In Thailand, there is a confession that ignites the Internet: that of the thief of the famous “blue diamond”, a jewel stolen from a Saudi prince in 1989. For the first time, the author of the mischief recounts part of this as yet unsolved enigma, which has led to a diplomatic crisis.
In 1989, this “blue diamond” enigma was the cause of a major diplomatic crisis between Thailand and Saudi Arabia that lasted for more than twenty years.
One evening, while his employer, Prince Faisal, is on vacation, Krienchai Techamong, who works as a cleaner in the palace, decides to act; he knows that some safes are never locked, and attaches the jewellery to his body with plasters, stealing about $20 million worth of gold and precious stones.
In Saudi Arabia, he risks amputation so he hurries back to Thailand. At customs, he passes off his loot as pornographic material and distributes bribes. He finally gets home without any problem.
But a few months later, the police come to find him. He has not yet sold everything and returns all the jewellery he has kept, the rest are then quickly found.
But the story doesn’t end there
In reality, the story is just beginning. Because between the time Krienchai returned the jewellery to the police and the time it was returned to its Saudi owner, another theft took place.
The returned jewellery is actually fake. In particular, the disappearance of an extremely rare and invaluable blue diamond is causing consternation in Saudi Arabia.
At the same time, a photo of the wife of a senior Thai official wearing a piece of jewellery around her neck that bears a disturbing resemblance to the blue diamond is circulating.
The case escalated, the Saudis decided to conduct their own investigation, but the investigator sent to the scene disappeared, two Saudi diplomats were murdered in Bangkok, as well as the family of the key witness to the case.
Saudi Arabia openly accuses the local police, and stops issuing visas to Thai citizens. The cooling of relations will last more than 20 years.
Nowadays, do we know what happened to the blue diamond?
The enigma remains intact, it has completely disappeared from the radars. The thief admits that he had no idea of the value of this stone before committing his act, for which he served three years in prison.
After spending some time in a monastery, he says he now lives with the remorse of being the source of a case that has caused the death of at least five people, and the permanent anguish of a late revenge that could still fall on him.
