South Koreans Top 1998 Arrests League Table

PHUKET: South Koreans headed the list of foreigners arrested last year, according to figures provided the Gazette by Phuket Provincial Police Headquarters yesterday. Of the 38 foreigners arrested in 1998, 15 were Koreans, followed by Germans (six), British (four), Filipinos and Burmese (three each) and Frenchmen and Swedes (two apiece). Arrests for working illegally topped the league, with 22 offenders locked up. Possession of drugs (seven people) and theft (five) accounted for most of the remaining cases, while one foreigner was arrested for negligent driving and one for drunkenness. Swimming was the biggest hazard to foreigners, with 11 drowning last year. Seven more died of heart attacks, five in traffic accidents, and two by suicide. The British led this morbid league table with six dead, followed by the Germans (five), and the Swedes and Japanese (four each).