PATTAYA, Thailand – Pattaya police tracked down and arrested a man accused of luring a woman from Pattaya beach, forcibly taking her to a secluded area in Soi Thungklom-Tanman 18, Pong Sub-district, where he assaulted her and robbed her of cash and her mobile phone in the early morning hours of August 6.
A tip from a witness on August 7 led officers to a suspicious sidecar motorcycle, identified as the vehicle used in the crime, parked near a rental room close to the Old Chinese Market in Ban Chak Ngaew, Huay Yai Sub-district. Police immediately surrounded the area.
Officers found a blue Honda Wave sidecar motorcycle parked in front of a row of rental rooms. Inside one of the rooms, they detected the suspect attempting to hide. Police identified and arrested the suspect, Apisit, also known as Ball, age 36, who initially tried to flee but was quickly subdued.
Apisit admitted to the crime, stating that he met the victim, Ms Ya, at Jomtien Beach. However, he contradicted the woman’s statement that he had lured her by claiming a foreigner wanted a massage at a nearby house. Instead, Apisit said they had agreed on a transaction involving 1 gram of crystal methamphetamine (ice), with Ms Ya promising to pay after earning money from her massage work. When Apisit met her again to collect the payment, she failed to provide the money. He then persuaded her to get into his vehicle to resolve the issue.
During their confrontation at a cassava plantation, Ms Ya allegedly tried to stall and slapped him, provoking Apisit to assault her in anger and take her phone as compensation for the unpaid drugs. He claimed he did not intend to harm or rob her but needed the money to pay the real drug supplier from whom he had obtained the methamphetamine.
Initial police tests confirmed Apisit had drugs in his system, as his urine test was positive for methamphetamine. Nongprue Police Station investigators are compiling evidence to request an arrest warrant from the Pattaya Provincial Court for charges of assault and robbery.
