It's not unusual these days to KYC your customer or tenant I see many cities across America where the local authorities require the information and background checks on tenants,
I don't blame the landlord asking questions they have probably heard all the horror stories, I have hear plenty over the years here in Phuket,
Some years ago a neighbour of mine had the house emptied everything they could get in a SUV they took it was almost brand new villa,
The other big problem here is the sub letting you used to get Russians going around renting villas then sub letting them,