Repentant thief sends back Sun God bead

National Discovery Museum Institute (Museum Siam) officials checking letters found the one-centimetre-wide bead made of glass mosaic inside an envelope carrying a stamp of Bangkok's Jorake Bua post office.

A note with child-like handwriting was attached, saying "I'm sorry to cause troubles for all of you. I'd like to return this, so that everyone is happy. My sincere apology."

Museum Siam director Admiral Thanit Kittiampon later said the owner of the bead who was in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Doctor Bancha Pongpanit, had initially confirmed from an email picture that the bead was his stolen one. However, further tests would be conducted to confirm its authenticity, he said.

The bead will be displayed Tuesday amid beefed-up security. There would be eight onsite guards and curators, visitors would be required to exchange ID cards for entrance tickets, and two more security cameras would be added to the existing eight, he said. The display cabinet would be strengthened and equipped with sensors, he added.

Metropolitan Police Area 6 chief Pol Maj General Wittaya Rattanawit said police were processing the bead, envelope and letter for fingerprints. Although the bead was returned, police would proceed with the investigation because it was a crime that could not be settled out of court.

The bead was stolen on March 5 from the museum's "Bead and Beyond" exhibition, which has been open to the public since last December and was suspended following the theft.