Tourism News

Tourism News Phuketwan Tourism News
facebook recommendations

NEWS ALERTS

Sign up now for our News Alert emails and the latest breaking news plus new features.

Click to subscribe

Existing subscribers can unsubscribe here

RSS FEEDS

Naiharn beach, close to where two attacks took place within 24 hours

Two Phuket Attacks: Expat Raped, One Escapes

Friday, October 9, 2009
Phuketwan Updating Report

ONE expat woman has been raped and a second expat woman bashed in a sex attack while she was out jogging around the tranquil tourist area at Cape Promthep and Nai Harn lake.

The attacks took place within 24 hours of each other but what's unclear at present is whether different attackers were involved or whether one rapist is now on the loose on Phuket.

A woman from Europe was attacked and raped in her own home at Nai Harn around 7am on Saturday, as she returned from using her outdoor shower facility.

The previous day around 8am, an American woman out jogging was attacked by a man armed with a screwdriver.

Learning of the rape through a mutual friend, the American met up with the European woman to compare descriptions of the attacker in both cases.

''We don't know if it's the same guy,'' said the American woman. The European woman has since left the island on a short trip, but is expected to return.

The American woman, aged in her late 30s, has given her account of the first attack to Phuketwan. She prefers to remain anonymous.

She says she was punched and dragged into a ditch where the man produced a cutter and held it to her throat. However, she managed to eventually attract the attention of a man out walking, and escaped.

Recovering the next day from bruises to her badly swollen face, she was alarmed to hear about the second attack in Nai Harn within 24 hours.

''I run all the time at Nai Harn and usually head up the hill towards the cape,'' she said. ''On Friday morning this guy on a motorcycle stopped as I was jogging and said 'Hello.' I kept on jogging.

'''Do you need a ride?''' he asked. I said, 'No. I'm exercising.' Do you have a boyfriend? he asked. 'Yes, I do' I said.

''He went on ahead up the hill, parked the motorcycle, and then walked back down towards me. I noticed he'd undone his belt and had a screwdriver in his hand.''

She grabbed the screwdriver and they wrestled, she said, with the man punching her several times.

''He pulled me and knocked me down into the ditch. Then he jumped on top. He had me in a headlock and held me down and held a cutter to my neck.

''At the same time he was trying to pull his pants down and grabbing at my shorts. I was trying to stay alert and I hoped someone would come along, so I kept one leg up over the edge of the ditch.

''The I noticed him looking up so I just started screaming at the top of my lungs. I was able to push him to one side enough to see a motorcycle coming, and a man walking as well.''

The man on the motorcycle slowed to see what was happening but did not stop. The man who was walking also appeared reluctant at first to stop, although she called out ''Help me! Help me!''

''Somehow I finally got away,'' she said. ''I ran down to the other guy.''

Spurred into action, he joined her in jogging down the hill to where they were met by a Swiss man and a Thai woman who had heard the commotion.

''By that time I was pretty much out of it,'' she said. ''The four of us went on down to the benches by the lake.''

Soon after, uniformed and plain-clothes police officers joined them at a nearby resort where she gave her account in detail.

The police were obliging and concerned for her welfare, she said.

Just over a year ago, she said, while out riding a motorcycle, she was a victim of purse-snatchers in Nai Harn. The snatchers did not get away with her bag but did inflict head injuries, and she has some hearing loss.

''I don't blame it on Thailand,'' she said. ''These things happen all over the world. I've just had a lot of bad luck.''

Her family in the US is keen for her to return there now after four years in Thailand.

''I probably will leave,'' she said. ''It gives me an element of fear that I didn't have before.''

A friend sent her a text message about the rape the next day, without knowing that she'd already been a victim of an attack.

As a result, she met the European woman who was, she said, about 50 and just getting ready to leave on a business trip.

''Her shower is not attached to her room and she left it unlocked, so when she returned to her room, the man was waiting.''

The rape victim seemed in ''remarkably good spirits,'' the American woman said. It seemed like ''a new thing'' for the man in the second attack, the American woman was told.

