A luxury villa owner in Phuket has filed a police complaint after discovering more than 300,000 baht in damage inside a property rented to a British tenant.
Nattakan Hankeaw, acting on behalf of the villa owner, spoke to the news outlet Mati Press Online on June 7. She said extensive damage was found inside the property in Rawai subdistrict, Mueang Phuket district, after it had been rented to a foreign tenant.
According to Nattakan, the villa belongs to Talaticha Loney and has been rented to British national Farah Hashi since March.
The property was inspected on June 4 and was reportedly found to be in normal condition. However, when another inspection was carried out on June 6, numerous items inside the villa were found damaged.
Nattakan said CCTV footage recorded at around 8pm on June 4 appeared to show the British tenant causing damage in several areas of the villa, although Mati Press did not report the exact actions shown in the footage.
Equipment allegedly used to inhale nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, was also found inside the villa during the inspection. Officials said the circumstances surrounding the discovery and any connection to the reported damage would be investigated further.
The owner has filed a complaint with Chalong Police Station and submitted evidence for investigators to review. Police are now gathering further evidence before deciding on the next legal steps.
Under Thai law, intentionally damaging another person’s property may constitute the offence of damage to property under Section 358 of the Criminal Code. The offence carries a penalty of up to three years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to 60,000 baht, or both.
No charges had been announced at the time of reporting.
In a separate incident reported in May, a British man allegedly went on a rampage, cutting the seats of several motorcycles and damaging a food shop sign with a knife in Phuket.
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