Phuket Police help Russian woman get her pricey diamond earrings back

Phuket Police helped a Russian woman get her pricey diamond earrings back yesterday after she accidentally left them at a guesthouse at Nai Yang Beach last month. The woman, 42 year old Elena Zholobetskaia, realised that her 70,000 baht earrings were missing while she was travelling in Koh Samui, after she had already checked out of the guesthouse, The Phuket News reported.

Zholobetskai reported the missing earrings to Koh Samui Tourist Police on January 21. The Koh Samui Tourist Police then contacted Phuket Tourist Police to further investigate.

Phuket Tourist Police then went to the Khao Oat Airport guesthouse, where Zholobetskaia had been staying. There, the police found that the earrings had been kept at the front office since she checked out. A housekeeper handed the earrings to the front office.

The guesthouse reportedly tried to contact Zholobetskaia, but was unable to reach her. Zholobetskaia returned to the guesthouse to get her earrings back yesterday, thanking the housekeeper and the police.

The housekeeper, Wanwisa, refused to accept any reward for handing in the earrings. She said Thailand’s reputation for hospitality and welcoming travellers was much more important, especially since there has been a lot of negative press about Phuket recently.

However, Zholobetskaia insisted that Wanwisa receive something for her honesty and gave her 100 baht. Zholobetskaia will return to Russia today.

From time to time, stories surface in Thailand about tourists losing valuable items.

Last month, a kind Thai man returned a pricey lost gold necklace to a British tourist in Patong. The Thai man, 46 year old Jakkarin Kongmueang, told Patong Police he found the bracelet at a bar in Soi Bangla on January 11. The bracelet was reportedly worth 150,000 baht.

Jakkarin went to the station to file a report about the bracelet. On January 13, British national Ryan Ashley Horner showed up at the station to ask if anyone found his gold bracelet. To his surprise, the police told him that someone had found it.