Phuket Gem Heist: B5Mn In Jewelry Still Missing

[Ferangled]

This probably comes at no surprise, being this is Thailand, but I am really confused here. Let's see, we have Russians, Mexicans, Thai's, Malaysians, what no white falangs? This can't be right.

So your saying Russians and Mexicans are Asian or black? Got to be one of those two if not white.

Mexicans are Hispanics and I always thought Russia was East Asia.. maybe I'm wrong.. Eurasians perhaps?

Mexicans/Hispanics are racially white, "Hispanic" is an ethnicity. Russians are white.

Why the need to fit everyone into neat little racial boxes? There is no correct answer, this is down to each individual's beliefs, there is no hard and fast rule.

Mexico is a real melting pot of different nationalities and racial history, a mix of the indigenous people, Hispanic and Latino... are they racially white?

Well according to US consensus less than half of American Mexicans consider themselves to be racially white, most identify themselves as race "other", mainly Mestivo/ mixed.

I have a great many Mexican friends and I can assure you that not one of them would consider themselves "white"... they are proud to be simply Mexican and the very word Mestivo puts no importance on the origins of their racial mix, they are simply of mixed race.

[Semper]

One Mexican woman, named by police as 57-year-old Mejia Zuluaga Maria Asseneth, managed to flee the scene, he said.

If this is the now famous 'large' woman, how come she is now a Mexican? Before she was reported to be a Malaysian.

It sounds the same to people uneducated in geography, try asking your average Thai to point to Mexico on a world map. Not their fault I would be the first to admit crap education

Hmmm... I think the police had seised their passports, hence they know their names and nationality. There is no need for a map.

[stevenl]

Why the need to fit everyone into neat little racial boxes? There is no correct answer, this is down to each individual's beliefs, there is no hard and fast rule.

Mexico is a real melting pot of different nationalities and racial history, a mix of the indigenous people, Hispanic and Latino... are they racially white?

Well according to US consensus less than half of American Mexicans consider themselves to be racially white, most identify themselves as race "other", mainly Mestivo/ mixed.

I have a great many Mexican friends and I can assure you that not one of them would consider themselves "white"... they are proud to be simply Mexican and the very word Mestivo puts no importance on the origins of their racial mix, they are simply of mixed race.

Really doesn't matter all that much what they consider themselves to be, here in Thailand they are farang, And that was the origin of the discussion.

We're going off topic though with this.

[Mekong Bob]

This probably comes at no surprise, being this is Thailand, but I am really confused here. Let's see, we have Russians, Mexicans, Thai's, Malaysians, what no white falangs? This can't be right.

So your saying Russians and Mexicans are Asian or black? Got to be one of those two if not white.

Mexicans are Hispanics and I always thought Russia was East Asia.. maybe I'm wrong.. Eurasians perhaps?

Mexicans/Hispanics are racially white, "Hispanic" is an ethnicity. Russians are white.

I am most familiar with Southeast Asia's ethnic groups and languages, but I do know that neither "Hispanics" nor "Latinos" are ethnic groups. Instead, these terms refer to Spanish-speakers and Latin American countries of origin.

[Orac]

One Mexican woman, named by police as 57-year-old Mejia Zuluaga Maria Asseneth, managed to flee the scene, he said.

If this is the now famous 'large' woman, how come she is now a Mexican? Before she was reported to be a Malaysian.

Must be all those burrito's she gobbled.

Oh dear - not another mexican food diversion. JT will be along in a minute to point out that a burrito comes from the US not Mexico.

[Ferangled]

Why the need to fit everyone into neat little racial boxes? There is no correct answer, this is down to each individual's beliefs, there is no hard and fast rule.

Mexico is a real melting pot of different nationalities and racial history, a mix of the indigenous people, Hispanic and Latino... are they racially white?

Well according to US consensus less than half of American Mexicans consider themselves to be racially white, most identify themselves as race "other", mainly Mestivo/ mixed.

I have a great many Mexican friends and I can assure you that not one of them would consider themselves "white"... they are proud to be simply Mexican and the very word Mestivo puts no importance on the origins of their racial mix, they are simply of mixed race.

Really doesn't matter all that much what they consider themselves to be, here in Thailand they are farang, And that was the origin of the discussion.

We're going off topic though with this.

