Tourists lose valuables in scanner scam at airport
The Nation, 7th May 2007

There have been numerous reports of theft at Suvarnabhumi Airport, police say, including at least two from tourists who say their valuables disappeared while they were being scanned.

German tourist Dr Richard Chrobop, 60, said his 2.5-karat diamond ring, worth about Bt500,000, disappeared while going through a scanner at the airport when he was flying back to Germany on April 24.

Police also received a complaint yesterday from a Japanese tourist who said 800 euros (Bt 35,400) in cash disappeared from his bag while it was being scanned at the airport.

Photographs retrieved from the scanning machine show that Chrobop's diamond ring disappeared after it entered the machine, said an airport official who asked not to be named.

Piyarat Donbandit, a relative of the doctor, filed a complaint with Rachadheva Police on his behalf.

Piyarat said Chrobop put a jacket and other possessions, including the ring, into a basket to pass through the scanning machine at the departure exit. The ring was gone when the basket came out from the other side, Piyarat said.

Airport staff refused the doctor's request to meet police but gave him a compensation claim form and rushed him to his plane, Piyarat said.

The airport official said photographs from the scanner showed that the ring was in the basket as it passed through the scanner.

The official declined, however, to comment further, saying it might affect the reputation of Airports of Thailand.

Piyarat said he had written to airport officials asking to check the scanner's photographic record but was provided with unclear CCTV pictures taken from one angle. He was told that there was only one camera in the area.

Lt-Colonel Sitthichai Champa-ngam, an investigator at Rachadheva Police Station, said there had been numerous complaints about possessions lost at the airport.

It has been difficult to investigate the claims because the airport does not cooperate, Sitthichai said. To examine CCTV records at the airport, police have to send official letters asking for permission from the airport.

"I believe someone took the ring while it was passing through the machine," Sitthichai said.

It is difficult to believe there is only one CCTV in the area, he said.

"​[Theft by airport staff] is not good for image of the country," he added.

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