Bangkok
BANGKOK, THAILAND. 2562 BE.
Thailand's capital, Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit, is congested. Home to over 8 million people and situated on the banks of the Chao Phraya river at an average elevation of 1.5 meters MSL, it is also prone to flooding and rising sea levels due to climate change. With this year's announcement by Indonesia to relocate its capital city away from Jakarta, there has been renewed discussion to seriously consider relocation of Thailand's own capital.
Today Minister of the Interior, Anupong Paochinda has confirmed that on the request of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the government will be convening a special task force, led by Deputy Prime Minster Somkid Jatusripitak, and comprising other high-ranking cabinet members, including Warawut Silpa-archa and Jurin Laksanawisit to seriously study the benefits and costs of relocating the capital. The task force is to study the effects of both relocating as well as maintaining the current location of the capital, and to present in no more than two years' time, to the Prime Minister, a proposal for mitigating the expected negative conditions expected during the next two decades in Bangkok. At a minimum, the proposal must include two alternative sites for a capital relocation.
The Theft
In 1989, Kriangkrai Techamong, a Thai servant for the House of Saud, stole jewellery and other valuable gems from the bedroom of Prince Faisal bin Fahd. Kriangkrai hid the stolen jewellery, which included a valuable blue diamond and other gems, in a vacuum cleaner bag and then shipped it to his home in Lampang Province, Thailand.
Recovery
A Royal Thai Police investigation by a team headed by Lieutenant-General Chalor Kerdthes led to Kriangkrai's arrest and the recovery of most of the stolen jewellery. Kriangkai was sentenced to seven years in prison, but he was released after three years as he cooperated with the police and had confessed. Chalor's team then flew to Saudi Arabia to return the stolen items. However, the Saudi authorities discovered that the blue diamond was still missing and that about half of the gems returned were fake.
In Bangkok, rumours spread in the local press that charity gala photos captured a number of wives of government officials wearing diamond necklaces resembling those stolen from the palace. The Saudis suspected that Thai police and officials had taken the jewels for themselves.
Investigation
Mohammad al-Ruwaili, a Saudi businessman close to the royal family, travelled to Bangkok to conduct his own investigation. He went missing on 12 February 1990 and is presumed to have been murdered. Prior to his disappearance, on 4 January 1989, a Saudi diplomat was murdered in Si Lom, Bang Rak District, Bangkok. On 1 February 1990, three more Saudi diplomats were murdered in Thung Mahamek in Bangkok's Yan Nawa District. The murders remain unsolved, and no connection to the jewellery theft has been established.
Lieutenant-General Chalor was later charged and convicted of ordering the 1995 murder of the wife and son of a gem dealer allegedly involved in the affair, and he was sentenced to death. The Thai Supreme Court upheld the judgement and sentenced Chalor to death on 16 October 2009. However, Chalor's sentence was reduced to fifty years imprisonment by King Bhumibol Adulyadej on the King's 84th birthday. Six other policemen were also convicted of involvement in the murders. One of those involved, Police Lieutenant-Colonel Pansak Mongkolsilp, was sentenced in 2002 to life in prison. The term was upheld on appeal in 2005, but he was released in 2012.
Diplomatic and economic repercussions
Relations between the two countries worsened further following the murders. Saudi Arabia stopped issuing work visas f
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