Tourist Police Region 3 Commander Maj Gen Krissak Songmoonnak announced the arrest of the Australian – named by police as “Ayden Depp” – at a press conference held at Phuket Tourist Police headquarters in Phuket Town yesterday (Jan 5).
Gen Krissak explained that Depp was arrested at Phuket International Airport on Saturday (Jan 4) as he re-entered the country from a trip to Yangon, Myanmar.
Depp was wanted according on arrest warrant no. 213/2019 issued on Dec 31 for the charge of theft, Gen Krissak said.
Police received a report from staff at a store, which Gen Krissak did not name, in the Central Floresta shopping mall on Dec 27, reporting that man had stolen a drone on Dec 26.
The man was recorded on CCTV in the mall, Gen Krissak said.
“He stole the drone while there were a lot of customers in the shop,” he said.
Depp initially denied stealing anything from the mall, but after he was taken to Wichit Police Station for questioning he later confessed that he had and was keeping it at his rented accommodation in Rassada, Gen Krissak explained.
Officers searched the home in Rassada yesterday, with the home owner Kan Kaewthanong present, and found a Parrot drone matching the description of the one reported as stolen from the shop.
“Mr Depp confessed that before stealing the drone, he bought a shaving machine from the shop, but it did not work well. He brought it back to the shop to get his money back, but the staff refused, so he stole the drone,” Gen Krissak said.
The drone was valued at B28,990, Gen Krissak added.
At the home, police also seized seven other brand-name goods, including handbags and sunglasses, which Gen Krissak said were valued together at more than B100,000.
The goods were seized as Depp could not provide receipts to prove that he bought them, Gen Krissak said.
Gen Krissak explained that Depp arrived in Thailand on Nov 4 on a 30-day visa as a tourist, which allowed him to stay until Dec 3. He then extended his stay at Phuket Immigration to allow him to stay until Jan 2.
“On Dec 26, Mr Depp stole the drone at Central Phuket, and on Dec 29 he flew to Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok in order to fly to Yangon.
“Mr Depp returned to Phuket on Jan 4 with new 30-day visa which will expire on Feb 2,” Gen Krissak noted.
Gen Krissak urged any shop owners to report any items missing believed to have been stolen.
“Please come to check at Wichit Police Station, and those who own or manage rental properties must file a TM30 report to Immigration because the tenants might be wanted people,” he said.
The “TM30” is the official notification required by landlords to report to Immigration within 24 hours of the arrival of any foreign tenants, as required under Section 38 of the Thailand Immigration Act of 1979.
Despite much conjecture last week over whether the TM30 was still required by the Immigration Bureau, as of late last week Phuket Immigration confirmed to The Phuket News that the filing of TM30 reports was still required in Phuket. (See story here.)