Sorry, it was relevant to the post I was replying to but I see you've deleted that and the previous quotes from my post... making it seem like I am responsible taking this off topic in context to the OP! Well played!

Actually the entire discussion seemed totally irrelevant to the OP, I just felt obliged to correct the point of views stated as fact that are clearly wrong eg. Mexicans are white, Russians are Asians... My apologies, please get back to your discussion.

[stevenl]

Sorry, it was relevant to the post I was replying to but I see you've deleted that and the previous quotes from my post... making it seem like I am responsible taking this off topic in context to the OP! Well played!

Nothing to do with me, there were too many quotes to post so had to delete. Deleting all except for the post I was replying to made most sense.

[Jayman]

Why the need to fit everyone into neat little racial boxes? There is no correct answer, this is down to each individual's beliefs, there is no hard and fast rule.

Mexico is a real melting pot of different nationalities and racial history, a mix of the indigenous people, Hispanic and Latino... are they racially white?

Well according to US consensus less than half of American Mexicans consider themselves to be racially white, most identify themselves as race "other", mainly Mestivo/ mixed.

I have a great many Mexican friends and I can assure you that not one of them would consider themselves "white"... they are proud to be simply Mexican and the very word Mestivo puts no importance on the origins of their racial mix, they are simply of mixed race.

Really doesn't matter all that much what they consider themselves to be, here in Thailand they are farang, And that was the origin of the discussion.

We're going off topic though with this.

No.. here in Thailand they are foreigners. Stop with the farang= foreigner crap. It's not accurate at all.

[CantSpell]

30m of jewels stolen from a Car at the back of Big C Phuket where no one in its right mind would park anyway: huge carpark in front of Big C and the back area actually leads to the actual car park under the Big C...

Poor Toyota must have felt pretty alone there.

One Russian man, two Malaysian women and one Thai man have been arrested by the police and the jeweler is happy; except when the large Malaysia lady escape from the toilets at the police station....

Lets party BUT... in the morning the jeweler loot is 5m short...

so police interrogated a mexican that was around in the police station that evening... they learn that the large Malaysian woman had become Mexican during the night...

The Turkish that became also overnight part of the heist was charge with drug charge...

The jeweler on his side, forgot about the 5M that were missing not long ago and summarize the situation with those legendary words:

"I really appreciate what the police have done. We are so lucky to get the jewelry back".............

[YipYipYa123]

Sounds like just another typical day involving Thailands finest......

[TinoThailand]

This probably comes at no surprise, being this is Thailand, but I am really confused here. Let's see, we have Russians, Mexicans, Thai's, Malaysians, what no white falangs? This can't be right.

So your saying Russians and Mexicans are Asian or black? Got to be one of those two if not white.

Mexicans are Hispanics and I always thought Russia was East Asia.. maybe I'm wrong.. Eurasians perhaps?

Russia is split. They have blond EU looking to Chinese looking Russians. A lot of time zone's

[TinoThailand]

Why the need to fit everyone into neat little racial boxes? There is no correct answer, this is down to each individual's beliefs, there is no hard and fast rule. Mexico is a real melting pot of different nationalities and racial history, a mix of the indigenous people, Hispanic and Latino... are they racially white? Well according to US consensus less than half of American Mexicans consider themselves to be racially white, most identify themselves as race "other", mainly Mestivo/ mixed. I have a great many Mexican friends and I can assure you that not one of them would consider themselves "white"... they are proud to be simply Mexican and the very word Mestivo puts no importance on the origins of their racial mix, they are simply of mixed race.

Really doesn't matter all that much what they consider themselves to be, here in Thailand they are farang, And that was the origin of the discussion. We're going off topic though with this.

No.. here in Thailand they are foreigners. Stop with the farang= foreigner crap. It's not accurate at all.

Farang comes from Francais. The first "white face" in Thailand was a/the French, They said: us is Francais.

The Thai picked up: Farangcé and then made it short like they do with every word: FARANG.

So white faces with westeren eyes are FARANG.

There are Russians that look like tall Chinese in East Russia, they will not be FARANG in the eyes of Thai.

Africans or people from India or the most white Japanese will still not be a FARANG.

I think it is just lazy and boring but this is what I am here: a FARANG.

