450,000 Baht’s worth of gold stolen, Police Officer and children hurt in armed robbery at Jomtien Gold Shop

[7-Eleven]

450,000 Baht’s worth of gold stolen, Police Officer and children hurt in armed robbery at Jomtien Gold Shop

 

Just after 9am on Monday, the Yaowarat Gold Smith Shop located in Soi Chayapreuk in Jomtien received three unwanted visitors armed with assault rifles. The incident was caught on the shop’s CCTV system which showed the three heavily armed men enter the shop and open fire expelling a total of seven bullets from their M16 assault rifles. Luckily no one inside the shop including a customer, Khun Foy aged 47, and the owner and two family members were not hurt. The three assailants jumped over the counter and smashed the glass display units and grabbed what gold they could. They eventually left the shop with 450,000 Baht’s worth of gold necklaces and bracelets. The assailants left the scene in a Bronze Toyota Vios in the direction of Soi Chayapreuk 2. The shop is located only 100 meters from a Police Box on Jomtien Beach and officers were quickly on-scene. Police Sergeant Siam who was in a police pick-up took up the chase and as he followed the escape vehicle, he was shot at a number of times and was forced to give up the chase due to injuries sustained. Four members of the public, all children aged between 8 and 15 were caught in the crossfire and were taken to Hospital with minor flesh wounds sustained after one of the assailants threw a hand grenade in the path of the chasing police vehicle. A police helicopter was scrambled which was able to locate the getaway car in Kow Mai Geow sub-district. The vehicle was covered in a sheet and was confirmed as the vehicle used in the robbery. The owner of a nearby house did not recognize the car and did not see anyone dump the car. Further checks are now being made on the house owner to make sure he is not involved in the robbery. A second vehicle is thought to have been involved in the robbery and for now Police are studying the CCTV footage from the gold shop as they attempt to find the heavily armed men and recover the gold.

[layow]

Wow thats a big story

 

wonder if they will release any vid footage?

[SlickMonkey]

The criminals are really getting brazen and definately more dangerous. Hand grenades and M-16's. They dont care who they kill either. Sad situation.

[Mike Asia]

On the Thai TV news they said 300 Baht(weight) of Gold

 

That is about 4,500,000 if you use 15K Thai Baht of one Baht(weight), not 450,000. Amazing it was 100 meters from the police box

[LaaMok]

they are ruthless, i remember this, its as though he forgot to do robbery!

 

[LaaMok]

Amazing it was 100 meters from the police box

 

so he didn't have to walk far then 555555 Dont sh*t on your doorstep lol

[gogo dog]

http://pattayadailynews.com/shownews.php?IDNEWS=0000009123 Edited May 4, 2009 by gogo dog

[SlickMonkey]

Anone who owns a Jewlery store must be ignorant for not having access to at least one firearm, Baseball Bat, pepper spray, Taser, etc. If a guy has a Knife or stick he wont stand a chance against someone with a Gun or Baseball Bat.

[Mike Asia]

Anone who owns a Jewlery store must be ignorant for not having access to at least one firearm, Baseball Bat, pepper spray, Taser, etc. If a guy has a Knife or stick he wont stand a chance against someone with a Gun or Baseball Bat.

 

I agrees, but a handgun, baseball bat, or pepper spray would not have helped in this case. I saw the CCTV from the shop on the news and there were 3 guys with semi automatic weapons. Staff would have probably been killed in this case.

Edited May 4, 2009 by mike_asia

[LaaMok]

Anone who owns a Jewlery store must be ignorant for not having access to at least one firearm, Baseball Bat, pepper spray, Taser, etc. If a guy has a Knife or stick he wont stand a chance against someone with a Gun or Baseball Bat.

 

Almost all jewellery/gold shops have a police man hired to sit there (as seen on the video above) and some banks seem to do it.

 

And i have never seen a police man unarmed in Thailand, I guess thats why they come armed.

