A senior official at Thailand’s commerce ministry was arrested in Japan and is accused of attempting to steal three paintings from a Kyoto hotel.
Suphat Saquandeekul was arrested this week at the hotel after the paintings were found in his bags as he checked out.
A Kyoto police official said Suphat admitted his guilt.
Suphat is deputy director general of the Department of Intellectual Property at the ministry.
Hotel staff said they alerted police after spotting an individual on CCTV taking the small paintings from their display in a hallway.
Together they had a value of about 15,000 yen.
It is thought Suphat was in Japan on government business.
He is still being detained by police but has not yet being officially charged.
