Six ‘coloured’ tourists arrested for overstaying visa
Police focusing on Bangkok locations where they said “coloured foreigners” are known to stay arrested six people late Friday night for overstaying their visa in what police are calling an operation to crack down on foreign criminals.
The joint operation by tourist police, 191 patrol and special operations police, immigration police and narcotics suppression police was led by Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal, deputy commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau.
About 100 police were dispatched to check 15 locations in Bangkok where they said the targeted group are known to stay.
Surachet told a press conference held at 1.30am Saturday at the Indra Regent Hotel's car park after the operation that police sought criminals involved in romance scams and drugs trafficking.
He said 30 racial minority men and women were taken for questioning, with six found to have overstayed their tourist visa. The rest were later freed.
Surachet did not give details of the nationalities of the six arrested immigrants.