lieberdavid Posted March 24, 2008 Share #1 Posted March 24, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Leica Camera Equipment Returned On Thursday afternoon, while seated in a barber’s chair having a haircut, I received a phone call from an unknown individual in Bangkok who told me that he had information about my stolen Leicas. He is the webmaster of a photography website here. One of his friends had been browsing the site and had come across an ad for some Leica equipment. He made an inquiry, found out the serial numbers, and knew that the items were stolen. He informed the webmaster who contacted the “seller” and posed as a buyer. They made an appointment to meet at the Chiang Mai airport Tuesday. He also emailed me a copy of their correspondence, which identified the man by name, gave his phone numbers, and bank account numbers. I, with Tam accompanying me as interpreter, went immediately to the Sansai police department, where we had filed a criminal report last May, identifying the probable burglars. At that time the police officer there had been very cooperative and hopeful. He assured me that all the police departments, pawn shops, camera shops, etc., in the area would be informed, and that they would begin to investigate. The Thai police are very poorly paid, about a dollar a day for the average officer, and so they make up a living wage with petty corruption. Knowing this, I offered him a substantial reward, but he assured me that this was not necessary, that they are glad to help in any way possible. When we spoke to the same officer this time, however, he seemed reluctant to do anything. He kept saying “What can I do?”, when it seemed obvious that the thing to do was go to the airport on Tuesday and arrest the seller when he showed up with the equipment. We had positive identification of the equipment, complete with serial numbers of all the items, and positive identification of the individual. The webmaster called the officer as well, while we were there, and tried to persuade him to do something. In spite of all this, the officer kept making objections and appeared to be very stubborn. He also kept going out of the room for a minute or two while talking to the webmaster, and it was only later that Tam told me that they were discussing the price, i.e. the amount of the reward that I should pay, and he did not want to do this is front of me. Finally, 26,000 baht (about $850) was agreed to and suddenly the officer was very glad to help us out. Nonetheless, we were left with making all the plans and arrangements, and the police would follow our plan and show up at the right moment. The next day the webmaster called me to say that the seller had for some reason become frightened and wanted to cancel the sale. The seller claimed to have discovered that the items had been stolen, that he wanted to return them to the person he got them from, and wipe his hands clean of the whole business. The webmaster advised us to go to the police immediately and go to this man’s house and catch him, because by evening the items would be gone to some other unknown person and thus presumably lost forever. So we went to the police station immediately, but the police officer refused to offer any help at all: the evidence is not clear, what can we do?, etc. We were stuck. We decided to call the seller, identify ourselves as the rightful owners, and appeal to him with, if it turned out to be necessary, the threat of police action if he failed to be cooperative, while running the risk that he would just throw the equipment into the river and run away. He had a good job in Chiang Mai, however, which he presumably wanted to keep, so, thinking that this was going to be our only option, we called. The seller was in remorse, terribly apologetic, wanted to do the right thing, while protesting that he had purchased the items innocently from an unknown party. Nevertheless, he was very scared, fearing that if he met with us, we should have the police there to arrest him. I had no interest actually in putting him in jail; I only wanted the return of my Leicas. I felt this way, because there really was a chance that he was innocent, and also I wanted to eliminate any reason for his wanting to seek revenge. Over the course of a dozen or more phone calls between him, us, his friends, and the webmaster, we failed to convince him that we would not be bringing the police with us. The next day, however, Sunday, we prevailed and set a meeting at the food court of a local super market. I was to pay him 30,000 baht (about $1000) to cover his loss. Although this was a substantial amount, it was small beside the 700,000 baht this camera equipment had cost me over a period of many years. If I failed to take this opportunity it would be necessarily many more years before I could manage to replace it all. We were met at the food court by a group of six persons, one of whom, a pleasant and jovial woman, spoke good English. The seller was not there, still being afraid, and had sent friends instead, others, who had been involved in one way or another. The equipment itself was not there, but after becoming sure that the police were not with us, a phone call was made and the Leicas appeared. These people also were quite afraid, protested their innocence, had made up a crazy story about how they had got the equipment, but were happy that it was being returned to its rightful owner, and very glad to be able to wipe their hands clean of the whole affair. I provided proof of ownership, paid over the promised amount, took the equipment, comprising two camera bodies, one motor winder, and five lenses home, examined them, and installed them safely in our newly completed strong room. There are two heroes in this story. One is the webmaster who kept constantly in touch with up to the minute information and advice. The other is Tam. He spent a long frustrating time with the police officer, made a dozen or more phone calls, made good suggestions, and was totally supportive. He really went to bat for me. I can’t say the same for the police. What do you know about that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 24, 2008 Posted March 24, 2008 Hi lieberdavid, Take a look here Stolen Leica MP, R8 and Lenses Recovered. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
