're a foreigner in Thailand (cannot call you farang as not sure of your skin tone). Amazing what you learn from TV.

[monty1412]

When this story first broke I read a great number posters jumping to conclusions based on nothing that this was an insurance scam. Where are all those posters now. It is a sad statement how ridiculous and embarrassing the farangs on this forum really are.

Hmmm interesting comment and I see its been accorded 'popular status" I don't think its sad or embarrassing for allot of people to contemplate that this could have been an insurance scam.. quite natural and logical thinking for what goes on in Thailand. What i do think is sad and embarrassing is that you had to jump on your self made soapbox and come up with your holier than thou comment.

I'll accept that I am wholly accurate when it comes to some of the post's made on this forum. Yes people have right to display their intelligence on this forum. I don't have any real problems with what people post as obviously I seem to be able to rub the sore spots (egos) of some posters. At least you didn't attempt to insult "The MIlt"

Your terminology " The Milt" and the word ego in the previous sentence unfortunately seem to transcend normal grammatical punctuation and blend together... me Im just monty not " the monty" and Im tall enough and stout enough of soul not to have to use a soapbox to exercise the ego.

[maapaa]

When this story first broke I read a great number posters jumping to conclusions based on nothing that this was an insurance scam. Where are all those posters now. It is a sad statement how ridiculous and embarrassing the farangs on this forum really are.

I can't agree!

I am one of the farangs here, I have read the the first article about the robbery, I did not respond anything because it was not clear to me and I do not regard myself as "ridiculous" or "embarrassing"!!!

Thanks for understanding.

[NomadJoe]

However, police have also reported that one of the Malaysian women escaped custody.

"While the police officers were questioning the suspects, one of the Malaysian woman, the large one, asked to use the bathroom at the police station.

"But she ended up running away from the station. We are now searching for her," Col Jakkrapan said.

You have got to be kidding me. They left her unattended in an area where she could flee? After all that otherwise good police work, no less!

Why is this headline not "Malaysian 30m baht gold thief escapes from police custody," that is the bigger story here. Not surprised though. Security of arrestees has always been an afterthought in the LOS. I can't recall the number of times I have heard of an arrestee fleeing the cops AFTER he has been detained. I am waiting for the day when during one of the famous Thai photo ops the arrestee, who is handcuffed in front (something a modern police force would NEVER do but seems standard procedure here) grabs his gun and ammo which the cops have laid out on the table in front of him and starts blowing away all those in the room with him, and/or himself. I am sure it has happened and sure it will again.

[Payboy]

no mention of the weapon used to smash the window or did the police forget its part of the evidence.

It was an umbrella, but 'the large woman' run away with it.

Pity it wasn't open - would've slowed her down enough for Cpl Somchai to catch-up.