Interior Ministry Defends Deportation of French Zoo Owner
Thailand's Interior Ministry defended its deportation order against French zoo owner Kevin Dimino, citing six categories of misconduct including assault, knife brandishing, and inciting divisive political demonstrations at his Samui facilit
The Interior Ministry issued a clarification on September 8 regarding the deportation order against Kevin Dimino, a French national and zoo owner in Samui. The ministry outlined six categories of misconduct that led to the decision: threatening and verbally abusing local business owners and language instructors; physically assaulting a Turkish national and brandishing a knife; publicly displaying disrespectful and vulgar behavior; physically attacking foreign tourists and throwing signage at them while insulting their families; posting social media messages inviting people opposed to foreigners of a specific nationality to use his zoo for political, religious, and racial demonstrations that could involve Thai territory in divisive activities; and harassing fellow airline passengers, resulting in police intervention during a domestic flight. The ministry stated that the deportation order applies a uniform standard based on misconduct rather than nationality discrimination, and emphasized that such enforcement is necessary to maintain public peace, morality, and safety while protecting Thailand's international relations. The ministry affirmed its commitment to applying such laws equitably to all foreign nationals.
