Officers confirmed they arrested Chanuphon Khetwit yesterday (Nov 13) after an official complaint had been made by the owner of a guesthouse in Kamala, claiming several items of jewellery and two luxury watches had disappeared from her room.
Ms Chanuphon, 38, was the manager of a beachfront restaurant that is attached to and owned by the guesthouse, whose owner lodged an official complaint of the theft to Pol Lt Surasit Wandee, Deputy Inspector of Investigations at Kamala Police Station, last Sunday (Nov 10).
As part of their investigation police tracked a parcel that was being sent by Ms Chanuphon to her boyfriend in Nakhon Sawan. The parcel was retieved from a local post office and brought to the questioning session yesterday where police instructed Ms Chanuphon to open it. Inside was a women’s Rolex watch, a women’s Cartier watch, seven rings, many including diamonds, and a pair of diamond ear rings that police estimated was worth B1 million in total.
The items retrieved from the parcel matched several items that the guesthouse owner had listed as being stolen in her official report. However, there were still additional items she reported lost that were not in the parcel, police confirmed.
The items declared stolen in the report to police included a 2.64-carat diamond ring valued at B70,000, a 2.5-carat diamond ring valued at B84,000, a Rolex Datejust 31 wristwatch valued at B578,815, a Cartier Panthere wristwatch valued at B159,000, a gold ring valued at B32,000, a gold bracelet valued at B70,000, a 0.53-carat diamond ring valued at B39,800, a 0.48 carat diamond ring valued at B28,900 and a pair of Chanel earrings valued at B15,000.
The guesthouse owner confirmed all of the stolen items were kept in a jewellery box in a compartment in a wardrobe in her bedroom, and that she realised had disappeared on Sunday.
Kamala Police Chief Pol Col Somsak Thongkliang led the investigation, which quickly uncovered there were three employees at the guesthouse and adjoining restaunrant who had keys providing them access to the guesthouse.
Further digging by police into the profiles of the three individuals revealed that Ms Chanuphon had a history of online gambling issues, which fuelled their suspicions sufficiently to bring her in for questioning.
Initially, Ms Chanuphon denied the charges of theft. However, subsequent police studies of her phone revealed that she had conducted several online searches into the standard sale prices of jewellery and watches matching the stolen items which resulted in her confessing that it was indeed her that had taken the items from the guesthouse owner’s room.
Ms Chanuphon confirmed she had sold the gold bracelet for B70,000 and sent the remaining items to her boyfriend in Nakhon Sawan province.
Police confirmed that charges will be brought against Ms Chanuphon relating to the theft and that the retrieved items were returned to the guesthouse owner, who was delighted and thanked police for their diligent work.
She also explained that the items had been given to her by her mother and therefore held significant sentimental value that was impossible to attribute a monteary value to.