Korean tour guide beaten and robbed

PHUKET TOWN: Police are looking for a man who beat and robbed a 30-year-old Korean tour guide off Sakdidet Rd early on Saturday morning. Pol Maj Pitsanu Punwong, of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that the guide had asked that her name be kept confidential, but that she was working for a Korean travel company in Panthep Condotown. On Friday night, he said, she had gone out drinking with friends at Orange Karaoke in Vanich Plaza on Luang Por Rd. At 2:30 on Saturday morning, after having had many drinks, the woman left her friends at the club, intending to go home. She accepted a lift on a motorbike from a man wearing a white T-shirt. Because he spoke some English, she thought that he was a motorbike taxi driver. The man took her to Soi Pracharuamjai, in Phuket Town, where he beat her unconscious and took her passport, mobile phone and an unknown amount of cash. The woman regained consciousness and called for help. A passer-by came to her aid and gave her a ride home, where her flat-mate phoned the police before taking her to Wachira Phuket Hospital. Maj Pitsanu said, “At first, she didn’t want to report the incident to the police or to answer our questions because she felt embarrassed. She still won’t give us more information. “I don’t believe that the man was a motorbike taxi driver because he wasn’t wearing a red vest. Once the victim gives us more information, we can step up our investigation.”