The pair met on Jomtien Beach in early December and went back to his house in Bang Saray where the alleged drugging and robbery took place.
Police Major General Katcha, the Chonburi Provincial Police Commander held a press conference on Friday afternoon at Sattahip Police Station to announce the arrest of Khun Pimchanok aged 27, who had recently changed his name so as to avoid capture.
He was arrested in Kon Khaen Province in the North-East of Thailand at the culmination of a one month investigation into the case. Originally police were looking for two suspects, one Thai and another Russian but this changed to one suspect following further questioning of the victim, Alexander Matusov aged 50.
Evidence taken from a video camera installed in the victim’s car, which was stolen from his house led to the arrest of the suspect who claimed he only stole B45,000 and two land title deeds and not the US$50,000 and ATM cards that the Russian stated in his original police report.
There are major differences in the details of the incident between the victim and the suspect. Pimchanok claims the Russian had drunk a lot of vodka and rendered himself unconscious while Mr Matusov claims he was given drugs during an intimate moment.
Despite the differences in stories the suspect confessed to the theft of the car, land title deeds and the money. He has been charged and awaits a court appearance.