Police identified a Russian national as the suspect in the money exchange robbery in Phuket after initially believing the suspect may have been a Thai national posing as a foreigner. The theft took place at a currency exchange shop inside a shopping mall in Wichit, Phuket, on July 19. On July 28, officers from Wichit Police Station announced that the suspect had been identified as 47 year old Russian national, Vitalii Kobin. Separately, several Russian nationals have also appeared in unrelated criminal investigations in Thailand. Also in May, five Russian people were arrested following an altercation at a Phuket night market.