forestdweller

"She's my stepdaughter!"

Thai police have arrested an Australian man accused of taking a young girl away from her poor tribal family and sexually abusing her for four years.

Christopher Ronald White, 46, from Perth, was arrested at his home in Bangkok and was taken to the northern city of Chiang Mai, where the girl's family had raised the alarm, police Captain Jeerawan Putanurak said today.

He could be jailed for 20 years if convicted.

The girl is now 16.

Her family, who belong to a hill tribe in neighbouring Chiang Rai province near the Burmese border, told police that White had offered to take their then 12-year-old daughter into his care in Bangkok.

He allegedly raped her there for years, Jeerawan said, Associated Press reported.

The girl is said to have met White when she was selling flowers at night market in Chiang Mai.

The girl returned to her family last week and told them that White had also forced her to have sex with his friends, Jeerawan said.

Chiang Mai, 680km north of Bangkok, is home to more than 20,000 hill tribespeople.

There have been several cases of hill tribe girls being sexually abused by foreign tourists and Westerners who offer to informally adopt the children.

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White, who declined to speak with investigators, is being detained pending further investigation and faces six charges, including raping a girl under the age of 13 and illegally detaining the girl.

He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail for the charge of raping an underage girl, Jeerawan said.

White has been living in Thailand for more than five years. Jeerawan said he claims he is a bomb expert who regularly gave lectures on the explosives at several learning institutes in Thailand.

Other sources said that White had described himself as a former police officer.

He is expected to appear in a Chiang Mai court later this week.

A spokesman for the Australian embassy in Bangkok said the man had been given consular assistance, as is usual in cases where Australian nationals face serious criminal charges in a foreign country.

Chiang Mai is one of a number of Thai cities with a reputation for attracting foreign paedophiles - and undercover police there often mix with foreign nationals in private clubs known to be the haunts of men attracted to under-age boys.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Canberra said the man was understood to have been arrested in Thailand yesterday.

"We are aware of reports of a 46-year-old Western Australian man arrested in Thailand on the 23rd of August on charges relating to sexual acts with a female under 13 years," a DFAT spokesman said.

Other reports from Chiang Mai said that the victim was a young boy.

"Consular officials from the Australian embassy in Bangkok are liaising with the local authorities to provide consular assistance including access to legal advice and representation."

The DFAT spokesman said the government treated any matters relating to child sex offences very seriously.

"At the same time, the government will follow the legal process closely to ensure that it is fair and conducted in accordance with local practice," he said.

The alleged victim is said to be barely-educated.

Police sources said officers tracked the pair down after the family and other workers at the night market gave a description of White to authorities.

Police said the Australian tried to pass himself off as the child's stepfather, and when found they were living together at an address in central Bangkok.

- agencies

it just gets better and better. i read the pattaya today often, and the main cause of farang death is suicide. there's not a week that goes by when a foreigner is reported to have jumped out of a condo. it's quite convenient, really. now those two pals drinking together, i guess they both must have had a bad batch of smack and overdosed. but that kind of thing doesn't happen, so close to the golden triangle, where smack is pure and pleasurable. now i'm not codoning drugs here, i'm just trying to draw out a point. there's something very fishy going on here. it seems like dejavu, like that british back packer who was murdered a few years ago in chiang mai. as the evedince came forward, the charade just got more and more deranged. i'll be keeping my eyes peeled on this case, as i think this will be a protracted story that over time will hash out, as the thai says, itipon muet, some very dark influences. if anyone has any leads, i'll follow this story up personally, as i'm based in chiang mai. thanks george for this post.

Hi,

personally speaking, i've had three overstays, the longest being 5 years. those were the pre-taksin days, when things were reasonably mai pen rai!

my last overstay, over a year, i went to the airport and paid my 20 grand. i had a ticket out of here, to australia. no problems. just be apologetic, bow your head in submission, and then they'll feel sorry for you.

good luck. and oh, don't be frightened by ignorant posts, saying that you have to pay 200 baht per day up to 11 months. there is, thank god, a ceiling. it's one i'm very familiar with.

good luck

forest dweller

I think it's a great idea in theory. but as one member said, the majority of us who use this forum are tourists, ie we don't have a work permit, and hence, are not eligible to all these goodies you are offering.

keep up the great work. falangrukfalang