Phuket Taxi Driver Arrested Over Chinese Tourist Sex Assault Complaint

[Phronesis]

Is it just me or does this moron have an "I'm a player" smirk on for the cameras.

[HerbalEd]

Why exactly should she need to change hotels?

Because the taxi driver knows that's where she wanted to go. I assume she doesn't want him to know where she's staying.

[HerbalEd]

A Female sitting in the front of a taxi ! I wouldn't suggest that for any female anywhere in the world.... It's not like China is the safest country for females surely she must have been lacking in the brains dept. Not that that makes the alleged offence any less serious but come on, talk about putting yourself in harms way.

They stopped for fuel a number of times why did she not get help then ? something doesn't smell right here which is possibly why the police brought both in for questioning.

Still no matter if he is guilty or not being Thai and a taxi driver has already judged him guilty in the Thaivisa armchair defectives (no I didn't mean detectives this time !)

Re the cultural thing...when travelling in foreign countries, especially alone it would have been prudent for her to understand the culture that is basically worldwide when it comes to travelling safely in taxis. Maybe male taxi drivers in china are eunuchs ?

She's a 19 year old girl, for Christ's sake ... and probably on her first foreign trip. Give the girl a break .... she's not as wise and cynical as you.

[Kilgore Trout]

What no one has claimed that the tourist is making a false report?  That is the normal cry on here when there is a story like this and where is the usual remarks it is her fault and she should not be alone and if she hadn't of come to Thailand then this wouldn't of happened and the poor taxi guy wouldn't be going through all this stress.

If she had been white "falang" that would surely have been the case

Sent from my GT-S5660 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Soupdragon]

Is it just me or does this moron have an "I'm a player" smirk on for the cameras.

Well he operates an illegal cab at an international airport whilst high on yaba. I would hope that isn't 'normal'.

[chooka]

Why do they always cuff the farangs but never the thais?

[chooka]

Phuket taxi driver to face abduction, drug charges

Phuket Gazette

Paitoon Kruain (right), 32, who independently operated an illegal taxi at Phuket International Airport, has denied the allegations against him. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- The Phuket taxi driver accused of holding a 19-year-old Chinese tourist captive for hours and threatening her with sexually intimidating gestures on Friday will face deprivation of liberty and drug charges.

Phuket City Police today named the driver as Paitoon Kruain, 32, from Sakoo, a small village on Phuket’s west coast near Phuket International Airport.

Mr Paitoon was interrogated by Phuket City Police for six hours on Saturday after the Chinese tourist filed her complaint. She accused the driver of holding her captive in his car for nearly five hours and repeatedly touching her while he drove around (story here).

“He will be called in for more questioning today,” Phuket City Police Inspector Watcharapong Plaiphan said.

“We are preparing to charge him with deprivation of liberty and with taking drugs,” Lt Col Watcharapong added.

During the marathon interrogation of Mr Paitoon at Phuket City Police Station on Saturday, the Chinese tourist gave her statement to police through a translator in front of the Thai press.

“I got in a taxi at the airport and asked the driver to take me to a hotel in Patong. The driver convinced me to sit in the front seat. He said the back seat had a problem, so I sat in the front,” she said.

The tourist identified the taxi as a bronze Honda Civic with Phuket license plates KorPor 5602.

“We left the airport at around 4:30pm. The driver kept touching my legs. I tried to stop him, but he kept doing it. So I took off my shoe and told him to stop or I would hit him,” she said.

“He didn’t stop. He kept touching me and asking if he could kiss me while he drove around. I had no idea where we were. The doors were locked. All the time he kept asking to kiss me and sometimes he hugged me.

“He drove around until the car ran out of gas at about 9pm. He asked to kiss me again. So I let him do it then he got out of the car. Once he unlocked the doors, I got out off the car and yelled for help until good people took me to a police station,” she said.

Mr Paitoon, who independently operated an illegal taxi at the airport, has denied the accusations, Col Watcharapong confirmed.

“He said she was the one who tried to assault him by hitting him with her shoe.

“We did not believe his statement, so we tested him for drugs. He tested positive. He confessed that he took one and a half pills of ya bah [methamphetamine] on the day,” he added.

“We are now preparing to charge him with deprivation of liberty and with being under the influence of drugs,” Col Watcharapong said.

Ekkachai Siri of the Phuket Tourist Police, who first received the complaint from the tourist, confirmed the Chinese embassy has been notified of the incident.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Phuket-taxi-driver-to-face-abduction-drug-charges-21097.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2013-05-20

He looks very smug and sure of himself, probably knows that the tourist courts aren't up and running at the moment for a speedy trial and the woman will return to China and he will walk free.

[chiang mai]

With all due respect to the alledged victim, I'd rather spend my time learning more about Capt Nucharee Longkaew from the cover picture, she's too cute.

[Kilgore Trout]

Why do they always cuff the farangs but never the thais?

I'm sure if you think hard enough you can draw the correct conclusion

[timewilltell]

I have a very well connected Thai friend in Bangkok. One of his employees is an attractive single female. I was at his place of business late one evening where she was working late also and she left to take a taxi home. He stood up and took a photo of the taxi numberplate making sure the driver saw him. I asked him why - rhetorically really - he said 'Better safe - any problem he die'. I guess even Thais know their taxi driver brethren are not to be trusted.

