How a diamond diplomatically divided Saudi Arabia and Thailand

After decades of the ice age, there has been a thaw between Bangkok and Riyadh since the end of January. After the Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha left the Saudi Arabian capital, the airline Saudia announced on the same day that it would soon be offering direct flights to Thailand again. At the end of March, the Southeast Asian country started exporting again for the first time since 2004 Chicken meat to Saudi Arabia.

The incidents, which seem like trifles, show how shattered the diplomatic relationship between the two kingdoms has been over the past three decades. The distortions go back to events in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which turned out to be a screenplay for a Hollywood Blockbuster suit.

Four Saudi Arabian investigators killed in Bangkok

The accident took its course in August 1989. Thai Kriangkrai Techamong worked as a caretaker at one of the palaces of Saudi Prince Faisal, the eldest son of former King Fahd. One day he secretly broke into the princess’s bedroom and stole jewelry – and not just a few rings and necklaces. His prey is said to have weighed 90 kilograms. The legendary 50-carat blue diamond was also among them. The thief stowed everything in a dust bag and sent the loot home by DHL, where he then fled himself.

However, Kriangkrai was not happy with his stolen goods. He had trouble finding buyers for the gems and had to sell them at below value. When the jeweler Santhi Sithanakan found out about this, he bought the remaining loot from him. At that time, the Saudi Arabian authorities had already sounded the alarm. Thai police, led by Lieutenant General Chalor Kerdthes, arrested Kriangkrai, who was sentenced to seven years in prison, and his accomplice Santhi, and confiscated the stolen property.

Actually, everything should have been in order and diplomacy could have returned to normal. Chalor flew to Thailand with a mission to return the Saudi princess’s gems. But with the return of the loot, things only got worse. The Saudi Arabian authorities identified most of the gems as copies – and there was still no trace of the blue diamond.

Trust in the Thai police, who were notorious for being corrupt, was gone. The Saudis sent a businessman close to the royal family to Bangkok to clarify the mysterious case. At the same time, three Saudi Arabian diplomats stationed in Thailand were investigating. At the beginning of February 1990, the Saudi consul and two embassy employees in Bangkok were killed within a few hours; shortly afterwards the businessman also disappeared without a trace.

For Riyadh the measure was full. The royal family downgraded diplomatic relations with Thailand to chargé d’affaires level and withdrew the ambassador. Bangkok had to pay a heavy economic price for the upset. Before the affair were around 200,000 Thais been employed in Saudi Arabia and transferred large amounts of money to their families back home every year. After the diplomatic scandal, however, they were unwanted in Saudi Arabia. Last year, just 1,350 Thai workers are said to have worked in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Arabian government also ordered its compatriots to no longer travel to Thailand, which is why the airline Saudia stopped direct flights between the two countries. And Saudi Arabia imposed an import ban on Thai products.

The police hire contract killers

The Thai police, on the other hand, sensed the large corruption business and continued to investigate undercover in order to get the maximum out of the case. In August 1994, the jeweler Santhi, who is said to have sold the wrong gems to the Saudis, was kidnapped and tortured at the behest of the police. Shortly thereafter, the jeweler’s wife and 14-year-old son were found dead. They had been killed.

At Chalor’s trial, four men testified that they carried out the murders on orders from the police; In addition, the security forces around Chalor tried to extort $2.5 million from Santhi. The Thai judiciary sentenced Lieutenant General Chalor to death. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment before being released after 19 years in prison.

Ambassadors return

In the years that followed, to the displeasure of the Saudi royal family, there was little movement in the case. There was also a lack of understanding in Riyadh when five suspected murderers of the Saudi Arabian businessman were acquitted in 2014 due to a lack of evidence. And the jeweler Santhi and Lieutenant-General Chalor remained silent, which is why rumors persisted that the gems were there in the hands of senior Thais. It was even said that the 89-year-old Thai Queen Sirikit is said to have owned the Blue Diamond.

Grass has grown over the incident in recent years, although the incidents have never been solved. Both royal houses have other problems and are anxious to get closer because of their battered reputation. Riyadh urgently needs foreign workers. And Bangkok wants to attract wealthy tourists from Saudi Arabia because of the disastrous consequences of the pandemic for the Thai economy.

Thailand’s tourism and sports minister recently expressed hope that at least 200,000 Saudis will travel to his country this year and that up to $20 billion will be spent. The decision by the airline Saudia to offer direct flights to Thailand again from the end of February is just right. And in a few weeks, the two countries want send ambassadors, to return to diplomatic normality. However, it remains unclear where the blue diamond is.