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. 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.