rob_x2004 Posted March 24, 2008 Share #2 Posted March 24, 2008 Flippin heck! Good one. Ps...Guess when the adrenalin settles out and you are breathing easy again, we can take the mickey and ask who will be playing you in th movie. Matt Damon moment huh:D? Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbretteville Posted March 24, 2008 Share #3 Posted March 24, 2008 I'm glad you've got your stuff back. Happy to hear that some times there is a happy ending in real life too. - Carl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertekijker Posted March 24, 2008 Share #4 Posted March 24, 2008 Glad you got it all back. Must have been nerve-wrecking! -------------------------- Frans Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biglouis Posted March 24, 2008 Share #5 Posted March 24, 2008 David An amazing story. You should send it to LFI, you never know, they might pubish it! It is also very gratifying to hear that you were reunited with your equipment. A good outcome all round. LouisB Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubenkok Posted March 24, 2008 Share #6 Posted March 24, 2008 Hi David, Congratulations, great to hear you've got your equipment back !! All the best Ruben Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted March 24, 2008 Share #7 Posted March 24, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) David, that really is quite a story. I would definitely contact LFI and see if they would like to run it. I am delighted that you have had a happy ending. Regards, Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
panuraj Posted March 24, 2008 Share #8 Posted March 24, 2008 Congrats It ain't so bad in Thailand, is it? I hope ... things like this will never ever take place again, at least not in my country. Regards, PJ Now that Bill is going to contact LFI, would you ask them to talk about how Thai police helped David out of this mess? Tell them it wouldn't use a lot of paragraphs, actually it takes only one word ... "nothing" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted March 24, 2008 Share #9 Posted March 24, 2008 Now that Bill is going to contact LFI... Pardon...? I meant that if I were David I would contact LFI...! Regards, Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
storybrown Posted March 25, 2008 Share #10 Posted March 25, 2008 This is a great story, especially because it ends well. The webmaster should get an appropriate reward, as he is key to the whole business & a good & honest man. Do you have any better idea now than you did before as to who might have taken the equipment originally? Take some pics of the places & some of the people involved to go with your narrative. Congratulations! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted March 25, 2008 Share #11 Posted March 25, 2008 Take some pics of the places & some of the people involved to go with your narrative. Congratulations! Although presumably not the 'seller'. Well done for getting your gear back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
usefeet Posted March 25, 2008 Share #12 Posted March 25, 2008 I am delighted to hear you have such a happy ending, and thanks for passing on such an interesting story. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_g_wolf ✝ Posted March 25, 2008 Share #13 Posted March 25, 2008 Yes indeed, great story ! And many thx for posting it. That´s quite an incredible amount of money to get a policeofficer to work: that was more than a two year´s salary. And it didn´t even work out. Thought, such things only happen in good old Africa ... Hope you had an honest contractor for your strongroom, good luck. Best Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aslaets Posted March 25, 2008 Share #14 Posted March 25, 2008 David, I don't know you, but reading the story of your stolen equipment was a heartbreaker for me, as for anyone who read it, I'm sure. Therefore, I'm very glad you have your treasures back now. The "silver lining" on this cloud is that you do have a fantastic story to tell, a lot of stress indeed, but what a memory, that will be kept alive everytime you see your Leicas ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arif Posted March 26, 2008 Share #15 Posted March 26, 2008 David, I am very happy for you. You must have done a lot of good things in this life Best wishes, Arif Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerimager Posted March 26, 2008 Share #16 Posted March 26, 2008 Congratulations on your perseverance, nerve, and humanity. You well deserved the reward! best....Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesop Posted March 26, 2008 Share #17 Posted March 26, 2008 Thought, such things only happen in good old Africa ... ...hmmm, that would be "good old Africa", home of bent cops, right, Karl? Nice to see old habits are alive and very well within this forum. Great story, David, complete with intrigue, skulduggery, heroes, villains and a happy ending . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_g_wolf ✝ Posted March 26, 2008 Share #18 Posted March 26, 2008 Well, I worked in >>good old Africa<< for some years - and this story reminded me a bit of the old days. My LEITZ table-tripod was the reason I was almost shot near a bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), because a guard assumed it was gun ... The tripod is still around and going strong. Best _________________________________________________ bent cop ??? Can you enlighten me ?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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