Immigration police, led by Pol Lt Col Chidchanok Sakornyen, were doing their regular patrol around Phuket Town when they came across Mr Amodio.
“On the way to the Metropole Hotel, we ran into a foreigner sitting on the pavement, looking different from usual tourists – he seemed like he didn’t know where to go. He also had a bag which had a few clothes inside,” Lt Col Chidchanok said.
Police asked him to show his travel documents, but he didn’t have any, so he was taken to the Immigration Office in Phuket Town.
In the database, police discovered that he arrived in Thailand via Phuket International Airport on May 23, 2011. His permit to stay expired on June 21, 2011. He was arrested and was transferred to Phuket City Police Station for processing.
“Mr Amodio told us that he had a Thai girlfriend in the north-east of Thailand, but that he had had a fight with her and run away to Phuket, leaving his passport at his girlfriend’s place [in Chaiyaphum province],” Lt Col Chidchanok said.