The mother of a New Zealand 18-year-old has spoken publicly after he was arrested at an airport in Thailand and later granted bail.
Natasha Rainger said her son, Loukas Rainger, was detained by immigration authorities at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on July 16 as he was getting ready to return to New Zealand.
Loukas had been away for a month with his best friend when officials stopped him before his flight home.
He is accused of ‘theft in an airport’ after allegedly taking a woman’s watch from a security tray at Surat Thani airport around two weeks earlier. The watch is said to be worth about $100.
Under Thai law, the allegation can carry a prison sentence of up to five years.
Natasha has now described her experience after finally being reunited with her son, who was later granted bail after spending six days in custody.
Documents seen by Stuff describe the item as a ‘Swatch women’s wristwatch with a silver coloured steel band’, and the publication reported similar watches are listed online for roughly $80 to $100.
The same legal paperwork states that Loukas has ‘denied all charges’. Natasha said her son told her the watch was ‘on the airport tray with his belongings so he just picked it up too’.
She continued: “He’s inexperienced, young. He’d been on a long boat trip just right before, and had been really sick. He should have left it, or handed it in, but that doesn’t deserve years in a Thai prison.”
Rather than being allowed to board his flight, Loukas was reportedly told there was a warrant for his arrest. He was then taken into custody in Bangkok and held overnight before being transferred back to Surat Thani for questioning.
According to a Give A Little fundraiser created by his aunt, Melissa Pronk, he was later transported back to Surat Thani for questioning and has since been released on bail.
Natasha was eventually able to see him again after fearing she “wonder[ed] if [she was] ever going to see [her] son again”.
Natasha told Stuff: “I started to feel really low […] Everyone keeps messaging asking me what’s happened.
“Finally, he just walked into my arms and his first words were, ‘Oh Mom, Mom what are you doing here?'”
She said she ‘didn’t know whether to laugh or cry’, explaining that the reunion made the ordeal of the previous few days feel unreal.
Natasha also said the woman who first made the complaint now wants the case dropped. Even so, she said they have ‘been giving a hearing date in September and are still being told that [Loukas] could face five years in prison’.
Loukas will now remain in Thailand while the case progresses, and he is expected to report to police every two weeks ahead of his hearing.
He was reportedly granted bail for 100,000 Thai baht, with the court previously refusing release because the family could not initially provide the accommodation documents required for him to stay legally in the country.
Natasha said her son had been left badly shaken by the experience and had lost weight while in custody. Reports from the case said he lost about 10kg during his time in prison.
New Zealand lawyer Craig Tuck has also commented on the case, saying he has ‘confidence’ that ‘reasonable justice’ with ‘prevail’.
The owner of LawAid International told the outlet: “I don’t think any judge in Thailand would ever pursue what’s alleged and a charge a penalty of five years in prison for a watch under $100.”
Authorities in Thailand have been contacted for comment.