Hunt for 8 tonnes of gold: Thailand's DSI finds first clue in monk's case

[seminomadic]

Anybody else finds the gold first, go ahead and PM me I've got a great place to stash it.

[Woodsie888]

8 tons = 1.3 billion Baht = absolute nonsense!

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but 8 tonnes = 282,193 oz = approx $339,000,000 @ $1200 per oz = approx 10.5 billion THB.

Makes it even more difficult to believe

[Woodsie888]

Just on a rough calculation, that would be about 4.5 billion dollars of gold. which is a long way from 1,3 billion baht.

But Thai news is just entertainment, no one takes it seriously here do they?

Are you sure?

[Maggusoil]

Having been in the news business, it must be said that logic should prevail when reading a news story. Proof readers and editors

make frequent mistakes in these matters.

From Soutpeel

And the lesson in this boys and girls...go the doctor, get a bit of a paper saying your depressed and do what you want, the BiB will not prosecute you....Sorry officer I had to smuggle that 3.5 ton's of finest gunja cos I am depressed..LOL

My reading of the article was that "defence" was to be used by the motorbike burning relative, not the billionaire monk.

I would also not be speculating too much on the accuracy of newspaper articles with regard to the absolute position of anybody or any organisation, such as DSI. As a professional I would be feeding newspapers what I wanted them to know, rather than the whole story.

The news media is used by all sorts of people with all sorts of agendas, whereas the media itself has one aim. To sell 'news' for profit.

A few inaccuracies here and there create controversy and sell more news (papers) etc etc

[Chris Lawrence]

The monk and Mr T to run the country; both know how to make money

[webfact]

off topic post removed. Keep US politics out of it and your post will stay

/Admin

[Emdog]

There was the dude that ran the van off the road, killed some people, but got sentence chopped off because of excuse "He was angry"... how about new tourism motto "Unbelievable Thailand"?

[willyumiii]

Who would not be depressed after getting popped for stealing 8 tons (US) of gold?

I would cry, cry, cry!

[klauskunkel]

Meanwhile, a man who claims to be related to Wirapol set fire to his motorcycle in a protest outside the DSI headquarters

although he did refrain from setting his 5 luxury cars on fire as well!

[SICHONSTEVE]

I'm sorry, but 8 tonnes of gold! 8 tonnes!! I read in the Bangkok post 9000 kilograms were stolen by him but assumed it was a misprint. 8 tonnes, that can't be right, can it?

Why quibble about a measly ton of gold??

[klauskunkel]

8 tons = 1.3 billion Baht = absolute nonsense!

...well, the lost rice scheme money has to go somewhere, misappropriated government funds have to go somewhere, the money from army's weapons sales has to go somewhere, police funds extorted from citizens have to go somewhere...I am not suggesting it all went to the monk for laundering, but a good portion over the years (how long has he been doing that anyway?) could have been turned into gold...

Afterthought: 8 tons of gold today = 1.3 billion Baht, 6 years ago, half that amount...

Edited July 19, 2013 by klauskunkel

[newermonkey]

8 Tones of gold... I guess he sold it and transferred the money to his PayPal account How many trillions was it again?

[Bluespunk]

I'm sorry, but 8 tonnes of gold! 8 tonnes!! I read in the Bangkok post 9000 kilograms were stolen by him but assumed it was a misprint. 8 tonnes, that can't be right, can it?

Why quibble about a measly ton of gold??

I'm not sure I can get head around how any one could have either amount. Repeating myself I know, but 8 tonnes!!!

[Coca Cola]

Well, the night was falling as the desert world began to settle down.
In the town they're searching for it every where, but the gold will never be found.
monk on the run, monk on the run...

[soi41]

What about his Chinese fence, the goldshopowner Ms Kesinee, who probably have made millions over the years by buying from him at 75-80% of the real price? And now have the nerve to claim, that the money for the paid house, didn't originate from the goldtrade!

"though she did not provide details on the amount of gold sold to her", and that is good enough for the DSI! "No book keeping, mai phen rai, sorry to have disturbed you Madame"

As for the amount, just another number picked out of the air, to sell "news" and for the DSI to divert attention away from the luxery car scams. They have found the perfect scapegoat.

[rwhoov]

I'm sorry, but 8 tonnes of gold! 8 tonnes!! I read in the Bangkok post 9000 kilograms were stolen by him but assumed it was a misprint. 8 tonnes, that can't be right, can it?

8000 kg is 8 tonnes so I guess maybe he had a BIG pick up truck to carry it

Maybe the monk watched the James Bond movie Gold Finger so all the cars be bought have body parts made from 18 carat gold

I looked up a conversion chart on the internet, and 8,000 kg of gold is actually LESS than .5 (1/2) cubic meter, so It would be possible to tuck it away in less space than I would have thought.

