By SUPACHAI PETCHTHAVEE
THE NATION ON SUNDAY
Published on July 26, 2009
A janitor at Bangkok's Prince Damrong Rajanubhab Library and an accomplice have been arrested for stealing nearly 500 ancient documents including letters in the handwriting of King Rama V and King Rama VI to sell to private collectors, police said yesterday.
The 49-year-old janitor, Thanongsak Huadsri, who worked at the library for 19 years and had keys to important display rooms, reportedly confessed that he had needed money to keep his family and had made Bt200,000 from the sales.
His accomplice private collector Sakol Jaisomkhom, 35, told police that a document could fetch Bt10,000 and the son of a prominent military general was a regular customer.
Police seized 15 documents from Sakol.
The arrests resulted from a complaint to police filed on June 10 by librarian Yanee Khuharat that 172 of the late prince's personal documents, comprising 469 pages, were missing.
Police found that they had been taken for rephotographing and cataloguing from January to September 2008 and found to be partially missing this May.
Inquiries among private collectors found that Sakol had one such document in his possession.
A police sting operation to buy it for Bt15,000 resulted in Sakol's arrest and the discovery of more items at his home. Sakol then implicated the janitor.
He said he went often to the library and had become friendly with the janitor in early 2008 to the point that Thanongsak often borrowed Bt3,000-Bt5,000 from him.
Sakol reportedly said that he had then laid a plan for Thanongsak to steal key documents and bring them to him in exchange for Bt5,000-Bt20,000 each.
Sakol said he sold them to private collectors, among them the general's son, for Bt10,000 to Bt20,000 apiece.
Police are tracking down the buyers to retrieve the national assets.
Honestly, nothing is 'off-limits' here, the son of a military commander is the main buyer.
Acting on who's behalf? I shudder to think! Well Mr Adhisit, going to clean-up corruption then?
Perhaps you should start at the top! 
