PHUKET: A ladyboy who stole a valuable necklet from an Australian tourist appeared yesterday in Phuket Provincial Court.
The ladyboy, with her long hair cut short, was dressed in prison garb and ankle shackles.
Her lawyer told the judge that she confessed to the theft after first telling lies.
''A lot of her friends do the same kind of thing,'' the lawyer told the court.
The ladyboy had taken the necklet belonging to the Australian man, known as Justin, after the pair had sex in the ladyboy's Patong apartment.
The fee was supposed to be 1000 baht. But the ladyboy at first said she had taken the necklet, valued at 50,000 baht, because the couple had unprotected sex and she worried about the consequences.
Police questioned why Justin did not forcibly take back the necklet after he glimpsed it in her hand.
''I didn't want to be aggressive,'' he said. ''I am not a violent man.''
Justin gave police 24,000 baht as a reward for recovering the necklet, a gift from his mother.
Yesterday's hearing was to allow Justin to give evidence before he flies out on Friday. Several of his friends were also in the Phuket City court for the hearing.
A verdict is expected within the week. The ladyboy has been in jail since her arrest.
Outside the court, an officer from Kathu Police Station, which oversees Patong, said ladyboy thieves were ''a huge problem'' in the nightlife hub on Phuket's west coast.
''Tourists should be warned that ladyboys who hug them are usually picking their pockets at the same time,'' he said.
Patong police were also encountering more tourists who claimed to have been robbed so they could defraud their insurance companies.
''Australians are the people who try this most often,'' he said.
Ladyboys jailed in overcrowded Phuket Prison are imprisoned with the men or with the women, depending on whether they have had surgery for gender reassignment.
A Tourist Protection Section at Phuket Provincial Court, opened on September 24 to fast-track cases involving visitors to Phuket, has yet to handle a case, a spokesperson said today.
''Many police on Phuket have yet to be told that it's here and willing to help to speed cases,'' a spokesperson said.
The ladyboy, with her long hair cut short, was dressed in prison garb and ankle shackles.
Her lawyer told the judge that she confessed to the theft after first telling lies.
''A lot of her friends do the same kind of thing,'' the lawyer told the court.
The ladyboy had taken the necklet belonging to the Australian man, known as Justin, after the pair had sex in the ladyboy's Patong apartment.
The fee was supposed to be 1000 baht. But the ladyboy at first said she had taken the necklet, valued at 50,000 baht, because the couple had unprotected sex and she worried about the consequences.
Police questioned why Justin did not forcibly take back the necklet after he glimpsed it in her hand.
''I didn't want to be aggressive,'' he said. ''I am not a violent man.''
Justin gave police 24,000 baht as a reward for recovering the necklet, a gift from his mother.
Yesterday's hearing was to allow Justin to give evidence before he flies out on Friday. Several of his friends were also in the Phuket City court for the hearing.
A verdict is expected within the week. The ladyboy has been in jail since her arrest.
Outside the court, an officer from Kathu Police Station, which oversees Patong, said ladyboy thieves were ''a huge problem'' in the nightlife hub on Phuket's west coast.
''Tourists should be warned that ladyboys who hug them are usually picking their pockets at the same time,'' he said.
Patong police were also encountering more tourists who claimed to have been robbed so they could defraud their insurance companies.
''Australians are the people who try this most often,'' he said.
Ladyboys jailed in overcrowded Phuket Prison are imprisoned with the men or with the women, depending on whether they have had surgery for gender reassignment.
A Tourist Protection Section at Phuket Provincial Court, opened on September 24 to fast-track cases involving visitors to Phuket, has yet to handle a case, a spokesperson said today.
''Many police on Phuket have yet to be told that it's here and willing to help to speed cases,'' a spokesperson said.
They are a pest not only in the tourist hubs but cruising around the beaches & streets at night.
Maybe there should be a by-law that allows the police to stop & question these shady characters? If they are not resident of Phuket & have no jobs or visible means of support, they should be sent back to their own province, as they are clearly on the island for one reason only, to scam or rob tourists.
Posted by Logic on October 8, 2013 11:35