I wanto buy something in a special store and they have to call the owner to ask if they can help me. Always the employe will say that there is a farang here who wants blablabla... Totaly crazy and i not see the point but that's how it goes.

[silent]

Well as the reports continue the facts just get more obscured by all the conflicting information!

It seems this was a veritable international ring of criminals - we have Mexicans, Turks, Russians, Canadians, Malaysians and Thais, although of course the Thai was just an innocent illegal taxi driver pressured into it!

Seems amazing that such a wide diversity of nationalities were involved, considering this crime would appear to be an opportunistic snatch and grab... maybe not... maybe there is much more to this than meets the eye. To have such a diverse gang involved I'd suggest that this would have to have been planned, so how did they know this guy was even carrying the jewels, where he'd be stopping for breakfast and conveniently leaving the car unattended?

Now it appears that the police have let not one but two suspects slip through their fingers, a large Malaysian women escaping the police station using the classic toilet disappearing trick I previously thought was reserved purely for Hollywood movies, and a Mexican lady who seems to be have been able to evade a police checkpoint on foot... this is becoming pure comedy!

What about the short, fat bald skinny guy with a moustache that kept combing her hair as the number 1 suspect ?

[Semper]

Why the need to fit everyone into neat little racial boxes? There is no correct answer, this is down to each individual's beliefs, there is no hard and fast rule. Mexico is a real melting pot of different nationalities and racial history, a mix of the indigenous people, Hispanic and Latino... are they racially white? Well according to US consensus less than half of American Mexicans consider themselves to be racially white, most identify themselves as race "other", mainly Mestivo/ mixed. I have a great many Mexican friends and I can assure you that not one of them would consider themselves "white"... they are proud to be simply Mexican and the very word Mestivo puts no importance on the origins of their racial mix, they are simply of mixed race.

Really doesn't matter all that much what they consider themselves to be, here in Thailand they are farang, And that was the origin of the discussion. We're going off topic though with this.

No.. here in Thailand they are foreigners. Stop with the farang= foreigner crap. It's not accurate at all.

Farang comes from Francais. The first "white face" in Thailand was a/the French, They said: us is Francais.

The Thai picked up: Farangcé and then made it short like they do with every word: FARANG.

So white faces with westeren eyes are FARANG.

There are Russians that look like tall Chinese in East Russia, they will not be FARANG in the eyes of Thai.

Africans or people from India or the most white Japanese will still not be a FARANG.

I think it is just lazy and boring but this is what I am here: a FARANG.

I wanto buy something in a special store and they have to call the owner to ask if they can help me. Always the employe will say that there is a farang here who wants blablabla... Totaly crazy and i not see the point but that's how it goes.

So you're not a farang?

[stevenl]

30m of jewels stolen from a Car at the back of Big C Phuket where no one in its right mind would park anyway: huge carpark in front of Big C and the back area actually leads to the actual car park under the Big C...

Poor Toyota must have felt pretty alone there.

Nonsense. There are quite a few small shops there, including noodle shops/small restaurants, which is where the victim went. And everybody going to one of these places would park there, not in the Big C carpark..

[elektrified]

On the news tonight they mentioned an American was involved. Go figure...

[Jayman]

One Mexican woman, named by police as 57-year-old Mejia Zuluaga Maria Asseneth, managed to flee the scene, he said.

If this is the now famous 'large' woman, how come she is now a Mexican? Before she was reported to be a Malaysian.

It sounds the same to people uneducated in geography, try asking your average Thai to point to Mexico on a world map. Not their fault I would be the first to admit crap education

Certainly you don't need to know world geography to read the country as well as the name in their passport. It's not the like alleged pointed to their home country on a globe.

[Semper]

One Mexican woman, named by police as 57-year-old Mejia Zuluaga Maria Asseneth, managed to flee the scene, he said.

If this is the now famous 'large' woman, how come she is now a Mexican? Before she was reported to be a Malaysian.

Must be all those burrito's she gobbled.

I heard she liked donuts.

[Payboy]

One Mexican woman, named by police as 57-year-old Mejia Zuluaga Maria Asseneth, managed to flee the scene, he said.

If this is the now famous 'large' woman, how come she is now a Mexican? Before she was reported to be a Malaysian.

Must be all those burrito's she gobbled.

I heard she liked donuts.

You think the BiB should stakeout Krispy Kreme?

