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SAUDI-THAI SPAT OVER BLUE DIAMOND AFFAIR
FINALLY RESOLVED AFTER 33 YEARS

 

On January 26, a terse announcement was issued by the governments of Thailand and Saudi Arabia confirming that the two countries would be restoring full diplomatic relations. It brought to an end what had become known as the Blue Diamond Affair, which had resulted in the estrangement between the two nations 33 years ago.

The reproachment was reached during a meeting in in Riyadh between Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. During the meeting, the Thai prime minister “expressed his sincere regrets for the tragic cases,” which took place in Thailand in 1989 and 1990.

The incident involved diamonds and other jewelry stolen by a Thai worker in Saudi Arabia from Prince Faisal bin Fahd al-Saud, the son of King Fahd, which were shipped back to Thailand. One of the stolen goods was a reportedly 50-carat fancy-colored blue diamond. It what gave the affair its name.

Riyahd, the capital of Saudi Arabia, site of the orginal theft, which was the starting point of the Blue Diamond Affai

Riyahd, the capital of Saudi Arabia, site of the orginal theft, which was the starting point of the Blue Diamond Affair.

HIDDEN IN VACUUM CLEAR BAG

The individual responsible for the international brouhaha was migrant laborer in Saudi Arabia by the name of Kriangkrai Techamong.

Hired in 1989 as a gardener in the gardens of the palace of Prince Faisal bin Fahd al-Saud, every now and then Kriangkrai would be asked to perform janitorial duties, and be allowed into building itself.

It was on one of those occasions that climbed up to a second story window, and then into a bedroom. There he managed to break into a safe, and stole jewelry said to be worth approximately $20 million. Among the pieces taken, it was so claimed, was the 50-carat blue diamond.

Once out of the palace, Kriangkrai hid the stolen loot a vacuum cleaner bag and shipped it back home to Northern Thailand via DHL.

Soon after, apparently believing his fortune had been made, he left Saudi Arabia and returned home.

But that is when things got more complicated. Acting on a complaint filed by the Saudis, the Thai authorities launched an investigation headed by Police Lieutenant-General Chalor Kerdthes. They soon tracked tracked down Kriangkrai, arresting him early in 1990. He confessed to the crime and promised to return all of the stolen jewelry that he had not yet sold.

But when the jewelry arrived in Saudi Arabia, it discovered that much of what had been returned was fake. Furthermore, the 50-carat blue stone was still missing. Nonplussed, the Saudi became more disconcerted heard rumors about charity gala photos that showed a number of Thai government officials’ wives wearing diamond necklaces that seemed to resemble jewelry stolen from the Saudi palace.

 A SPATE OF UNSOLVED MURDERS

Mohammad al-Ruwaili, a businessman with close ties to the Saudi royal family traveled to Bangkok to investigate the incident, but he went missing in early February 1990 and was presumed to have been murdered. One month earlier, a Saudi diplomat had murdered in Bangkok’s Bang Rak District, and a few days after that another three Saudi diplomats were murdered in the city’s Yan Nawa District. All the murders, which insiders suggested may have been associated with missing jewelry, remain unsolved.

But 1994 the Thai police blamed local gem dealer, named Santi Srithanakhan, for all of the murders. Lieutenant-General Chalor and his team kidnapped Santi’s wife and son, intending to force him into into revealing his accomplices. No information was forthcoming, but Chalor ended up killing both of them.

Along with six other policemen, Chalor was charged and convicted for the murder of the wife and son of a gem dealer. He was sentenced to death, but it was commuted to 50 years imprisonment by King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was eventually released after spending 19 years in jail.

In the aftermath of the Blue Diamond Affair, relations between Saudi Arabia and Thailand deteriorated. The number of Thais working in the Gulf kingdom fell from as much as 200,000 in 1989 to only 10,000 in 2008.

The fancy blue diamond was never recovered. It is believed that it was recut, most probably into multiple stones.

Bangkok, the Thai capital, where the Blue Diamond Affair

Bangkok, the Thai capital, where the Blue Diamond Affair played out in 1990. 

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