Mr Maclean was removed from the ninth-floor condo, at the “Supalai Park at Phuket City” complex on Nakorn Rd, after Phuket Immigration officers broke a window to gain entry to the back of the unit from atop a fire truck ladder, confirmed MajEkkachai Siri of the Phuket Tourist Police.
The extrication took place at about 3pm, Maj Ekkachai said.
Tourist Police, Phuket City Police and Immigration officers, including Phuket Immigration Chief Col Kathathorn Kumthieng, arrived at the condo today to resume their attempts to resolve the dispute, Capt Ekkachai explained.
“We planned to get him out of the condo today. We were worried that he might try to hurt himself, but we needed to get him out,” Maj Ekkachai said.
Under a plan devised by Phuket Immigration Chief Col Kathathorn, regular police officers engaged in talks with Mr Maclean through the condo’s front door to the hallway, while Phuket Immigration officers entered from the rear.
Mr Maclean, emaciated by his ordeal, was immediately taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital for care, Maj Ekkachai said.
“We had a medical team and a hospital guerney on hand for when the door was finally opened,” he noted.
Phuket Immigration Chief Col Kathathorn confirmed to The Phuket News that Mr Maclean will face charges for overstaying in the Kingdom of Thailand.
Mr Maclean’s permit to stay expired on Feb 21.
Phuket Immigration Chief Col Kathathorn last month confirmed that his office was ready to take action to have Mr Maclean forcibly removed from the condo.
“This case now involves a foreigner staying in the Kingdom of Thailand whose permit to stay has expired.
“It is a criminal offense, which every police officer must enforce by arresting the suspect. They can perform any such arrests as soon as they learn of where the suspect is staying,” he said
Today, Col Kathathorn told The Phuket News, “We told Mr Maclean to not worry about that right now. He will be charged with overstaying, but that his health was most important and that he must focus on recovering his health first.”
Mr Maclean locked himself in the unit on Jan 14 amid a dispute with the landlord over not providing receipts for rent paid.
Maj Ekkachai explained at the time that the landlady had told officers that Mr Maclean took up tenancy in the condo in October, but had not paid rent for the past two months.
Mr Maclean, who sent a detailed email to The Phuket News, flatly denied the claim.
Instead he gave a detailed description of events, including dates, times, names and places, of how the rent was no longer being collected as the landlady had sent her adult children to collect the rent, but refused to give receipts for rent paid. (See story here.)
Additional reporting by Tanyaluk Sakoot
BigA | 03 May 2019 - 08:21:21