A window to Somchai's ground-floor bedroom was found prised open and dozens of baskets of gold and jewellery beads worth Bt40 million were missing from the living room, said Pol Lt-Colonel Mongkol Sampawapol, of Muang Chiang Mai police station. Thongchai said he had collected the beads over decades and was planing to open a jewellery shop soon.

Somchai arrived home late yesterday after being told of the robbery. He said he cancelled a show in Songkhla and flew straight back to be with his family, as he was concerned about their welfare. He said he was confident the police would catch the thief for punishment.

Thongchai told police he suspected someone who knew his house well as the thief seemed to have focused only on the beads and ignored other valuables, such as a gold ornament on a nearby table.

However, he did not believe it was a family member or any of the factory's 10 staff, as they had worked for him for more than 10 years and were trustworthy.

Police initially suspected the culprit may be one of the actor's friends who came to the house often and even slept over in Somchai's bedroom when the actor was not there.

Police would check the scene and collect fingerprints before summoning the parties involved and dispatching officers to look for the beads at jewellery shops across the city, Mongkol said.

The Nation

Chiang Mai