PUBLISHED : 18 Dec 2023 at 06:57
PHUKET: A Finnish tourist attempted to swindle his parents out of €7,000 (about 266,341 baht) by pretending he was falsely detained by police and needed the money to be released, police said.
Pol Lt Col Ekachai Siri, a tourist police superintendent on the southern island, said yesterday that police received a report on Friday about the parents of a Finnish man named Aki-Petteri Kristian, 27.
They had lost contact with their son after being informed that Thai police were extorting him.
On Saturday police managed to find the Finnish man and another compatriot, Siikalouma Joonass Patteri, aged 34, he said.
The superintendent said that when brought to Patong station, the two admitted that Mr Kristian had lied to his parents by having a friend call them to say their son had been arrested by local police who wanted €7,000 in exchange for his release.
While unable to contact their son, the parents received a call from a person claiming to be a Phuket policeman who told them to transfer the money to an account. The money was never sent.
Pol Lt Col Ekachai said both Finnish men arrived in the country on June 28. Their tourist visas expired on July 27 and they did not seek to extend their stay.
Both men were charged with overstaying their visas, while the parents of the Finnish tourist were informed their son was safe, he said.