Wichit Police Lieutenant Somboon Malai told The Phuket News that Mykola Chornyi, 30, had been fined B1,000 for disturbing customers and B2,000 for failing to provide his passport when arrested.
He was arrested on Sunday night by the Phuket Tourist Police at Central Festival, after he was videoed by a Phuket News reader on Saturday entering restaurants and dropping small cards on the tables saying he was deaf and asking customers to buy Angry Birds keychains for B100 – or to make a donation.
A few minutes later he walked back collecting the keychains, cards and any donations. The Tourist Police were alerted and arrested him the following day at the mall.
It is still not known whether Chornyi is deaf or not. He showed the Tourist Police a document on his phone which apparently was meant to prove he was deaf, but this was written in Ukrainian. He also pointed to his ear, indicating he was deaf, Lt Somboon said.
Lt Somboon sent the photos of the document to the Ukrainian Embassy in Bangkok for staff there to translate and confirm its authenticity, and he is still waiting to hear back.
The Phuket News has learnt that in Russia and other Eastern European countries people often pose as deaf people and do a similar thing on public transport such as buses or trains. They put down small cards saying they are deaf along with small souvenirs and collect up any donations.
Chornyi has since been released.
View Chornyi in action at Central Festival on Saturday night below.