Political intrigue, a diplomatic rift that has split two countries, an international mystery centred on a priceless piece of jewellery: perhaps these aren’t the first things that spring to mind when you think of our country’s favourite longhaul destination? Thailand is an incredibly beautiful nation, with its landscape as captivating as its people and where endless strectches of golden, sanded perfection contrast with the exhilirating bustle of Bangkok. For twenty years now Thailand has been embroiled in an international scandal that has seen Saudi Arabia sever all ties with the country, but this week the Thai government took significant steps to end the rift.

The affair started in 1989 when a janitor from Thailand stole jewellery from a palace in Saudi Arabia. Amongst the jewellery was an incredibly rare blue diamond worth an estimated $20million and from then on the story resembles the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster.

The thief escaped back to Thailand, to the consternation of Saudi Arabia, but tensions between the two countries increased further when within a year of the incident three Saudi Arabian diplomats were shot dead in the Thai capital. Diplomatic ties finally reached breaking point when this was swiftly followed by the as yet unexplained disappearance of a Saudi businessman, Mohammad al-Ruwaili, who is believed to have been a witness to the shootings.

The janitor was eventually arrested in Thailand and the jewels were supposedly returned to Saudi Arabia but anger grew in Riyadh when it transpired that most of the jewels were fake and that the blue diamond itself was still unaccounted for.

The severing of friendship between the two previously cordial countries was confirmed when in 1994 the Saudi charge d’affaires claimed that the murdered Saudi diplomats had been silenced on the official orders of the Thailand government. Saudi Arabia had been home to a large number of Thai workers, around 300,000 in 1989, but less than 15,000 were living there by 2009. This incident is estimated to have cost Thailand billions of dollars in trade.

Thailand’s Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, is now in discussions with the Saudi charge d’affaires to discuss improving diplomatic ties between the two nations. In a major development this week five Thailand police officers have been arrested and charged with the abduction and murder of Mohammad al-Ruwaili in 1990. Whilst this is seen as an important step in mending the two decades old rift, the murder of the diplomats is still a mystery and until the day when the fabled blue diamond is returned then Saudi Arabia may remain the only country to evade the charms of Thailand.

Speaking of jewels, I was chatting to my brother who works in economics and he believes that there is massive money in buying stocks for red diesel suppliers. To be honest, I’m not convinced, all of this is making me think that purhaps we are forgeting all the true beauty in the world and just focusing on the wealth that it could bring us. I mean do you really think that a theif ever stops to think about how precious the thing in his hand is?