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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Thailand’s prime minister last week in Bangkok and signed agreements to expand diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The relations were restored only earlier this year, three decades after a high-profile jewellery theft, also known as the Blue Diamond Affair, snapped ties between the two nations.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha in Bangkok. (Twitter/@MFAThai)
In January this year, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha’s landmark visit to Saudi Arabia marked the highest level of contact between the two countries after the $20-million heist controversy, resuming full diplomatic ties.
Now, Salman’s visit to Thailand came on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The crown prince said restoration of ties has benefits for both countries, as the two leaders inked agreements pledging to increase trade and investment.
So, what is the Blue Diamond Affair?
It all started with the theft of jewelry and other valuable gems from the palace of Prince Faisal bin Fahd, the eldest son of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, in 1989.
Kriangkrai Techamong, a Thai worker employed as a servant at the palace, stole precious gems worth $20 million from Prince Faisal’s home, which also included a rare 50-carat blue diamond, which is still missing.
The ensuing diplomatic repercussion was thus named after the gem.
According to reports, Kriangkrai, who had access to the royal bedroom, one evening sneaked into Prince Faisal’s chamber after he learned of safes that were kept unlocked. He stole valuables worth about $20 million, hiding some in vacuum cleaner bags while some jewels were stuck to his own body using duct tape, a BBC report said.
He hid the loot in a large cargo delivery he was sending home to Thailand, and left the country by the time the theft was discovered.
However, it was not easy for the goods to enter Thailand without being searched by Thai customs. Kriangkrai managed this by bribing the authorities. According to a BBC report, he stuffed an envelope with a huge sum of money along with a note that said the cargo contained pornographic material, which he would not want searched. And his plan worked.
After evading arrest for some time, Kriangkrai was finally caught at his home in Thailand’s northern Lampang province in January 1990 by the Thai police, who were alerted by their Saudi counterparts. Kriangkai was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was released after three years as he cooperated with the police and had confessed.
Soon after, much of the loot was retrieved — some Kriangkrai had kept with himself, while some he sold off to a gem dealer in Bangkok at a fraction of their value. However, Saudi officials have claimed that many of the recovered jewels were fake.
Amidst all this, the investigations took a bloody turn with a series of murders in Thailand. Three Saudi diplomats were killed by gunmen in Bangkok in February 1990. Weeks later, a businessman close to the Saudi royal family, who had travelled to Bangkok to investigate on his own, went missing, and was presumed to have been murdered.
And then began the souring of ties as Saudi Arabia downgraded its relations with Thailand, resulting in loss of jobs for thousands of Thai migrant workers. Saudi Arabia stopped issuing work visas for Thais and discouraged its own citizens from visiting Bangkok. Diplomatic missions were downgraded to the chargé d’affaires level.
Meanwhile, it was not just the Saudi nationals who were murdered following the theft. Amid pressure from Saudi Arabia, investigations by the Thai authorities revealed the involvement of then police chief Chalor Kerdthes in the saga. Chalor, who was given the responsibility of retrieving the stolen loot, was found to have embezzled the confiscated jewellery, extorted the Bangkok gem dealer who brought the jewels from Kriangkrai, and killed the dealer’s wife and son in 1994.
Lieutenant-General Chalor was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of Thailand, but ended up serving 20 years in prison.
Present Saudi-Thailand relations
During his visit in January, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and also expressed “sincere regret over the tragic events in Thailand between 1989 and 1990”.
The high-level meeting also saw the two leaders agreeing on the appointment of ambassadors “in the near future” and to strengthen economic and trade relations.
As the two countries turned a new page in their relationship, Saudi restarted direct flights to Thailand in February.
Since January, many friendly exchanges have taken place between the two countries — one being an agreement between state-owned energy firms Saudi Aramco and Thailand’s PTT for cooperation in carbon capture and crude oil sourcing.
In October, Thailand hosted the controversial Saudi-backed circuit, LIV Golf Invitational.
In November, Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih attended a business forum in Bangkok meeting agriculture firms.
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