"According to the North Sweden news site Norran.se which first reported about the arrest, Thai police has not yet requested assistance from Swedish police."
Why should they, he was arrested in Thailand?
There's no need of it for expats who stays in the same house for decades. But most people are "tourists" and move frequently where there should be a reason for checking up on them. And it should (for expats) be enough once per year to hand in the document together with your yearly extension.