The King Power duty free outlet at Bangkok International Airport (Suvarnabhumi) has recently been at the centre of an alleged scam involving the theft of duty free goods. Although the story has been reported for sometime locally and regionally now it seems that it finally making international headlines with the BBC Asia Pacific correspondent Jonathan Head joining the fray.
Make no mistake about it shoplifting is theft, which is a criminal offence in Thailand and is certainly not to be condoned. King Power just like any other business is entitled to protect their assets from thieves. In Thailand they do this by using CCTV and security staff.
What is more worrying however is the suggestion in the various allegations that complicity in the arrests between King Power staff and the Thai Police along with a middleman of Sri Lankan origin, named Tony have led to Thai nationals gaining monetary reward from their actions. In short a scam.
To date the only actual evidence available publicly apart from the accounts offered by the alleged thieves, is CCTV footage supplied by the company on their web site along with an explanation of their actions. While this action by King Power is to be commended it unfortunately does not explain why the alleged thieves were treated the way they were by the Thai police and the mysterious middleman “Tony.”
Sadly extortion does happen in Thailand but at this moment in time there is no evidence available to suggest that King Power staff are part of the alleged Bangkok airport scam.
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