Police nabbed two Russian businessmen, Dmitry Revtovich and Ilia Gilev, yesterday for threatening to bomb a consulate in Pattaya and staying in the country illegally.
Pol Col Songprod Sirisukha, chief of the Chon Buri immigration office, said Rayong Immigration and Pattaya Tourist Police have been working together for months to apprehend the two Russian nationals.
They were initially charged for staying in the kingdom using invalid visas.
The Pattaya Provincial Court issued warrants for their arrest on Sept 6.
The Royal Thai Police decided to revoke their visas after receiving a letter from the Russian embassy in January addressed to national police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda.
It said the two men had entered the Russian consulate in Chon Buri and argued with consular officials, prompting them to make the bomb threat and vow to kill all the employees there.
In revoking their visas police cited Section 59 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which permit a government to take whatever action is deemed necessary to protect consular offices from damage.
Both men ignored the revocation and stayed in Thailand, which led the police to request the court-issued arrest warrant.
