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

[Time Traveller]

"....its hunt for the eight tonnes of gold bars and ornaments that were allegedly donated to Wirapol Sukpol during his time as a monk"

It doesn't say he has 8 tons today, nor does it say he ever had 8 tons at one time. It says he has gone through 8 tons during his time as a monk.

From an earlier thread:

The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has found 10 bank accounts under the name of Luang Pu Nenkham, who calls himself the abbot of Si Sa Ket's "Wat Pa Khanti Dhamma" monastery, as well as records of transactions totalling up to Bt20 million per day.

A year or two at 20 million baht a day and he could have laundered 20 tons of gold, never possessing more than a briefcase full at any one time. A decade or two and he could have laundered 8 tons never possessing more than a pound or two at any one time.

How is it "laundering" if people give it to you? Remember temples are tax exempt, so have no duty to declare.

Why this guy is being singled out is kind of questionable, all temples are the same. Namely they accumulation large assets thru donations,

[danbradster]

8 tonnes = $332,000,000 USD.

10,000,000,000 baht. Sounds implausible...

[bangon04]

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 :- (

I seem to remember a famous Buddha statue in solid Gold was disguised in plaster to hide it from the Burmese or the Khmer or someone foreign, then rediscovered by accident. Maybe someone should be chipping away at the Buddha images in his / the temple to check.

By the way, One metric Tonne is 1000kg, so 8 tonnes is not too far from the 9000kg quoted in various mistranslated versions of the story...

[bangon04]

As long as the DSI keeps announcing its clues and progress and its next steps, the people who cannot be touched with remain ahead of them in the hide and seek game...

[noitom]

The Thai money grab heats up.

[Head Snake]

If someone asked me to get involved with buying tons of gold a month, I'd check to see if they are from Nigeria.

Nobody in their right mind focuses on making money in one market..... oh.... wait.. rice and gold are 2 markets.

Which reminds me, my wife always says she buys fresh rice only. I have never heard her say she pays a premium for aged rice.

[theblether]

Looks like the most expensive flight in history........

[Valentine]

As long as the DSI keeps announcing its clues and progress and its next steps, the people who cannot be touched with remain ahead of them in the hide and seek game...

Hence the reason for announcing their intentions just as the police always do, to give the perpetrators time to cover up their misdeeds.

[Suroo]

To put a bit of perspective on this here's a snapshot of national gold reserves:

U.S.A.--------------------------8000 tons (world's largest)

Thailand------------------------152.4 tons

Malaysia------------------------36.4 tons

(source www.relbanks.com/rankings/world-gold-reserves)

This holy man owns more gold reserves than many small countries. Holy Moses!

[mok199]

i think all monks should have 18k ''grills''....to match the robe of course...pimp this monk...

[giggles]

A tonne of gold would therefore have a volume of 51,760 cm3. This is the equivalent to a cube with sides of 37.27cm (Approx. 1' 3''). x 8 =

so 8 cubes of this size is easilly hidden in the ground .

8 x 2 foot square holes would hidem

Edited July 20, 2013 by giggles

[giggles]

the brinks bullion robbery stole 3 tonnes of gold worth 26 million at the time , so the monk has swiped more than them ,so he is in the big league now

[boisian]

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.

8 terabytes, no less.

[oldsailor35]

Angsukate also quoted Kesinee as saying that Wirapol did not pay for the Bt2.8-million house in the form of gold ornaments, though she did not provide details on the amount of gold he sold to her.

Separately, a DSI team visited a used-car dealership and spoke to the owner, who said he had nothing to do with Wirapol's purchase of luxury cars or the transfer of ownership.

So they found out precisely, nothing

Looks like Sgt Schultz is mixed up with this mob.

[oldsailor35]

Thats about $330 Million at today's prices

or about 9,239,552,000 thb

Your own Cessna jet doesn't come cheap, you know,.

And he is reported to be looking at buying a new Lear Jet.

[oldsailor35]

If as said, all this gold etc was donated for charity, why is'nt he charged with Theft. Or is it not the " Thai way" to charge a monk with anything including Rape, Paedophillia and so on. Yes i "no understand, i no Thai"

[oldsailor35]

Believe me, 8 tons of gold is very very difficult to get rid of at a fair price, i had to reduce the price of mine to shift it.

[SinglePot]

8 tons of rice, not a problem.

Wife's got over a ton stored in the back of the garage. Probably been through the pledging system.

I know nothing Yingluck.

[umbanda]

I live in Thailand, and one of my motivation to move here was the Buddhism and its philosophy....but....soon enough..staying at a FREE meditation center in BK I was in shock. The Master monk running the place is very popular and famous locally, hundred of people every day visits the compound with offerings and donations. He talks using a custom Apple tablet and a screen, that sell in its shop for THB 20.000. He has a own TV cable channel on PSI. I pass the NOT ENTER sign to look at the monks cabins and the big and modern Master's house. Behind his house was parked (read hidden) a brand new Mercedes 450 SUV......

Edited July 22, 2013 by metisdead
Please do not use bold font when posting. Bold font removed.

[Naam]

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.

8 terabytes, no less.

metric or troy terabytes?