Immigration authorities have arrested a 46-year-old French national who had been hiding in Phuket’s Muang district after being flagged on an Interpol red notice for attempted murder.
The suspect was apprehended on Friday following a request from the French Embassy in Bangkok, which was forwarded to Thai authorities through the Royal Thai Police’s Foreign Affairs Division. Officials were asked to locate the man, who was believed to be residing in Phuket.
Officers from Phuket Immigration launched surveillance operations and later confirmed that the suspect, identified only as Faisal, was staying at a residence in tambon Rawai.
A team led by Pol Lt Col Adisorn Boonchum, an inspector with Phuket Immigration, subsequently entered the property and detained the man without incident.
During questioning, Faisal admitted he was the individual named in the arrest warrant. He told investigators the case stemmed from a dispute in France in which he shot and injured another person before fleeing the country.
Authorities said records showed the suspect had entered Thailand on January 23 under a visa-exemption scheme permitting him to stay until March 23.
Immigration officials later revoked his permission to remain in the kingdom, citing the outstanding overseas arrest warrant, and are preparing to deport him to France.
The arrest forms part of a wider crackdown ordered by Immigration Bureau Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Phanumas Boonyalak targeting foreign fugitives and transnational criminals believed to be hiding in Thailand.
