Bangkok: An Australian man wanted in Queensland on kidnapping and torture charges, and who has been frequenting bars in the Thai capital for more than two weeks, has been arrested.
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Thai police grabbed 70-year-old Guido James Eglitis in the foyer of the Hotel Marvel in the Sukhumvit Road entertainment area, saying they were tipped off by an intelligence source.
Police Lieutenant-Colonel Anak Prasongsuk said Thai authorities were working with agencies in Australia to speed up proceedings to extradite him to Queensland.
Mr Eglitis, who arrived in Bangkok after jail time in Cambodia, would be banned permanently from Thailand because of his "extensive" criminal history, Colonel Anak said.
Witnesses photographed Mr Eglitis drinking in the N'Joy bar and restaurant and other bars in Bangkok last month.
He is alleged to have made threats against Australians expatriates living in the city.
Queensland Police said in November last year, when Mr Eglitis was being held in a Cambodian jail, they were "making inquiries" in relation to his extradition to Australia.
Mr Eglitis was committed to stand trial in Brisbane in 2007 on charges of kidnapping, deprivation of liberty, robbery, impersonating a police officer and possessing restricted items.
Police alleged Mr Eglitis, from Warrnambool, Victoria, posed as a federal police officer when he grabbed a businessman, tied him up in a house and demanded money. The businessman allegedly managed to untie his hands and escape.
Cambodian authorities made no announcement about the release of Mr Eglitis from a Cambodian jail in October.
He had been arrested in the town of Siem Reap, near the historic Angkor Wat temple complex, in October last year on charges that included robbery.
Mr Eglitis allegedly had a 30-year history of crime and featured in a 1998 Australian book titled Scams and Swindlers.
He is believed to have fled Australia in 2007 while on bail.
He was sentenced to four years' jail in the United States on fraud charges in 1988.
He came to the attention of Australian authorities in Cambodia in 2014 when he claimed to be a private investigator working with Cambodian police on the mysterious death of Canadian journalist Dave Walker, whose body was found near Angkor Wat. At the time he claimed his name was James An.
Australian Federal Police helped investigate the case for Canadian authorities.
