On September 13, Thai police cracked down on a major case in Pattaya, arresting a Chinese fugitive wanted on a red notice named Zhu Zhishan. The man had been living under the local alias Suchat Surachai, keeping such a low profile that nobody expected him to be hiding out for over thirty years.
Back in 1990, Zhu was allegedly involved in an intentional assault resulting in death in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, before fleeing overnight to Thailand. To avoid capture, he paid 50,000 baht in bribes to secure a fake Thai nationality, eventually obtaining a local ID card in 2001. Using this forged identity, he put down roots in Pattaya, starting a family and having a set of twins.
Once his identity was scrubbed clean, his business boomed. He opened five real estate companies in Pattaya with a registered capital approaching 90 million baht, along with a stack of properties and cars, pushing his net worth well over 100 million baht. If China hadn't kept up the pressure through diplomatic channels and requested judicial cooperation from Thailand, he would likely still be enjoying the coastal breeze in Pattaya.
Zhu is currently being held by local police. Under Thai law, authorities are moving to revoke his illegal citizenship and investigate who helped him secure the fake ID all those years ago. The next step will be working through bilateral procedures to extradite him back to China to stand trial. No matter how long you run, justice eventually catches up.
