German escapee rearrested at embassy
A German ex-convict who had given his guards the slip at Bangkok's international airport while being escorted home was arrested in the capital on Thursday, police said.
Police arrested the 25-year-old at the German Embassy in Bangkok, Immigration Police Commissioner Panu Kerdlabpol said. “We had officers waiting for him at the embassy,” Panu said.
The man was fined Bt6,000 for illegal entry to Thailand, and is likely to be deported on Friday after he “re-enacts his crime” at Suvarnabhumi Airport, the immigration police commissioner said.
“We have contacted the Australians and asked them to provide another escort to take him to Germany,” Panu said.
The German was identified as Carlo Konstantin Kohl.
He had reportedly fled the airport on May 15 through an emergency exit in the transit area, while his escorts, civilian guards hired by the Australian immigration department, slept.
After serving three years of a jail term in Australia for theft, he was put on a Thai Airways International flight from Brisbane to Frankfurt, with a stopover in Bangkok, under guard. It is unclear whether he faces further charges in Germany.
The incident has caused embarrassment at Suvarnabhumi Airport, where authorities have vowed to upgrade their security systems, and in Australia.
Australian Member of Parliament Eric Abetz on Wednesday criticised the two guards hired by the immigration department for sleeping on the job.
Thai officials said they were not informed that a German criminal escorted by Australian guards was passing through Bangkok.
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