[SICHONSTEVE]

I'm sorry, but 8 tonnes of gold! 8 tonnes!! I read in the Bangkok post 9000 kilograms were stolen by him but assumed it was a misprint. 8 tonnes, that can't be right, can it?

8000 kg is 8 tonnes so I guess maybe he had a BIG pick up truck to carry it

Maybe the monk watched the James Bond movie Gold Finger so all the cars be bought have body parts made from 18 carat gold

I looked up a conversion chart on the internet, and 8,000 kg of gold is actually LESS than .5 (1/2) cubic meter, so It would be possible to tuck it away in less space than I would have thought.

You could melt it down, form it into a cube, put a nice cushion on it and make it into a modern-day attractive seat for the living room.

It would be a bit restrictive however when rearranging the furniture and would play havoc with the carpet underneath it!!!

[ETatBKK]

I'm sorry, but 8 tonnes of gold! 8 tonnes!! I read in the Bangkok post 9000 kilograms were stolen by him but assumed it was a misprint. 8 tonnes, that can't be right, can it?

8000 kg is 8 tonnes so I guess maybe he had a BIG pick up truck to carry it

Maybe the monk watched the James Bond movie Gold Finger so all the cars be bought have body parts made from 18 carat gold

I looked up a conversion chart on the internet, and 8,000 kg of gold is actually LESS than .5 (1/2) cubic meter, so It would be possible to tuck it away in less space than I would have thought.

reminded me the movies of those days, some intelligents trucking away thousand blocks of gold from the big safe.

well. in this scene, it is a yellow-robed monk :- (

[Farma]

You could melt it down, form it into a cube, put a nice cushion on it and make it into a modern-day attractive seat for the living room.

About 20+ years ago there was a Mrs Chamoey or Kamoy (spelling) who had walls made of gold bars in her house to hide ill gotten gains.

[impulse]

Sounds like a lot of gold and it is. But the guy has been out shopping for a new jet. And what was the amount he moved through his accounts every day (according to news reports from a few days back)?

It's not hard to believe that much money has passed his hands "during his time as a monk". That doesn't mean he had 8 tons at any one time, or that he still has any gold at all. It's not hard at all to believe he may have laundered that much money over a period of years.

And I doubt anyone is serious about tracing the source(s) of that money. Too much potential for an "accident".

[Globeman]

I'm sorry, but 8 tonnes of gold! 8 tonnes!! I read in the Bangkok post 9000 kilograms were stolen by him but assumed it was a misprint. 8 tonnes, that can't be right, can it?

Unless the monk is worth $400m...

[bangkokheat]

looks like a bit of monky business going on

[culicine]

They just keep finding more and more funny business relate to this guy

Yet they will still not try bring him home

What a joke

Thailand - where if you are rich and powerful enough you can do whatever you want

They won't bring him home...he might talk....

[Monkeyrobot]

8 Tonnes Bullshi*

[Frank James]

My father once had a bet with another guy at a bar (of course) about how big a cubic ton of gold would be. He sent an inquiry via old fashioned post to the US National Bureau of Standards. They sent back a lengthy and cordial personal reply, thanking my dad for his inquiry. Imagine that today! They said that there is no "troy weight ton", but a ton of pure gold in cubic form would measure about 14.xxxxxxxxxxx inches to a side, or about 36 cm and odd change.

Algebraic Steps / Dimensional Analysis Formula

14 in * 2.54 cm
1 in =

35.56 cm

That's a lot of neck chains and amulets!

[Shagz]

If a Monk can launder 8 tonnes of gold, just imagine what the politicians are doing by comparison. There's so much unknown about the graft in this country. If it were ever to be properly uncovered and publicised you'd need a terabyte of space to store the information.

He could possibly just be a politicians small time scapegoat whilst imagining a much bigger picture

[simple1]

8 Tonnes Bullshi*

There is another large Thai Buddhist organisation that in the late 1990's, according to a Time article was alleged to have amassed US$1.9 billion in assets, so would not dismiss the report. The group took various Thai media outlets, alleging the group were committing fraud etc, to Court for slander & of course won.

Edited July 19, 2013 by simple1

[gazzasore]

Thats about $330 Million at today's prices

or about 9,239,552,000 thb

Edited July 19, 2013 by gazzasore

[sjjmmi]

Thats about $330 Million at today's prices

or about 9,239,552,000 thb

Nice house dude

[Salapoo]

Bet that 14 year old girl's family's eyes have lit up.