Russian roulette: Cops put brakes on illegal workers at Phuket car shop

Officers from the Provincial Police Region 8 yesterday continued the recent crackdown on illegal foreigners by charging two Russian men for working at a car rental shop in the Cherng Talay sub-district in the Talang district of Phuket province. The Russian business owner also faced a charge for hiring foreigners without work permits.

The investigation is on the back of locals in Phuket calling on the authorities to investigate the elephant sanctuary of a Swiss man, Urs Fehr, who physically assaulted a Thai doctor near the Yamu Cape. They also urged authorities to investigate all foreigners in the province and their businesses.

Provincial Police Region 8 conducted an investigation and discovered the suspicious car rental business, called Boomerang Car & Bike Rental, which is owned by a Russian man, 28 year old Stepan Yanubenko. Police found that the shop employed two Russian workers without work permits, including 34 year old Dmitrii Shadrin and 43 year old Roman Aleksandrovich.

Police secretly monitored the shop yesterday and discovered two Russian men working at the counter, providing rental services to customers, who were mostly foreigners.

Officers later introduced themselves and asked the two Russians to show their work permits and passports, but they failed to do so. As a result, Shadrin and Aleksandrovich, along with their employer Yanubenko, were taken to the Cherng Talay Police Station for legal proceedings.

Shadrin and Aleksandrovich were charged under Section 51 of the Alien Working Act: working without permission. The penalty for this offence may include imprisonment for up to five years, a fine ranging from 2,000 to 100,000 baht, or both.

Yanubenko, as an employer, faced a fine of 5,000 to 50,000 baht for hiring foreigners without work permits according to Section 4 of the Emergency Decree on Foreigners’ Working Management.

In a related report on the arrest of Russian nationals in Thailand, Patong Police Station officers investigated illegal sex services provided by foreign women and managed to arrest two Russian women at a hotel in the Katu district of Phuket on March 4.

Each foreign woman faced imprisonment of up to one month, a fine of up to 1,000 baht, or both for seeking benefits from prostitution.