Thai soldier and 12 friends accused of assaulting teenage boy
A Thai woman accused a soldier and 12 of his friends in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat of severely assaulting her 15 year old son, causing severe injuries to the teenage boy.
The victim, identified as A, told Channel 3 that the soldier, Raphephat, repeatedly accused him of stealing a shirt despite his denials. Raphephat allegedly continued to harass and provoke fights with him.
According to the victim, a 17 year old friend named Charon allegedly betrayed him by enticing him to meet Raphephat at Charon’s residence on May 2 at approximately 10pm. Subsequently, Raphephat and his friends forcefully abducted A on motorcycles.
The group proceeded towards Phu To Dem Public Park but halted en route to subject A to a vicious assault, beginning with a barrage of kicks. The soldier hit him with a rock he found at the scene. The victim repeatedly told the group that he did not steal anything from them but that did not stop the assault.
A begged them to stop but they ignored him and even recorded the videos of the assault. Then, the attackers took him to the public park and continued the attack before leaving him at the scene.
A’s mother, 47 year old Duangtida Chamnarn, told the media that her son notified her about the attack at midnight. She was at work so asked a neighbour to take her son to Kong Ra Hospital.
Doctors informed Duangtida that A’s condition was critical. He suffered internal bleeding from a broken rib that punctured his lung. After receiving initial treatment, A was transferred to Phattalung Hospital, where his condition showed little improvement after almost a week.
Duangtida sought justice for her son by contacting the attackers’ relatives but received death threats instead. They warned her against reporting the incident to the police, threatening to kill her entire family.
Residents near the park confirmed to Channel 3 that they heard screams and fighting that night but were too afraid to investigate.
Kong Ra Police Station officers promised to conduct further investigation into the case. They confirmed that Raphephat was not the only soldier involved. Two of the 12 attackers were soldiers, with the remaining 10 bullies being civilians.
