PHUKET: Australian tourist Stevie Bamford is due to be freed from detention on Phuket tomorrow. She will be placed by police and Immigration officials on a flight home to Sydney.
The 20-year-old hairdresser has served 15 days behind bars on Phuket for having lied to police when she told them she had been raped by a Patong tuk-tuk driver.
If the media in Australia remains true to form, once Ms Bamford is back home she will probably become the target of a television ''current affairs'' show or two.
As the daughter of an Australian rugby league player in a country obsessed with celebrity, Ms Bamford probably stands little chance of slipping back into obscurity immediately.
She will no doubt take with her some indelible memories of her time in the Bang Jo detention centre, the soft option when compared to overcrowded Phuket Prison.
While Ms Bamford did her time, there was a horrific rape and murder on Phuket. Seventeen-year-old Sunisa Chaiyoi was violated and killed in her own home.
The case reminded everyone that the dangers faced by vulnerable women on Phuket are real, not invented.
There are men on Phuket who, given the opportunity, will take advantage of women. There are men on Phuket who, some honorary consuls believe, have raped women and escaped without being charged.
The Patong police were proved right in challenging Ms Bamford's concocted account. She had made up her story of rape to avoid the anger of a boyfriend, who she feared would have been irate that she was out late alone.
However, the death of Sunisa proved in tragic circumstances that women on Phuket remain vulnerable, even at times in their own homes.
The Stevie Bamford case was unusual. Most women are unlikely to see any kind of advantage in telling that kind of lie.
Ms Bamford is also young and unlikely to be a repeat offender. Her 15 days on the inside will have provided a great lesson. She will quickly start over again in Sydney.
Meanwhile on Phuket, it is to be hoped all police remember Sunisa Chaiyoi, recognise the Stevie Bamford case as a rare exception and treat every woman who alleges rape in future with appropriate sympathy and sincerity.
The 20-year-old hairdresser has served 15 days behind bars on Phuket for having lied to police when she told them she had been raped by a Patong tuk-tuk driver.
If the media in Australia remains true to form, once Ms Bamford is back home she will probably become the target of a television ''current affairs'' show or two.
As the daughter of an Australian rugby league player in a country obsessed with celebrity, Ms Bamford probably stands little chance of slipping back into obscurity immediately.
She will no doubt take with her some indelible memories of her time in the Bang Jo detention centre, the soft option when compared to overcrowded Phuket Prison.
While Ms Bamford did her time, there was a horrific rape and murder on Phuket. Seventeen-year-old Sunisa Chaiyoi was violated and killed in her own home.
The case reminded everyone that the dangers faced by vulnerable women on Phuket are real, not invented.
There are men on Phuket who, given the opportunity, will take advantage of women. There are men on Phuket who, some honorary consuls believe, have raped women and escaped without being charged.
The Patong police were proved right in challenging Ms Bamford's concocted account. She had made up her story of rape to avoid the anger of a boyfriend, who she feared would have been irate that she was out late alone.
However, the death of Sunisa proved in tragic circumstances that women on Phuket remain vulnerable, even at times in their own homes.
The Stevie Bamford case was unusual. Most women are unlikely to see any kind of advantage in telling that kind of lie.
Ms Bamford is also young and unlikely to be a repeat offender. Her 15 days on the inside will have provided a great lesson. She will quickly start over again in Sydney.
Meanwhile on Phuket, it is to be hoped all police remember Sunisa Chaiyoi, recognise the Stevie Bamford case as a rare exception and treat every woman who alleges rape in future with appropriate sympathy and sincerity.
This sort of thing only makes it worse for genuine cases of rape; hope she has realised her mistake.
Posted by Mal on July 17, 2012 22:34