[Shot]

You think the BiB should stakeout Krispy Kreme?

Krispy Kreme....Yummy

[webfact]

PHUKET GEM HEIST UPDATE: Turk to face drug charges first

Phuket Gazette

Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul said Turkish national Riza Balkan will face drug possession charges in Trang province before he is handed over to Phuket police to face charges related to the gem and jewelry heist near Phuket Town on Monday. Photo: Atchaa Khamlo

Turkish national Riza Balkan was found in possession of ya ice (crystal meth) when he was arrested by Trang Highway Police on Monday. Image: Royal Thai Police

PHUKET: -- The Turkish national who was arrested in connection with the 30-million-baht gem and jewelry heist in Phuket on Monday will face drug possession charges before being handed over to the Phuket Police to face charges related to the gem heist.

Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul told the Phuket Gazette that Riza Balkan, 49, was found in possession of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) when searched by Trang Police on Monday.

“Riza Balkan needs to be held in Trang for his drug case first before being transferred to Phuket to face charges related to the jewelry theft,” Maj Gen Chonasit said.

“We’re not sure when Mr Balkan will be sent to Phuket. It depends on how long his case takes to process in Trang,” he added.

Mr Balkan was arrested by Highway Police along with three other foreigners after the car they were travelling in failed to stop at a checkpoint.

The four were allegedly en route to Sadao, Thailand’s major border crossing into Malaysian, after fleeing Phuket.

Of the other three foreigners arrested in the gem heist case, Mexican national Ruben Gonzalez and Malaysian national Roslina Abu Bakar are being held by Phuket City Police.

Mexican national Maria Asseneth, 57, remains at large.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle15975.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-05-17

[Semper]

So the Thai man had nothing to do with the heist?

[SchuetzRob]

after looking at the name in thai on the police picture of mr balkan, i wonder who came up with the name of mr balkan....... is the man really a turkish national or is he a national of some state in the balkan......

[biplanebluey]

This probably comes at no surprise, being this is Thailand, but I am really confused here. Let's see, we have Russians, Mexicans, Thai's, Malaysians, what no white falangs? This can't be right.

m

Me Too--- I am totally confused with all the change in nationalities!!!!!!!!

[CqK]

This probably comes at no surprise, being this is Thailand, but I am really confused here. Let's see, we have Russians, Mexicans, Thai's, Malaysians, what no white falangs? This can't be right.

So your saying Russians and Mexicans are Asian or black? Got to be one of those two if not white.

Mexicans are Hispanics and I always thought Russia was East Asia.. maybe I'm wrong.. Eurasians perhaps?

Here we go again. There are three races in this world: Asian, White, and Black. "Hispanic," "East Asia," and "Eurasia" are not races. Hispanic (Spanish-speaking) people includes several ethnic groups and include those of both White and Black races. East Asian, Eurasian, American, Australian, Canadian, Singaporean, etc., etc. are not races and not ethnic groups - these are coyuntries or geographical regions.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! One of my greater pet peeves ever since working in personnel departments where forms for government statistics required race be recorded and the number of people who vehemently argued their national origin is somehow or other their race!!!

[Jayman]

So your saying Russians and Mexicans are Asian or black? Got to be one of those two if not white.

Mexicans are Hispanics and I always thought Russia was East Asia.. maybe I'm wrong.. Eurasians perhaps?

Here we go again. There are three races in this world: Asian, White, and Black. "Hispanic," "East Asia," and "Eurasia" are not races. Hispanic (Spanish-speaking) people includes several ethnic groups and include those of both White and Black races. East Asian, Eurasian, American, Australian, Canadian, Singaporean, etc., etc. are not races and not ethnic groups - these are coyuntries or geographical regions.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! One of my greater pet peeves ever since working in personnel departments where forms for government statistics required race be recorded and the number of people who vehemently argued their national origin is somehow or other their race!!!

http://www.aaanet.org/gvt/ombdraft.htm

5. The American Anthropological Association recommends the elimination of the term "race" from OMB Directive 15 during the planning for the 2010 Census. During the past 50 years, "race" has been scientifically proven to not be a real, natural phenomenon. More specific, social categories such as "ethnicity" or "ethnic group" are more salient for scientific purposes and have fewer of the negative, racist connotations for which the concept of race was developed.