Thai man arrested for raping Ukrainian woman on Koh Samui

A Thai man rejected rape A Ukrainian at Thongson Beach at Koh Samuian island in the southern province of Surat Thani, and claimed that the victim had consented.

The 32-year-old Ukrainian victim filed a rape complaint at Bor Phud Police Station on July 13 after the incident occurred at Thongson Beach in Bor Phud sub-district at around 9am on July 8. Officers then handed the report over to Koh Samui Tourist Police and launched a search for the suspect.

After checking surveillance cameras in the area, officers spotted the suspect, who was later identified as a 27-year-old Thai man named Nattaphong. Officers showed Nattaphong’s picture to the victim and she confirmed his identity as the rapist.

Officers searched for Nattaphong until they managed to arrest him outside a local supermarket. The motorbike he was using on the day of the arrest was the same one he used on the day of the alleged sexual assault. Nattaphong is believed to be a resident of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, not Surat Thani.

Nattaphong admitted to participating in the sexual act but denied raping the victim. He claimed the victim consented to the sex.

However, the officials were not convinced by his statement. He was charged under Article 276 of the Criminal Code: sexual harassment of another person by threat or use of violence. The punishment is four to twenty years in prison and a fine of 80,000 to 400,000 baht.

A similar case was reported in February when a Thai man attempted to rape a Chinese woman in Pattaya. The suspect posed as a motorcycle taxi driver and took the woman to a roadside forest to sexually assault her, but the victim survived.

A similar story was reported in December last year when a British woman was allegedly drugged and raped on Koh Tao, an island in Surat Thani. The rapist was said to be a Dutch man whom the victim had met on a bar crawl after her diving trip.

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