 

I am pretty sure i seen video footage of a robbery in a gold shop in thailand, and they literally walk in and start shootiing with no clues at all. shots were fired back.

 

In fact I am surprised anyone dares to rob a gold shop, it has to be the worse/most dangerous way of obtaining funds.

 

Almost as stupid as robbing a post office or mail (from royal mail) in england, where you are technically robbing from the Queen, so you get a massive sentance.

[Al.]

I dropped my barfine off there at 8.30 I wasn't half an hour later

 

Al.

[Bitch Controller]

Thats some scary shit, what security precautions are there for those who want to buy a decent amount of gold. I cant recall any of the shops having security either, open season for would be bandits.

[Toby Jug]

On the Thai TV news they said 300 Baht(weight) of Gold

 

That is about 4,500,000 if you use 15K Thai Baht of one Baht(weight), not 450,000. Amazing it was 100 meters from the police box

 

 

90k English, scary stuff

[Mr.DreamTransport]

Anone who owns a Jewlery store must be ignorant for not having access to at least one firearm, Baseball Bat, pepper spray, Taser, etc. If a guy has a Knife or stick he wont stand a chance against someone with a Gun or Baseball Bat.

 

A lot of the gold shops you walk into, you almost always notice a poorly dressed guy, sitting off in the corner. This is usually a family member, or a hired hand, that carried a firearm in case of situations like that. The bigger gold shops, will actually have security guards in uniforms, some with firearms in plain sight.

 

As far as them actually fencing the gold they stole, all Thai gold has very detailed markings on the inside, letting them know who the jewelry was made by, and who certified the quality of the gold. While many stores carry the same stock, just some have larger selections then others, if they tried to get rid of a decent amount of this gold at one time, they would easily be found out. Thats assuming of course, the gold shop that buys the stolen goods, actually turns these guys in. Which in Thailand, you would not normally think would happen, but these gold shop owners are a pretty close knit clique. So any other shop, would imagine if it were them in that situation, and probably turn the guys in right away.

 

I would say its more likely that they will only sell 2-3 pieces of gold at a time to any gold shop, then move on to the next one. Of course, they picked a shitty time to steal the gold and resell it, as the price on gold has dropped from 15,450 per baht, to about 14,100 per baht in the last week lol.

 

If these guys manage to get away with this though, and get rid of all the gold without getting caught, I'm willing to bet my 2baht of gold, that they will attempt to pull off another heist. Its pretty clear they have no regard for human life, and have no problems killing police if they had to, so thats a nasty group of guys. Somehow I think Yabba had a part to play in there somewhere.

[LaaMok]

As far as them actually fencing the gold they stole, all Thai gold has very detailed markings on the inside, letting them know who the jewelry was made by, and who certified the quality of the gold. While many stores carry the same stock, just some have larger selections then others, if they tried to get rid of a decent amount of this gold at one time, they would easily be found out. Thats assuming of course, the gold shop that buys the stolen goods, actually turns these guys in. Which in Thailand, you would not normally think would happen, but these gold shop owners are a pretty close knit clique. So any other shop, would imagine if it were them in that situation, and probably turn the guys in right away.

 

wont they just melt it down?

[bigjimslay]

If anyone gets any tips of where to buy cheap gold over the next couple of weeks, Pls send me a PM.

[bigjimslay]

I wonder if it is similar to Australian Gold. I was told by an aussie that used to work in a gold mine, that every piece of gold traceable, whether it is melted down or in the same form. Sotra like a DNA for the gold. It can be told what mine it came from and who it was sold to.

 

Aussies - Correct me if I am wrong, Cause I am not from there. Just what I was told by someone who used to work in the mines.

[Al.]

I've just gone past the gold shop there are police everywhere and a yellow SWAT police truck. SWAT Police dressed in black with balaclavas and bullet proof vests carrying rifles and machine guns. It looks although they have caught 3 of them and are reenacting the crime, there were a few video cameras so I expect it will be on the local news soon.

