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German-born criminal Carlo Konstantin Kohl was arrested by Thai police on Thursday after he fled from a transit lounge at Suvarnabhumi airport through a fire exit while his Australian police escort was asleep two weeks ago, police said. Pol Lt Gen Panu Kerdlarppol, chief of the Immigration Police Bureau, said police were able to detain the 25-year-old German after he was seen going to the Geman embassy on South Sathon Road. Police then took Kohl to the Bangkok South Civil Court to face a charge of illegally entering the country. He was fined 6,000 baht, and was put on probation for two years. Pol Lt Gen Panu said the fugitive is now being detained at the Immigration Police Bureau. Investigators will question him about his escape on Friday before returning him to German or Australian authorities. The fugitive managed to escape from custody and disappeared into greater Bangkok after arriving on May 15. Reports from Australia say the Australian company Serco whose security guards allowed the escape of a criminal in Thailand “routinely” takes high-risk chances with its prisoners in order to cut costs. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that documents from a whistleblower have detailed operations that led to escapes before the high-profile case at Suvarnabhumi airport on May 15. In that case, Kohl walked away from his guards during a stopover at Suvarnabhumi airport, and apparently was lightly guarded – if at all – despite his criminal history of violence, drug addiction and drug trafficking. Under international Aviation Transport Security Regulations, Kohl was rated as a “dangerous” prisoner. But documents from the whistleblower allegedly show that two Serco guards, a man and woman, who were assigned to travel with him on commercial flights from Australia to Germany, were given documents telling them he was unlikely to attempt to escape or to “commit an unlawful interference with aviation”, the newspaper reported. A Thai police investigation found the guards were asleep when Kohl wandered away. He roamed around the airport and then hid overnight in an electrical maintenance room before escaping through a fire exit door after 30 hours. According to the newspaper report, only three Serco staff were assigned to escort 18 Vietnamese detainees from an immigration detention centre in Darwin to church on 28 April, including Tran Van Binh, who had been assessed as “medium risk”. The report said Binh and another prisoner, Nguyen Van Hung, escaped while the guards smoked and talked outside the church during mass, according to the whistleblower, who asked for anonymity. Serco told the Sydney newspaper that the two staff who allowed Kohl to escape have been suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation. “We take failure to follow operational planning procedures seriously,” said Serco spokesman Paul Shaw. He added that the company was committed to preventing escapes and protecting staff and those in detention from coming to harm. The whistleblower’s account differed. He said he decided to break the company’s strict secrecy rules “in the hope the attention will force Serco to improve and stop thinking about the bottom line and more about the big picture”. “At the moment they are getting a flogging but still don’t care about our reputation as long as the money rolls in,” he said. “What is happening is disgraceful and is placing not only our lives at risk but the lives and general safety of the Australian public.” via German fugitive Kohl caught | Bangkok Post: news.