Gold-shop heist blamed on economic crisis

"The bad economy has hurt my car-rental business," Kamon Saengperm said while in police detention. "I don't have the money to pay the monthly instalments of my vehicle anymore".

The 36-year-old was one of the armed robbers who raided a gold shop and sped away with Bt4.5-million worth of ornaments on Monday. During their getaway, the robbers also injured a police sergeant and four children nearby.

Kamon and his accomplice Surachat Yodthong have pleaded guilty, while the third suspect in detention, Kasem Klindee, insists he is innocent. Police had Kamon and Surachat re-enact their crime yesterday.

According to the self-confessed robbers, two other men called "Sorn" and "Dam" were also involved in the heist.

All of them, apart from Surachat, stormed into the gold shop with weapons. They said they opened fire just to scare people and to break open the glass cabinets. Kamon said he only fired at the police sergeant who was chasing them because he badly wanted to escape.

Police found the robbers in possession of many guns, a grenade launcher, a few grenades and a large amount of ammunition.

Kamon told police that he bought most of the weapons in Cambodia and some of the ammunition from a military camp in Chon Buri. The purchase from the military camp was made via a friend called "Kai".

"I can't contact him now because I don't know where he is," Kamon said.

Military officers from the 21st Infantry Regiment (Queen's Guards) yesterday checked whether any of Kamon's weapons and ammunition came from their unit. However, they made no comment, only saying that they would report their findings to their supervisors.