CHAIYAPHUM: A Norwegian man has been arrested for child pornography charges and will be deported.
Police and soldiers raided a house in Muang district on Thursday and arrested Stig Kvale, 57, who lived in the house with his Thai wife.
Pol Col Aroon Vachirasrisukanya, a Crime Suppression Division (CSD) officer, said authorities had confiscated a notebook during the search and found child pornography in it.
The CSD official said he was charged with having in possession child pornography and sent for detention at Muang police station in Muang district.
Police are coordinating with immigration authorities to revoke his visa and send him back, he added.
His notebook will be sent to the Central Institute of Forensic Science of the Justice Ministry to check whether Thai children were among the victims in the video clips and images.
The arrest followed an alert from Nordic police and Customs Cooperation in an email to the Department of Special Investigation on April 19.
The alert said the Norwegian had been charged with sexual abuse and child molestation in his country although he already served the jail terms, according to the CDS and Chaiyaphoum police chief Sompote Khanomprang.
The CSD tried to locate his whereabouts after Thailand had received the mail and finally found him staying with his Thai wife in the northeastern province.
Authorities arrest Stig Kvale at a house in Muang district, Chaiyaphum. (Crime Suppression Division video)