Two Chinese suspects arrested over gold shop heist in Thailand

Two Chinese men were arrested over a gold shop heist in Thailand.

Qintao Zou, 27, from Guangdong, and Haolong Song, 18, from Sichuan, reportedly robbed the Yaowarat Krungthep gold store in Nakhon Ratchasima, on the morning of April 27.

The pair were said to have threatened clerks with guns before ransacking glass display cases full of gold. They then fled in a white Toyota Yaris with around 400,000 baht of items.

But the suspects were detained when provincial and immigration police traced them to a car rental shop in Bangkok on the same day.

Officers seized from them 44 gold rings weighing 5.53 ounces (156.9 grammes), 24 pairs of gold earrings weighing 4.1 ounces (119 grammes), 28,100 baht in cash, three mobile phones, a carton of cigarettes, car rental and travel documents, a translation device, a black bag, and two pairs of trainers believed to have been used during the crime.

Some of the gold was stuffed in a cigarette carton to avoid detection.

Police said both men were charged with 'joint armed robbery, including breaking through barriers to access property' and 'using a vehicle to facilitate the offence'.

Lieutenant General Phrutipongse Prayoonsiri, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 3, said: ‘They were taken into custody and handed over to the inquiry officer at Chok Chai Police Station for further legal action.

'Their arrest stems from an incident at 10:10 am on the same day, when we received a report of two armed robbers plundering the Yaowarat Bangkok Gold Shop in Nakhon Ratchasima. One robber threatened employees with a handgun, while the other used a hammer to smash the glass display case before stealing approximately 20 gold rings worth around 380,000 baht. They then escaped in a white Toyota Yaris with its license plate covered.'

Officers then reviewed CCTV footage and examined rental car records, which reportedly showed the suspects were heading to Bangkok.

Multiple police units were deployed to intercept them, leading to their arrest.

One of the suspects said he received an offer to work as a drone repairman in Thailand for 40,000 USD.

He said he flew to Thailand with his assistant, rented a car, and drove to the GPS coordinates provided to him by his supposed employer.

But when he reached the Cambodian border, he claimed to have gotten cold feet and declined to proceed. He was then given another location in the Mae Sot district in Tak, bordering scam-ridden Myanmar, but again refused to go.

He allegedly told cops: 'Eventually my money ran out, and I only had 20 baht left, so I decided to rob the gold shop for money.'

He reportedly sold 16,800 baht of gold. He added that he was returning the rented car and planning to surrender to the Chinese embassy but was arrested first.

The pair were taken to the Chok Chai Police Station for further proceedings.

Gold demand has soared in recent years, fueled by inflation, political instability and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. The price has hit record highs with central governments - notably China and Russia - buying up large quantities of the precious metal as a hedge against the dollar and the power of the West.

Controversial banker JP Morgan famously said: 'Gold is money, everything else is credit.'

However, some investors remain cynical of the benefits of gold, which was dubbed the 'barbarous relic' by economist John Maynard Keynes, who believed it had limited uses.