Thai influencer reports theft of S$400,000 Richard Mille watch during Singapore trip

SINGAPORE: A Thai influencer has claimed that her S$400,000 Richard Mille luxury watch was stolen during her visit to Singapore for the 2025 Formula One (F1) Grand Prix in October.

Influencer Jinny Chotivichit said the theft occurred on 5 October, though not at the F1 event itself.

In an Instagram post on 6 November, she revealed that her watch was stolen during her stay in Singapore, adding that she had filed a report with the Singapore Police Force.

“It has been over a month since my watch was stolen in Singapore,” she wrote.

“I understand investigations take time, but the process seems to be moving very slowly. I hope there will be some progress or updates soon.”

She described the loss as “deeply upsetting,” noting that the timepiece held personal significance and represented her own hard-earned money.

“Not at F1, Not Among Tourists”

In a video posted on Instagram and TikTok, Chotivichit clarified that the incident did not occur at the F1 event and that she was not surrounded by tourists or the F1 crowd when it happened.

“If you have knowledge of the details of how my watch was stolen, you would understand that I was not surrounded by tourists or the F1 crowd. And I didn’t lose it at the F1 event,” she wrote in her Instagram caption.

She added that trusted contacts in the watch trading and resale community may contact her privately to verify the serial number of the missing timepiece.

“At this stage, my lawyer has advised me to refrain from sharing any details. Nevertheless, if there is no progress soon, I may have to make public how and where my watch was stolen,” she said.

“I never imagined such an incident could happen, especially in Singapore — a country that I love and have admired for so long and considered one of the safest places in the world,” she added in the video.

Public Backlash and Her Response

While many sympathised, others questioned her decision to highlight Singapore’s safety in her post.

Some commenters suggested the loss was due to personal carelessness, not a failure of the country’s security.

“This kind of thing can happen in any part of the world… If you dropped it, obviously nobody will return it,” one commenter wrote.

Another said: “Low crime doesn’t mean no crime. Singapore is just like any other country — crimes do happen.”

In response, Chotivichit said her trust in Singapore’s reputation for safety had caused her to let her guard down.

“The system failed to protect guests in supposedly secure environments,” she replied in the comments, while clarifying that the watch was not stolen off her wrist.

She also claimed in a follow-up comment that the suspected thief had been caught, though the watch has yet to be recovered.