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Krissana Thiwatsirikul

The Nation

Publication Date : 21-02-2013

Police in Thailand have charged a man with the rape of a foreign woman in Nakhon Si Thammarat in the country's south.

According to police, the suspect confessed to making sexual advances towards the woman and claimed that she welcomed them.

The alleged victim, however, yesterday failed to identify the suspect at Muang Nakhon Si Thammarat police station. She showed up with her boyfriend.

The 20-year-old woman lodged a rape complaint and gave her testimony to police before leaving Thailand last night.

Her case has received widespread media attention, with several foreign news agencies also reporting on it.

Nakhon Si Thammarat Police chief Pol Maj-General Ronnapong Saikaew interrogated the suspect, Pongpat Posoy, who was alone at the time of the interrogation. His close friend witnessed the whole incident and also gave a similar account to police.

Pongpat told police he spotted the alleged victim in the wee hours of February 15 in a bar he frequented, and initially approached her and offered help because she had sustained a knee injury. He said he felt a sexual urge during the close contact and followed her to the second floor of the bar.

The suspect said he then attempted to have sex with the drunken foreigner twice, during which he claimed she did not resist his advances.

The suspect and his friends said the woman kept repeating, "Ok. Good".

Ronnapong said the rape took place between 3.14am and 3.45am.

"We will wait to see the results of a physical examination by |doctors," he said. He said the results would be able to identify whether bodily fluid found on the victim belonged to the alleged victim's boyfriend or her alleged attacker.

The woman initially told police that four men gang-raped her, but an ongoing police investigation has yet to find any evidence to support her claim.

Police linked her to Pongpat because recordings from a security camera appeared to show he was following her.

The victim reportedly came to Thailand to apply for a teaching job.