Worachet Onkon, 31, owner CK Phuket Bigbike Rental shop in Rawai, raised the alarm last week when he reported to the Chalong Police that one of his rental motorbikes had not been returned.
“This foreigner came to my shop at 3:05pm on May 31 and rented a black PCX motorbike, license plate 4043,” Mr Worachaet told The Phuket News.
“He was to return the motorbike on June 4, but he has not come back,” he added.
The man presented a Swedish passport identifying him Bengt Hakoh Andreasson, 63, from Stockholm.
“My staff did not realise that this man might do this. He gave his passport to us to make a copy in order to rent a motorbike, like we usually do,” Mr Worachet said.
“Later, I heard from other shops that this man used this passport to steal their rental motorbikes too,” he alleged.
Capt Somkiet Sarasit, an inspector at Chalong Police Station, told The Phuket News yesterday (June 26), “After I received the report from Mr Worachet, I checked with Phuket Immigration Officers, but they were unable to confirm that this man using this passport had even entered the country.
“It is not easy to follow up on a foreigner who is using fake passport. By questioning victim (Mr Worachet), Mr Andreasson has committed similar crimes many times in Phuket,” he added.
Capt Somkiet noted that the foreigner might be working in collusion with other people in carrying out the rental motorbike thefts.
“It is possible that he did this with other people as a team in Phuket, because Mr Worachet told me that someone dropped him off at rental shop,” he said.
“We are working on this case now. I will try my best to catch him.” he added.
“We have given photos of the black PCX motorbike and copies of the passport to other police stations to help search for him.
“If anyone has seen this man or the motorbike, please call me at 092-4602066,” Capt Somkiet said.