Officers noticed the car, a black Toyota Vios, when it was parked in front of a bathroom at a Highway Police rest area, and saw the licence plates marked as “A-3838 Bangkok.
Taking a closer look, the officers realised that the licence plates were fake, Phuket Highway Police reported on Saturday (Nov 18).
The officers located the owner of the car, who remained unnamed in their report, and questioned him about the red licence plates, which are issued to owners of brand-new cars, and most often dealerships, to be used until the real licence plates are received.
Suspicious, the officers checked the registration of the car and found that it had already been issued the standard ‘white licence plates’, and then questioned the owner of the car further.
The man confessed to buying the red licence plates and using them in order to hide from his finance company because he could no longer pay the instalments, police said.
The officers seized the car, and the fake licence plates, and took the man to Thalang Police Station to be charged.
The man now faces a charge of forging and using fake government documents, the Highway Police confirmed in their report.