Thailand-Info und Forum

Thailand reopens probe of long-unsolved killings of Saudi diplomats, businessman

BANGKOK, Thailand: Thailand reopened an investigation Wednesday into the long-unsolved killings of five Saudi Arabian men, including three diplomats, a case that deeply soured relations between the two countries.

Sunai Manomaiudom, director-general of the Department of Special Investigation — Thailand's equivalent of the FBI — said a new team has been set up to review the deaths of the five men in 1989 and 1990.

"It is difficult because the incidents happened a long time ago and many evidence has disappeared," he said. "However, this issue has affected Thailand's relations (with Saudi Arabia) and we have to do it."

Saudi officials believe some of the deaths were linked to the theft of US$2 million (€1.4 million) of jewelry from a Saudi prince by an overseas Thai worker in 1989.

Only a portion of the gems were ever recovered and returned by Thai police. Some of them were fake, leading to suspicions that senior police and members of Thailand's power elite kept the loot and ordered a cover-up.

The first slaying took place in January 1989 when a third secretary at the Saudi Embassy was fatally shot in front of his home in Bangkok. In February 1990, two Saudi diplomats and a Saudi Embassy telex operator were shot dead execution style.

A few days later, a Bangkok-based Saudi businessman, who reportedly had been in a car with one of the slain diplomats, disappeared and was presumed killed after his body was never found.

No one has been convicted in any of the cases.

Sunai said the new investigation will be conducted mostly by justice ministry officials, in the hope they may be able to make more progress than the previous team, which was led by police.

In response to the unsolved killings of its citizens, Saudi Arabia has allowed Thailand to have only a charge d'affaires instead of full ambassador in Riyadh since 1990.