Tourist police in Phuket arrested two foreign nationals who had allegedly overstayed their visas for more than two years after an AI facial recognition system flagged them on May 8 in Kathu district.
The arrests were made during a crackdown on foreigners suspected of immigration offences and other illegal activity in major tourist areas.
Tourist police said the operation followed orders to increase checks on overstayers and suspicious individuals in Phuket.
Officers used a Mobile AI Camera system installed in a smart patrol vehicle to screen people in Kathu. The system is connected to a central database of foreign nationals whose permission to stay in Thailand has expired.
The system reportedly alerted officers to two men wanted for overstaying offences.
The first suspect was identified as 24 year old Clinton Ubasinachi Ekechukwu, a Nigerian national, who entered Thailand under the 60-day visa exemption scheme and had allegedly overstayed by 877 days.
The second was 34 year old Ousmane Kone, an Ivorian national, who entered under the same scheme and had allegedly overstayed by 739 days.
Tourist police said the facial recognition system helps officers identify foreign nationals with expired immigration status in real time, improving checks in busy tourist areas.
Both men were charged with being foreign nationals remaining in Thailand after their permission had expired. They were taken to Kathu Police Station for legal proceedings and deportation procedures.
Similarly, last year, a Phuket overstay sweep saw immigration officers arrest a Nigerian trio for overstaying their visas, with one man accused of remaining nearly seven months beyond his permitted stay.
Acting on high-level orders from national police chiefs, officers from Phuket Immigration rounded up the trio in a targeted sweep aimed at rooting out visa overstayers and criminal elements lurking on the island.
The story AI camera catches Nigerian, Ivorian men overstaying in Phuket as seen on Thaiger News.
