Thai police looking for a Canadian accused of sexually abusing an eight-year-old boy say he may face additional charges.
Thai authorities are closely watching border points and airports Thursday in case the man tried to flee the country.
An arrest warrant has been issued in the case of Orville Frank Mader, 54, originally from Kitchener, Ont., but who has lived most recently in the Vancouver area when not overseas.
Journalist Andrew Drummond told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday that Thai police believe Mader is still in Thailand.
"He has certainly not passed any checkpoints, at least under his own name," he said.
However, there had been earlier speculation the suspect had already fled for either Vietnam or Cambodia, Drummond said.
Mader faces allegations he participated in the abuse of an eight-year-old Thai boy who was kidnapped from a shopping mall. Thai police are investigating allegations he may have abused at least three other boys.
Surveillance cameras have captured images of Mader at the Ben Mansions hotel in Pattaya, a tourist beach destination known for a thriving sex industry.
The same hotel is linked to another Canadian -- Christopher Paul Neil, 32, of Maple Ridge, B.C. Neil is facing charges that he photographed and sexually abused dozens of children in Asia. Thai police arrested him about two weeks ago after a high-profile manhunt.
Both Neil and Mader have been teaching English overseas at various places in southeast Asia.
Thai police have made other child-abuse-related arrests of foreign teachers in recent days.
Paul Cornelius Jones, 39, was arrested Tuesday after police raided his apartment in Bangkok and found hundreds of photos of naked children on a computer there. Thai police had acted on a tip from their British counterparts.
Jones -- from Cardiff, Wales, who has been working in Thailand for seven years as a teacher at a Bangkok private school -- has been charged with distributing pornographic photographs of children under age 15. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 15 years.
One Thai officer said authorities may step up background checks on foreign teachers.
"It shouldn't be enough to wear white shirts and have a university degree. We need to know their background," said police Col. Apichart Suribunya. He heads Thailand's liaison office for Interpol, the international police agency.
With files from The Associated Press
