British woman drops rape charge

NAI HARN: A 20-year-old British resident of Phuket today agreed to drop charges of rape against a man from Songkhla after negotiations at the Provincial Court. Details are sketchy, but sources who asked not to be named told the Gazette that the two had been seen together in intimate proximity on three successive evenings. On Wednesday evening, they had been seen swimming together at Nai Harn Beach. Yesterday morning the woman laid a complaint of rape against the man at Chalong Police Station, and he was arrested. Pol Col Sati Malakanond, superintendent of Chalong Police Station, was tight-lipped. He told the Gazette, “It was a little bit of a mistake in technique between them. It’s not a big deal and it wasn’t rape. “I don’t have any more information for you,” he added. The two went today to the Phuket Provincial Court for a hearing, but the woman withdrew her complaint and the accused man was freed without charges.