BANGKOK, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- A former head of Japan's Yakuza gang who had lived in a hideout in central Thailand for more than a decade was finally arrested on charges of murdering a fellow gangster, police said on Thursday.

The Japanese murder suspect, identified as Shineharu Shirai, was known as the former head of Yamaguchi Yakuza organized crime racket who allegedly killed his rival in Japan in 2003.

The 74-year-old was arrested on Wednesday by the police while visiting a market in downtown Lopburi province, 145 km north of Bangkok.

The suspect quietly slipped into Thailand in 2005 and found a house to live in Lopburi, the police said.

Shineharu had lived with a Thai wife in Lopburi but separated himself from her a few years ago and had been secretly given some money from an unknown source on monthly basis, the police said.