Her boyfriend insisted that she go to the police to report the attack, and she is glad now that she did. She has ceased her regular morning jogs around Nai Harn and is now using a treadmill in a fitness centre.
Phuketwan Latest Phuket News

Bangkok Arrivals Boost Good for Phuket's Future, Too
Arrival Statistics A revival appears to be in the making as Phuket's high season looms. Figures from the national airport hub show good times should be achievable again.
Bangkok Arrivals Boost Good for Phuket's Future, Too

Phuket ID Cards for Gods as Income Lifts Spirits
Phuket Latest Entranced warriors will need ID cards that also list the names of invading spirits for this year's Phuket Vegetarian Festival. For the first time, the gods will have to be registered.
Phuket ID Cards for Gods as Income Lifts Spirits

Phuket Wins Miss Poland Beauty Contestants
Phuket Photo Album Beauty comes in all sizes and shapes and the Miss Polonia contestants will discover over the next few days how beautiful the island of Phuket can be.
Phuket Wins Miss Poland Beauty Contestants

Six Phuket Resorts and 1200 Rooms Win a Big Tick
Brands in Bloom A fourth Courtyard by Marriott, a new Novotel and another Phuket Arcadia are coming, just three of six resort projects that will add 1200 rooms to Phuket resort stock.
Six Phuket Resorts and 1200 Rooms Win a Big Tick

Phuket Economy: Blue Skies on Island's Horizon
Latest Analysis Figures for Phuket tourism arrivals and departures suddenly take off by an astonishing 36 percent. But close inspection reveals all is not as it seems.
Phuket Economy: Blue Skies on Island's Horizon

Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

gravatar

Despicable acts. Hopefully the perpertrators are caught and punished to the full extent of the law. I wonder if the Editor is defensive of these criminals?

Editor: The editor can tell the difference between a criminal act and a thoughtless comment.

Posted by Jimmy on October 9, 2009 13:36

gravatar

Thank you, Phuket Wan, for being concerned for the safety of the inhabitants of this island and publishing this article. I live in Nai Harn, too, and frequently walk around the lake or on the beach. It's not very often that there are suspicious characters lurking about, but it's good to be informed in order to stay safe. To the American and European women who were attacked...take good care of yourselves and recover soon.

Posted by Anonymous on October 9, 2009 15:02

gravatar

Yes, crime is global but perhaps the bystander, "... reluctant at first... to help," is what's shocking.

Posted by Phuketarium on October 9, 2009 15:44

gravatar

Why not put some more information about the attackers online? There are these sketch up possibilities online.

Check out here: http://flashface.ctapt.de/
and put this a**h***s faces online.

Posted by Lena on October 10, 2009 07:45

gravatar

and details about his motorbike, color? Height of the guy? What was he wearing?

Also someone just told me they weren't sure if they believed the story as there was no police report quoted.

Can we find out what the police are doing up to this point?

Editor: The police have no progress to report yet.

Posted by VFaye on October 10, 2009 09:51

gravatar

But how come the massed hoards of locals did not block the road to the airport in protest? Surely there is more justification for such an act in these circumstances than in the mere 'arrest' of a local influential figure?

Posted by Peter on October 10, 2009 11:24

gravatar

Easy answer Peter, farangs involved, not locals, understand now ?

Posted by Mouse on October 10, 2009 17:20

gravatar

Wow Peter that is a great idea. In fact Perhaps farangs should rally together and STRIKE... stop their businesses, stop paying taxes and lawyers and accountants, stop paying for visas and to leave the country, buying stuff... see what would happen if all the resident farangs left.

Posted by VFaye on October 11, 2009 11:59

gravatar

I've lived in that area for 20-years and am shocked by the amount of home burglaries, shootings, beatings, traffic accidents and general violent crimes. This is not a safe place to live!

I cannot name one friend here (who does not have dogs who's home has not yet been burglarized at least once!

If you feel that it's the same or worse in other countries, you're "dead" wrong. Just check the statistics at:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country/th-thailand/cri-crime
.

Posted by Buster on October 17, 2009 00:35

gravatar

In the same area last week
Bar people beaten by a young foreigner, arrested but got away??? reported on thai visa, do the police take care of thais better than foreigners ? I have my doubts two official complaints to police station has not produced results for the victims .ok to beat women of any persuasion? not in my book

Posted by NGO on October 21, 2009 13:11


Thursday December 5, 2024
Horizon Karon Beach Resort & Spa

FOLLOW PHUKETWAN

Facebook Twitter