Ukrainian man arrested for working illegally on Thai island

Royal Thai Immigration Police arrested a Ukrainian man on Thursday after he was allegedly discovered working illegally for a motorbike rental company on Koh Pah Ngan island in Surat Thani province in southern Thailand.

Surat Thani Immigration revealed on Sunday that they arrested an unnamed 45 year old man from Ukraine on Thursday – the same day as the Full Moon Party – at a parking lot on the island, reports the Phuket Express.

Police said that he was found tending to 23 rented motorbikes at the car park after they were returned by tourists. However, the Ukrainian denied that he was working and insisted that all the bikes belonged to the rental company.

The man entered Thailand via Satun Immigration in southern Thailand and is permitted to stay in the kingdom until May 18, 2023. He did not possess a work permit.

Police escorted the tourist to Koh Pha Ngan Police Station and charged him with parking in a non-parking zone as well as working without a permit. He initially denied the charges.

The motorbike rental company that allegedly hired the Ukrainian to work there illegally is now under investigation.

Meanwhile, Phuket Immigration discovered 186 foreigners who had overstayed their visas in Phuket in a seven-day crackdown from April 28 to May 4, 2023.

Of the 186 found to have overstayed their visas, 182 paid their respective fines while five foreigners were arrested, Phuket Immigration announced this morning.

According to a Phuket Immigration infographic, police arrested one Egyptian national, one Danish national, one Burmese national, and one Chinese national.

Of the 182 foreigners who surrendered, 41 were from Russia, 16 were from Kazakhstan, 15 were from the USA, 15 were from China, 10 were from the UK, and 85 were from elsewhere in the world.

On Thursday, a corpse believed to be a foreign woman was found floating in the middle of the sea between Koh Samui and Koh Pah Ngan in southern Thailand.