[Songhua]

I wonder how many times this goes unreported as a crime?

Sitting outside a SanSabai guesthouse last year we saw an airport 'taxi' pull up and two young German women get out crying. The driver jumped out, literally threw their bags into the gutter and sped off. At the time we thought there must have been a dispute over the fare.

However, when the girls related the incident to the staff, it was revealed that they had been driven around for over three hours, stopping for fuel twice and at several places where they'd been offered 'drinks' .When they refused the offer they were told their fare had been doubled if they wanted to be dropped off at the hotel they were booked at. They were not even supposed to be in Patong, their accommodation was in Kata.

[Payboy]

Is it just me or does this moron have an "I'm a player" smirk on for the cameras.

Well he operates an illegal cab at an international airport whilst high on yaba. I would hope that isn't 'normal'.

Can't expect anything else, it's probably only last week that he was climbing trees for coconuts and living on a banana diet.

[Lancelot]

I skimmed the articles describing the complaint and it seems to be more sexual harassment than rape. In any case, no means no and most guys understand that.

As China becomes more powerful in the world, it will be interesting to observe whether its embassies will take a proactive stance in defending/assisting its citizens or simply rolling over as the US embassies do, offering no meaningful assistance...

[Bagwan]

With all due respect to the alledged victim, I'd rather spend my time learning more about Capt Nucharee Longkaew from the cover picture, she's too cute.

It has taken a whole 38 posts before somebody, as might be expected, makes a comment about the attractiveness of the lady copper. I didn't think that I'd be disappointed. Somebody had to put into words what many were thinking.

BTW, in my experience the phrase ' with all due respect' usually means the exact opposite.

[eezergood]

Is it just me or does this moron have an "I'm a player" smirk on for the cameras.

Well he operates an illegal cab at an international airport whilst high on yaba. I would hope that isn't 'normal'.

Unfortunately it is all too 'normal'

Edited May 21, 2013 by eezergood

[webfact]

UPDATE:
Phuket illegal taxi driver charged with sexual assault
Phuket Gazette


Paitoon Kruain, 32, who operated an illegal taxi picking up tourists at Phuket International Airport, has been charged with sexual assault and is now being held at Phuket Prison. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- The illegal taxi driver accused of holding a 19-year-old Chinese tourist captive in his vehicle for five hours has been charged with sexual assault, the Phuket City Police chief confirmed.

Paitoon Kruain, 32, who operated an illegal taxi picking up tourists at Phuket International Airport, presented himself to police for questioning last Saturday (story here).

After intensive questioning by police – the interrogation on Saturday lasted six hours – Mr Paitoon was taken into custody and is now being held at Phuket Prison.

“Mr Paitoon has been charged with deprivation of liberty and with being under the influence of drugs,” Phuket City Police chief Sermphan Sirikong told the Phuket Gazette. “He has now also been charged with sexual assault."

The sexual assault charge follows the Chinese tourist giving her statement to Phuket Provincial Court on Monday afternoon.

Her statement did not deviate from her statement to police filed on Saturday (story here).

“The Chinese tourist will be leaving Thailand tomorrow [May 23]. We let her give her statement to the court [before the trial] so she could return home,” Col Sermphan said.

Mr Paitoon has denied the charges against him, Col Sermphan confirmed.

“We are still questioning witnesses, such as the people who assisted the tourist. We will also question the taxi driver’s friends and family and collect evidence, such as CCTV images of the areas where the driver drove past,” he added.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Phuket-illegal-taxi-driver-charged-with-sexual-assault-21129.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2013-05-23

[MacWalen]

Like I said, they will do something about it. You do not mess with Chinese these days, too much money at stake from Chinese tourists. Girl has a legitimate grievance.

[LivinginKata]

Yes, I do believe that the Chinese embassy/consulate wields a lot more influence than our western embassies - just saying ...

[eezergood]

Yes, I do believe that the Chinese embassy/consulate wields a lot more influence than our western embassies - just saying ...

+1

[aguy30]

Like I said, they will do something about it. You do not mess with Chinese these days, too much money at stake from Chinese tourists. Girl has a legitimate grievance.

A grievance? Now that seems like an idiotic comment to make! If he insulted her, then that would be called a grievance.

The western world calls this a sexual assault and kidnapping.

Edited May 23, 2013 by aguy30

[bearpolar]

Im waiting very hard for the day where they come out with a full-proof facial trait scanner that is never wrong about the level of evilness of people based on their looks.

I have yet to see an honest person in my life with this guy's type of facial configuration. Just like "street gangsters". There's already science backing this but its obviously just not 100% accurate yet. Pretty sure if we went back over all the gazette's pictures over the year none of the problematic drivers would have a face that could be considered "cuddly" or trustworthy

[Eesat]

So he was driving an unlicensed taxi when he kidnapped the girl and sexually assaulted her while high on drugs?
It really is a wonder that anyone bothers going to Phuket anymore with publicity like this,how much longer can it carry on for?

[Soupdragon]

So he was driving an unlicensed taxi when he kidnapped the girl and sexually assaulted her while high on drugs?

It really is a wonder that anyone bothers going to Phuket anymore with publicity like this,how much longer can it carry on for?

How long is a string of $$$$$$$$