This BBC television series doesn’t have the highest of ratings or a large following but I’d bet plenty of people in Malaysia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia would enjoy it because so much of it takes place in Thailand. It tells the story of a notorious criminal Charles Sobhraj who preyed on tourists in Thailand in the 1970s and how his crimes were uncovered by a Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg. The story is so extraordinary and Sobhraj ‘s crimes so audaciously heinous and it really is a case of the truth far outstripping any fiction.
Most of the show takes place in the 1970s though it often skips back and forth in time to show the backstories of various characters. A Dutch couple Henk Bintanja and Cocky Hemker befriend Sobhraj who introduces himself as Alain Gaultier, a gem dealer, in Hong Kong. At his urging, they follow him and his wife Monique to Thailand where he lives in an apartment in Bangkok. There they are poisoned and eventually murdered, with their passports and valuables stolen by Sobhraj with his accomplice Ajay Chowdhury. The disappearance of this Dutch couple comes to the attention of Herman Knippenberg at the Dutch embassy in Thailand. Following up on pleas from their families for information, he learns that the couple did arrive in Thailand but did not show up at the hotel where they were booked. With some help from his wife at the time, Angela Kane who speaks Thai, and diplomats of other European countries, he eventually comes to suspect Sobhraj and is shocked to learn that his has killed many, many more.
The great thing about this show is that it doesn’t feel dragged out at all. In fact, even with eight episodes, there isn’t enough time to tell Sobhraj’s full story and those he managed to pull into his orbit, such is the extent of his crimes. Those of us here in Malaysia will be particularly disappointed in that Sobhraj and Ajay are known to have come here to steal gems but the show doesn’t cover this at all. Malaysia is actually the last place where Ajay was confirmed seen and it is suspected that Sobhraj killed him here. Still it’s amazing how many places and people the show covers: India, Nepal, France, various cities in Thailand and so on. Given that Sobhraj especially targets tourists that he finds in tourist spots, there’s an added vicarious thrill in watching this all play out given that we’re all locked down. The fact that it’s set in the 1970s is even better. Plus, the show is superb about ratcheting up the tension even as we root for Sobhraj and his accomplices to finally get caught. The show’s title is aptly chosen. It’s not even that he is especially intelligent, it’s that he’s so brazen and confident that he can talk and weasel his way out of practically any difficulty.
There are a few things that I don’t like about the show. It tries hard to turn Knippenberg into the protagonist but he is so much less interesting to watch than Sobhraj. To liven up that side of things, they do all kinds of things to highlight division and drama among Knippenberg and his allies which gets increasingly tiresome over time and the actor Billy Howle who plays him just isn’t up to the task. Tahar Rahim on the other hand who plays Sobhraj is amazing with how he is able to turn the charm on and off at will. I also think that the show moves a little too quickly in the final two episodes. It would have been nice to get more detail how Sobhraj manages to build an entirely new gang from scratch while in India. But that was probably because the writers were working from established sources of information and there simply wasn’t enough sources on what he was up to India. On the whole, the show does seem remarkably diligent about getting at least the broad strokes of the real events right.
Perhaps the most shocking thing about Sobhraj’s crimes is that he managed to get away with so much killing for so long. His operation wasn’t even particularly sophisticated, relying mostly on stealing identities by pasting his own photograph on stolen passports to move around different countries frequently. It really was a different world back then with governments being so much laxer about security and even European embassies not really caring much about their own missing citizens. In any case, this is not the best television show in terms of artistic merit but it sure is captivating to watch, especially for us here in Southeast Asia. Highly recommended.