Surat Thani–
A Russian restaurant owner and an illegal Russian electrician were arrested for allegedly working illegally and employing an illegal foreign national in the Koh Pha Ngan district in Surat Thani.
The Tourist Police told the Phuket Express that earlier this week they received a complaint from an anonymous concerned citizen that a foreigner was working in a protected occupation for Thai people at a restaurant. The complainant was concerned that the foreign man didn’t have the proper training or expertise that a legal electrician did. The tourist police then went to the restaurant in question, whose name was withheld, where they saw a foreign man doing electric-related work.
Police arrested two suspects identified only as Mr. Anatolii, 40, the restaurant owner and Mr. Evgenii, 35, who was witnessed doing electric work. Both are Russian nationals. They were taken to the Koh Pha Ngan Police Station.
Mr. Anatolii is facing the charge of being an employer employing a foreigner who does not have a legal work permit. Meanwhile, Mr. Evgenii is facing a charge of working without legal permission.
Mr. Anatolii admitted to the police that he paid Mr. Evgenii with an undisclosed amount of money and meals each day in return for basic electrical work. He stated that he felt sorry for his fellow Russian national Mr. Evgenii as he didn’t have any money for his living expenses or to return to Russia.
Mr. Evgenii told police that he was previously on a vacation on Pha Ngan Island but completely spent and ran out of all his funds, forcing him to seek employment illegally.
