The arrest was announced at a press conference held at the Immigration Bureau headquarters in Nonthaburi yesterday (Sept 12), chaired by Immigration Bureau Chief Pol Lt Gen Phakphumphiphat Sujjapan.
Around the beginning of September, the Immigration Bureau received notification from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China marking that a 55-year-old Chinese national, named in the report only as “Mr Gao” (not his real name), was wanted under an arrest warrant issued in the People’s Republic of China.
The man was to be charged with creating false documents to borrow money illegally. The Chinese government had suffered more than 1.133bn yuan (about B5.6bn) in damages, and the man was believed to have fled to Thailand.
Immigration officers confirmed that Mr Gao had entered Thailand by arriving in Phuket on Sept 5. He had entered the country on Thailand Privilege Card and was granted one year permit to stay, until Sept 3, 2024.
The investigating officers then requested approval from the Commander-in-Chief of the Immigration Bureau, Pol Lt Gen Phakphumphiphat, to revoke the man’s permission to stay as he was a person for whom foreign government officials had issued an arrest warrant.
The investigating officers also requested that the man be placed on a ‘watch list’.
The officers found Mr Gao living at a villa in Rawai (specific address not reported), and requested a warrant to search the premises.
A warrant was issued by the Phuket Provincial Court, which the officers executed and apparently then confirmed Mr Gao was staying in the villa.
No illegal items were found in the search, but Mr Gao was taken into custody.
From their inspection, the officers discovered that Mr Gao had come to live with his relatives, the Immigration Bureau reported yesterday.
Mr Gao admitted to being the person wanted by the arrest warrant issued in China, Immigration officers also reported.
Mr Gao was then informed his permit to stay in Thailand had been revoked, and taken to Immigration Bureau Region 3 headquarters, in Bangkok, for further legal action.
The Immigration Bureau confirmed yesterday that Mr Gao had not committed any offences in Thailand.