VN reaps what it sows: Guns used by the VC and invading VN army in Cambodia are now used in robberies in Vietnam

A jewelry store in HCM City, the site of a recent armed robbery

23/07/2007
HCM City to establish special robbery unit

VietNamNet Bridge – In a recent meeting, Deputy Chief of the HCM City Police Phan Anh Minh said if everything went well, the municipal police will premier its robber unit this August.

According to Colonel Phan Anh Minh, Minister of Police Le Hong Anh and HCM City People’s Committee’s Chairman Le Hoang Quan has approved a plan to establish a “quick reaction” unit and a robbery team for the city.

Mr. Minh said that because of particularly crowded conditions of streets in the city, the new robbery unit would be different from its predecessors. In the past, special robbery police often shot while chasing suspects.

Nowadays, however, the best method is to discover, prevent and capture suspects. Thus, providing the new unit with modern communication equipment is considered the most important step.

According to Mr. Minh, special police forces’ weapons must be small and multi-functional. As for the recent increase in the number of armed robberies, Colonel Phan Anh Minh said, “The increase in serious robberies has been predicted. Our fault is that we were unable to prevent and investigate them on time.”

In HCM City, police forces are now worrying about how to monitor the use of military weapons. Most of the weapons used in crimes come from Cambodia and cost only several million dongs.

Another potential dangerous source is weapons kept by veterans and military men as keepsakes. “There have been cases when relatives of retired officers used their weapons to commit crimes,” said Phan Anh Minh.

Source: Tuoi Tre

As Thai economy worsens, robbers target gold shops [using cheap guns allegedly smuggled from Cambodia]

A Thai policeman stands guard at a gold shop in Chinatown of Bangkok (Photo: AFP/File Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Nantacha Kanchornkijtrakul used to leave the security at her suburban Bangkok gold shop to male relatives she trusted with the handgun hidden under the counter in case of a robbery.

BANGKOK (AFP) - But after a string of gold heists across Thailand, the 37-year-old decided she needed to learn how to handle a gun herself.

"I had thought about going to a firing range for a while, but I decided this was the time to learn, for the sake of my own safety and my property," said Nantacha, who has run her gold shop for six years.

So she and four female relatives decided to join a one-day gun training workshop organised by the Thai police in Bangkok's southern suburbs.

Police say gold robberies are on the rise, leading them to organise gun training courses and other security services for gold shops around the capital.

Most of the robbers do not appear to be professional crooks rather than ordinary people driven by desperation amid an economic slowdown, said Lieutenant Colonel Aek Aungsananont.

"We arrested one robber who admitted that he stole gold after losing 50,000 baht (1,500 dollars) gambling on a football match," said Aek, police commander for Thailand's central region which includes metro Bangkok.

In addition to gun training, police in nearby Ayutthaya province have also taught gold traders how to use walkie-talkies to quickly contact police in an emergency.

"Walkie-talkies allow gold shop owners to reach police much faster than using the telephone. It allows police who are on duty nearby to reach the scene and track down the robber," said Lieutenant Colonel Sombat Chuchaiya of Ayutthaya police.

Five gold robberies were reported around Bangkok last month, with arrests made in three cases.

Robberies in general also appear to be on the rise, with 5,823 robberies of all types reported in the first four months of this year, police said.

Police could not provide crime statistics from last year for comparison, but say that robberies are becoming more common and more violent.

Two weeks ago, four people were killed in a shooting spree in a suburban Bangkok market when a 28-year-old opened fire with an AK-47 rifle. The attacker and a policeman were among those killed.

"Weapons are smuggled easily through Thailand's border with Cambodia, and are available at cheap prices. Police have limited personnel to monitor the smuggling," Aek said.

Traditionally, Thailand's 7,000 gold shops become prime targets for robbers during times of economic trouble, according to the Gold Traders Association.

"As gold prices rise, thieves think that attacking a gold shop is an easy way to get rich," said the association's president Jitti Tangsithpakdi.

"At the same time, police don't have enough staff to look after every gold shop across the nation. Consequently, owners have to look at any way possible to protect themselves from attack," he added.

Some shops have begun installing emergency lights and sirens, or even placing protective metal grills over their counters to separate staff from clients.

Gold trader Wimolthip Jitnoppakhun said she was thinking about installing a grill in her store outside Bangkok after her neighbour's gold shop was robbed.

"I think the expense of only 20,000 baht (579 dollars) for installing the grill is not too expensive, compared to the possible harm to myself or my belongings if there was another attack," said the 32-year-old.