Photo: Flickr user Roman Lashkin
TODAY IN PATTAYA – A Ukrainian man is claiming that he was kidnapped by a group who said they were immigration officers working undercover in Pattaya.
Alex Goltarenko, 30, said he was approached by four men near the Jomtien Beach Hotel in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district on Tuesday night while riding on a motorcycle, according to Pol Col Suwan Chiewnavintawat, chief of Pattaya police station.
The men told him they were policemen at the Immigration Bureau and that he was wanted for a serious crime, Goltarenko said. They put him into a car and demanded one million baht in cash, threatening they would arrest or hurt him if he did not comply.
He was later taken to a hotel on Sukhumvit road near Pattaya so that he could call relatives or acquaintances to bring the money to the group.
When the four individuals weren’t looking, he ran and eventually escaped with the assistance of nearby locals, the Bangkok Post reported.
