Police are searching for a foreign man in Phuket suspected of using a fake Swedish passport to rent–and never return–motorbikes.
Worachet Onkon, 31, owner CK Phuket Big Bike Rental shop in Rawai, raised the alarm last week when he reported to Chalong Police that one of his rental motorbikes had not been returned.
“This foreigner came to my shop at 3pm on May 31 and rented a black PCX motorbike, license plate 4043,” Worachaet said.
“He was to return the motorbike on June 4, but he has not come back,” he added.
The man presented a Swedish passport identifying him Bengt Hakoh Andreasson, 63, from Stockholm.
“My staff did not realize that this man might do this. He gave his passport to us to make a copy in order to rent a motorbike, like we usually do,” Worachet explained.
“Later, I heard from other shops that this man used the same passport to steal their rental motorbikes too,” he alleged.
Capt. Somkiet Sarasit, an inspector at Chalong Police Station, said Monday, “After I received the report from Worachet, I checked with Phuket Immigration, but they were unable to confirm that this man using this passport had ever entered the country. It’s not easy to follow up on a foreigner using a fake passport,” he added.
Capt. Somkiet noted that the foreigner might be working in collusion with other people in carrying out rental motorbike thefts.
“It is possible that he did this with other people as a team in Phuket, because Worachet told me that someone dropped him off at rental shop,” he said.
They have given photos of the black PCX motorbike and copies of the passport to other police stations to help search for the foreigner.
Story: The Phuket News
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