British man who locked himself in Phuket condo to be deported

PHOTO: Police waiting for officials to enter the man’s room from the outside of the ninth floor

The man who locked himself in a Phuket Town condo for over three months is going to be deported and banned from re-entry for up to five years.

David Maclean was evicted, by force, from the Supalai Condo yesterday afternoon at 3pm.

Officers planned a risky entry of the man’s condo after months of ‘soft’ negotiations had failed to get him to open the door. So officials hired a cherry-picker crane and accessed the room from the outside, on the ninth floor. They had to smash through a sliding window on the room’s balcony to gain access whilst Immigration officials distracted him by talking to the man through the front door leading to the condo’s central hallway.

Once he was removed from the building he refused hospitalisation despite having lost a lot of weight during his incarceration-by-choice. Officers described him as coherent but unco-operative.

He was taken to the Phuket Town Police Station sop police could formally charge him with overstaying his visa. The Australian-born British citizen’s visa ran out on February 21. He insisted that his locking himself in the room was over his landlord’s failure to issue rental receipts although the landlord says the rent was never forthcoming.

A source, familiar with the matter but asking to remain anonymous told The Thaiger that ongoing discussions with the man had been difficult as he would often ramble and randomly go off-topic. Our source expressed concern that Mr Maclean was unable to tell them of any relatives to contact in the situation.

Mr Maclean will be deported as soon as the legal procedures have been completed.

The Thaiger respects Mr Maclean’s request for privacy and has agreed not to publish his photo.