French Zoo Owner Served With Deportation Order in Koh Samui

On September 8, Surat Thani Immigration Bureau officials summoned Kevin Dimino, a French national and zoo owner on Koh Samui, to appear before Deputy Immigration Commander Nuwat Putthaviro and Koh Samui Subdistrict Administrator Charoe Tungkaew. Dimino arrived with his wife, Jin, and a lawyer to be formally notified of the deportation order. He was then taken to Koh Samui Police Station for custody pending deportation proceedings. Authorities separated the detention locations to prevent contact between Dimino and Israeli national Yakof, the other party involved in the case, who will be held at Bo Phut Police Station.

The Public Administration Ministry released a statement detailing the grounds for deportation, citing six categories of behavior deemed harmful to public order and morality: threatening and insulting local business owners and teachers; physically assaulting a Turkish national with a knife threat; displaying disrespectful and insulting behavior toward foreign tourists; posting messages inviting xenophobic demonstrations with political, religious, and racial overtones; and threatening fellow passengers on a domestic flight.

Jin, Dimino's wife, expressed confusion in an interview, stating that they are the victims and her husband was merely defending himself. She claimed that on August 29, her husband visited Chakra House in Bo Phut after being threatened with business closure, and shouted in response—the incident that led to the threatening charges against them. She denied he fled, saying he remained in the southern region and was simply closed on his regular Monday off-day. Regarding the deportation letter, Jin questioned who submitted the allegations and compared her husband's traffic fine case, for which 100,000 baht bail was posted with a 5,000 baht fine receipt on social media, to more serious offenses. She announced plans to appeal to the Prime Minister.