Massive manhunt for rapist

PHUKET TOWN: The Provincial Police Office today launched a city-wide hunt for a man who raped a British tourist, Dawn Farmer, 22, on Tuesday night. They also issued a sketch of the man, drawn from a description given by the victim. Saying that the crime is “a blot on Thailand’s reputation in the tourism industry”, the head of all Thailand’s police, Pol Gen Pornsak Durongkavibulya, Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, ordered provincial police this morning to arrest the perpetrator within seven days. “We have 50 officers out in every corner of the island trying to locate the man,” said Pol Col Chalit Thinthanee, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station. Ms Farmer told police yesterday that the man was between 20 and 25 years old, and was stronger and more solidly-built than average. He has reddish-black skin, shoulder-length hair, and is about 165-170 cm tall. The description, police say, closely matches that of a man listed in police records, and who has already served time in jail for rape. “The problem is that license plates of motorcycles are in Thai, so the victim, although she recalls that the number was ’50’ or ’51’, cannot tell us the accompanying letter or the name of the province where it was registered,” Col Chalit said. Meanwhile, Ms Farmer has told police that she will be staying in Phuket for another week to see the outcome. The Tourist Police told the Gazette that she has been moved to another hotel, but would not disclose the name or location of it.