Foreign wheeled-dealers busted: Koh Pha Ngan car crackdown

Police in Surat Thani nabbed two foreign nationals on Koh Pha Ngan for illegally renting out vehicles. The crackdown happened yesterday, September 1, with a 60 year old Russian man and an 18 year old Ukrainian man being detained.

Tourist police and local officials swooped in on the Russian at an unregistered house in Moo 1 village, where they seized a Mazda CX-3. The Ukrainian was arrested in a hotel car park, with a Yamaha Xmax motorcycle taken as evidence.

Reports reveal the Russian confessed to renting out the car to fellow Russians via Telegram, charging a hefty 15,000 baht a month. The Mazda was registered in Surat Thani.

The Ukrainian, a student, admitted to leasing the motorcycle through Telegram, with prices ranging from 399 to 10,000 baht depending on the rental period. The Yamaha was registered in Lop Buri province.

Both men are now facing charges for working in Thailand without the proper permits, reported Bangkok Post

In related news, residents on Koh Pha Ngan island in the southern province of Surat Thani alerted the Tourist Police to a Russian-Canadian man found overstaying his visa and begging for food from locals.

Residents on the island reported to the Tourist Police that they witnessed a foreign man begging for food from various households and sleeping on a footpath. The foreigner’s begging behaviour annoyed people in the area, prompting them to contact the police.

Officers arrested the foreigner, later identified as 56 year old half-Russian, half-Canadian man Dimitri, outside the IT product store, Banana IT, yesterday, August 12. Dimitri was found to have overstayed his visa by 1,599 days, approximately four years.

The police requested to check his passport and found that he held both Russian and Canadian passports. He revealed that he was a half-Russian, half-Canadian national and entered Thailand using his Russian passport.