The Russian man, identified by Immigration only as “Mr Maksim”, age 23, was arrested at a location along Soi Na Suea in Wichit at 1:30am on Sept 19, Pol Lt Gen Sompong Chingduang of the Immigration Bureau told a press conference in Bangkok on Friday (Sept 27).
Soi Na Suea (Route 4050) is some 380 metres south of the Central Phuket shopping mall and is the same street on which Wichit Police Station is located.
Mr Maksim stole a watch from a kiosk in Central Festival at 8:30pm on Sept 12 and quickly left the mall, Gen Sompong explained.
His entire movements were caught on CCTV.
Wichit Police working with Phuket Immigration officers tracked down Maksim and took him into custody under arrest warrant no. 258/2019 and charged him with theft committed in the nighttime, Gen Sompong said.
In his statement to police, written in English, Maksim confessed that he took the watch, but said that he had the right to under what he called “Russian Rules”, Gen Sompong told the press.
According to Maksim, any item that does not have a price tag attached to it or is not locked away can be claimed by any passer-by.
“We Russians can take them because they can be assumed to be free products or without an owner,” Gen Sompong said the Russian wrote.
Despite his defence, Maksim was was taken to Wichit Police Station and prosecuted, Gen Sompong noted.