Paintings stealer Suphat resigns as Intellectual Property deputy chief

In his letter distributed to the media, Suphat said he would later submit his formal resignation. He did not give a time frame.
In the letter he admitted that he was the senior Commerce Ministry official who was arrested two weeks ago for stealing paintings from the hotel as reported by the media.
He issued an apology to the Intellectual Property Department, the Commerce Ministry and Thais for damaging the reputation of the country and his office.
“I would like to explain what happened and I would like to point out that I don’t want to provide any excuse. I have done a wrongdoing and I must admit it. But I would like to ask for a chance to explain what happened that night. After I finished my official mission to Japan, I had a chance to party with my Japanese friends who are my classmates. We had fun to the full stream and I drank too much and this caused me to lose my conscience and did what I should not have done,” Suphat said.
He said he has been working hard for 33 years and he had a dream to retire in the post he loved but he has grown up and studied in Japan where the people had to show responsibility for their deeds. As a result, he decided to resign to show his spirit.
Suphat added that he realized his resignation would not prevent him from the official investigation process against him.