PHUKET: Australian ''cry rape'' tourist Stevie Bamford has decided to serve her sentence on the holiday island of Phuket rather than pursue the option of an appeal.

The 20-year-old Sydney woman presented herself at Phuket Provincial Court in Phuket City yesterday, accompanied by a lawyer, and was behind bars about 8pm last night.

Court sources and prison authorities confirmed today that Ms Bamford had chosen to go ahead and serve the 15-day term rather than make a legal bid to have the conviction overturned or the sentence reduced.

It is believed Ms Bamford was recently shown the relatively high security Phuket Prison, where more than 1600 inmates occupy an ancient facility built to hold half that number.

She was also shown the Bang Jo detention centre, in a less developed part of Phuket, where security is lower and prisoners are encouraged to help grow crops to feed the Phuket jail prisoners.

Court and prison officials confirmed that Ms Bamford was now in Bang Jo, in eastern Phuket.

Ms Bamford, daughter of former Australian rugby league star and radio broadcaster Peter Tunks, was sentenced on Phuket on June 15 to a month in jail for having told lies to police in an alleged rape case.

Her sentence was reduced to 15 days because she confessed and pleaded guilty.

For two days of intense interviews by police in the Phuket west coast holiday hub of Patong, Ms Bamford maintained her story that she had been raped by a tuk-tuk driver.

She said the rape had taken place when she tried to make her way back to a Patong resort alone after a night out.

Ms Bamford maintained her story about the rape taking place in the early hours of Sunday, June 10, until late on Thursday, June 14, when Patong police confronted her with security camera evidence that she had not gone home in a tuk-tuk.

At that point, she confessed. She said she had made up the rape story to avoid an angry reaction from her boyfriend, who had returned to the resort earlier in the night.

Since her sentence and appeal on June 15, Ms Bamford is believed to have been considering her options and visiting other parts of the Phuket holiday region.

It is believed Ms Bamford's boyfriend, seen comforting her when she was in tears on the day of the sentence and appeal, has stuck by her in the ensuing days.

Phuketwan has been told that Patong police went to many night venues in Patong to compile their package of video evidence that disproved Ms Bamford's allegation.