 

Al.

[Mike Asia]

it just hit the local TV news now

[7-Eleven]

We can now update you on the armed robbery of a gold shop in Jomtien which took place on Monday Morning where Assault rifles and grenades were used by three assailants during the robbery and escape. One Police Officer sustained gun shot wounds and four innocent members of the public, all children sustained injuries following the explosion of a grenade which was thrown at a chasing Police Car during the escape.

We can now reveal that three arrest warrants have been issued and three men are in custody. The arrest warrants are for Khun Gasaem aged 34 who is the son of the owner of a house where the getaway vehicle was found parked-up less than one hour after the robbery. He is the owner of a Black Ford Ranger which was also found at the location. It is thought this pick-up may have been used as a decoy vehicle during the escape of the 3 assailants; however this has not yet been confirmed. He is now in custody at this time and he vehemently denies any involvement in the case but did accept that he covered the main getaway vehicle in a sheet following a request from the three suspects who apparently asked Khun Gasaem if they could leave their car at the front of his father’s house. The men, who were all known by Khun Gasaem, then left in a Silver 4-door Toyota Pick-up.

The two other arrest warrants are for Khun Surachart aged 27 who is the registered owner of the Bronze Toyota Vios which was known to have been used during the robbery and the third warrant has been issued for Khun Gamon aged 40 who is the registered owner of the pick-up which was used when the assailants switched vehicles.

We can confirm that Khun Surachart and Khun Gamon have now been arrested in Bangkok and some of the stolen gold has also been recovered. We also have been told that two other men were involved in the robbery but their details remain a secret for now until arrest warrants have been issued for them. We now await a formal press conference which is expected to take place either on Tuesday Night or Wednesday Morning.

 

It appears now that the Gold Shop Robbery case from Jomtien has been solved and the people suspected as being involved in the case have either been arrested or have been identified and are being located at this time. However the drama appears not to be over. Late on Tuesday Night, Dongtan Police Station located on Jomtien Beach received a telephone call from a Thai Man who claimed that the station would come under attack within 10 minutes of the call because they had arrested his friends, the alleged suspects in the armed robbery. Extra Police were drafted in and soon arrived at the station. They were prepared for anything, however the attack never materialized and the officers were sent back on their regular duties.

On Wednesday Morning, the two men arrested late on Tuesday in Bangkok were brought back to the Gold Shop for a reconstruction of the alleged attack. Khun Gamon aged 40 and Khun Surachart aged 27 have both apparently confessed to their involvement in the robbery and revealed to Police the chain-of-events which saw them steal around 4.5 Million Baht’s worth of Gold. Police Colonel Tirapong, the acting chief of Pattaya Police looked on as the Pattaya SWAT Team maintained a tight security cordon around the shop, following the threatening call made to Police on Tuesday Night.

The two other men wanted in connection with the case known only as “Sorn” and “Dum” are now the subject of an intense manhunt and Police tell us that the weapons used in the attack and some of the gold has already been recovered.

[7-Eleven]

Fourth man arrested following recent Jomtien Gold Shop robbery.

 

A further update now on the recent 4.5 Million Baht Jomtien Gold Shop Robbery which took place last week. We have already reported that three of five men involved in the case have been arrested. Two further suspects are still outstanding until today. On Thursday Morning, Pattaya Police announced the arrest of Khun Sakorn aged 26. He was taken straight to the Yaowarat Gold Smith Shop in Jomtien for a reconstruction of the robbery and then taken back to the cells. He fully confessed to his part in the armed robbery. We can also report that more of the stolen gold has been recovered. A phone call from a man known only as “Rut” from Samut Prakan Province revealed that he was asked to store the gold for his friend, Khun Wichit who is the fifth man wanted in connection with the case. Police anticipate the capture of Khun Wichit soon which should bring this case to a conclusion.

[steviek]

don't think I'll be going to any gold shops when i come back!

[Samui]

Idiots using their own cars to escape in!