Ancient Buddha statue theft

Bangkok Post, 28/03/2011 at 08:55 PM

Detectives track down the thieves of Chiang Saen’s 500 year old Luang Phor Chiang Saen Buddha image.

Pol Col Napanwut Polki was in a determined mood after burglars stole a precious Buddha statue from his home town in Prachin Buri province.

The superintendent of Provincial Police Region 3 told himself he would do whatever it took to bring Luang Phor Chiang Saen back to Wat Makok Simaram, the temple in Muang district from where the 500-year-old statue was stolen.

The bronze statue with the Marawichai (victory over evil) posture was made in the style representative of northern Thailand’s Lanna kingdom – also known as Chiang Saen art – whose Buddha statues have unique characteristics, including a lotus-like topknot.

Pol Col Napanwut’s task began when the Royal Thai Police issued a nationwide call for officers to look for Luang Phor Chiang Saen, which was stolen on Jan 15.

I was not sure if many police officers would take this issue seriously,” said Pol Col Napanwut, but he was to be pleasantly surprised

His team started their investigation in early March and closed the case just over a week later when they made two arrests and seized more than 50 stolen items, including Luang Phor Chiang Saen.

Pol Col Napanwut said this quick success came after following three steps.

First, the team studied records of thefts of Buddha statues over the past three years. The records showed 31 temples had fallen victim to thieves, including Wat Bua in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Non Sung district.

Pol Col Napanwut suspected the same thieves targeted Wat Bua and Wat Makok Simaram, because the stolen Buddha statues and other assets in both instances were from the same Lanna period, and the burglaries in both cases were carried out by the robbers entering the temples by making a hole in the roof

Next, the team called for witnesses who might have seen the robbers at Wat Makok Simaram to come forward.

Nobody admitted seeing the robbery take place, Pol Col Napanwut said, but one person told police they had seen three suspects making merit at the temple a few days earlier.

The witness told police that the three men were very interested in Luang Phor Chiang Saen.

From the witness’s account, Pol Col Napanwut’s team were able to make sketches of two of the suspects as well as collect details of the pickup truck they were seen travelling in.

The investigators then started their search for the suspects.

They compared the sketches with photos of criminals in the police database, while Pol Col Napanwut asked police agents, familiar with the illegal trade in ancient Buddha images to help him find more clues.

A week later, Pol Col Napanwut was contacted by one agent who said the suspects were staying at a house on Rama II Road in Bangkok.

An investigation of the residence found a pickup truck matching the witness’s description.

Police then decided to raid the premises, where they arrested Adisorn Jaima, 44, an Ayutthaya resident, and Pramote Chinarin, 42, from Bang Bon district in Bangkok.

The two allegedly confessed they had colluded with Chayapon Wongyai, Panom Mithaworn and Ann Boonchai, who are still at large, to steal Luang Phor Chiang Saen and other assets from Wat Bua and other temples.

They said they sold Luang Phor Chiang Saen to a Buddha image collector called Thao Tha Phrachan and informed police that the Buddha statue and other assets were hidden at a statue foundry in Nonthaburi.

A raid on the factory found Luang Phor Chiang Saen.

I’m happy I solved this case,” Pol Col Napanwut said.

Villagers really wanted the Buddha statue back.

They did everything they could to ensure his return, from merit-making and praying to cursing the robbers.

The Fine Arts Department is now carrying out restoration work on Luang Phor Chiang Saen and will return the statue to Prachin Buri villagers on April10.

The department said 36 registered ancient Buddha statues have been stolen between 1996 and 2011. Only three have been retrieved, including Luang Phor Chiang Saen.

A further 531 unregistered Buddha statues have been stolen during the same period, of which only five have been found.

To prevent valuable Buddha statues from being stolen, Pol Col Napanwut suggested temples employ security professionals or volunteers to guard their assets at night.

Temple dogs and alarm bells were not sufficient, he said.

Contact Crime Track: crimetrack@bangkokpost.co.th

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