The Thai senior official who was arrested in Kyoto, Japan for stealing three cheap paintings from a hotel blamed drunkenness for his actions.
In an open letter he sent to media, Deputy Director-General Suphat Sanguandeekul, expressed remorse and apologized to the Minister of Commerce and officials in his Intellectual Property Department, as well as Thai citizens, for his misbehavior.
“After my official duty in Japan was done, I visited my friends, whom I have known from studying in Japan. Our reunion was delightful, and I may have drunk too much liquor that I lost my sense of morals and committed the misconduct,” wrote Suphat in an attempt to explain what happened.
He declared that he will take responsibility by resigning from his position as Deputy director-general of the Department of Intellectual Property. Resigning does not omit him from disciplinary procedure and punishment, however, and he has said that he is willing to cooperate.
Suphat was detained by Kyoto police on Jan. 24 after the hotel operator caught him on security camera stealing three landscape paintings from the hotel. The three paintings were estimated at only THB4,600 in total. The Thai Consulate in Osaka successfully asked the hotel to back down.
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