2 Thai men arrested for sexually assaulting women at Songkran
Police arrested two Thai men after a viral video on social media showed them sexually assaulting three women during a water fight at a Songkran Festival in Samut Prakarn province near Bangkok.
The incident occurred at about 8pm on April 15 at a water fight event on Phraekkasa Road in the Samut Prakarn province near Bangkok. A video of the incident shared on social media showed a group of four to five Thai men approaching three women on a motorcycle.
The men splashed water over the women, while others threw white powder on them. Two men were caught sexually assaulting the women in the video, putting their hands under their clothes to touch their breasts.
The video went viral on Thai social media, prompting many netizens to demand legal action against the men due to their clear identification in the video.
Channel 7 reported that the three women in the video later filed a complaint against the two men at Mueang Samut Prakarn Police Station on April 16.
Officers managed to identify the two men as 24 year old Phongphat and 24 year old Jumphon. The two were summoned to the police station for further questioning yesterday where the two admitted to the crime.
Unintentionally drunk
Phongphat told police that he would like to apologise to the victims. He claimed he was drunk and unable to control himself, insisting he did not intend to sexually assault anyone and denied further assault charges on others.
Phongphat added that the man who recorded and posted the video was not his friend but joined the water fight with him on the day. Jumphon admitted to assaulting the women but did not provide further details to the police or media.
The two were charged under Section 278 of the Criminal Law for committing public indecency. The penalty for this offence is imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to 200,000 baht.
Another sexual assault during the Songkran Festival that sparked controversy on Thai social media happened on Silom Road. The Facebook page Spacebar VIBE shared a picture of a woman, believed to be Thai, squeezing a man’s nipple while playing in a water fight.
Many Thai netizens urged police to summon the woman for further legal action on sexual assault, but there have been no updates on the case.
Questions about gender equality were raised, with many asking what would happen if the victim were a woman. Netizens emphasised that no one should be a victim of sexual assault, regardless of gender.
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