French tourist arrested in Koh Pha Ngan for visa overstay
Thai police apprehended a French tourist, claiming to be a religious leader, who was encouraging other international visitors to join Islamic ceremonies. The individual was found to have overstayed his visa by three months.
Police reported that on June 22, police led by Police Major General Saksira Phueak-am, Commander of the Tourist Police, ordered Police Lieutenant Colonel Winich Boonchit, Superintendent of the Tourist Police Division 5, to arrest Evariste Doabu Kudukuho, a 39 year old French national. Kudukuho was apprehended at Bula Malayu Mosque in Ban Tai, Koh Pha Ngan, Surat Thani Province.
The arrest followed complaints from locals who reported a foreigner living near the mosque, claiming to be an Islamic religious leader. Residents noted that Kudukuho participated in religious ceremonies and invited foreign tourists visiting Koh Pha Ngan to join these Islamic rituals. Local police monitored the situation and observed a foreigner matching the description provided in the complaints.
Upon locating Kudukuho, police officers approached him for an inspection. He appeared nervous and claimed that his passport was in a tent nearby, where he had been staying. The officers escorted him to the tent and found the passport, revealing that he held a 30-day tourist visa but had overstayed by three months, reported KhaoSod.
Police charged Kudukuho with being in the Kingdom of Thailand without permission (overstaying for 78 days) and handed him over to the Koh Pha Ngan Police Station for further legal proceedings.
In related news, police arrested an anti-social Austrian man for overstaying his visa by more than two years in the Isaan province of Buriram on May 8 after locals complained that the foreigner repeatedly harassed locals and behaved erratically.
Thai people in the Non Din Daeng district and nearby districts of Buriram filed a police report that the foreign man, later identified as 48 year old Austrian national named Harald Rothauer, was annoying residents in the areas.
