Thai tattoo artist arrested in Phuket for brutal rape of 13 year old girl

Police arrested a Thai tattoo artist at his rented room in Phuket yesterday for a brutal rape of a 13 year old girl that occurred last year. The sexual assault left the young victim with severe genital injuries and led to the removal of her womb.

Officers from the Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police Bureau (IDMB) arrested the tattoo artist, 25 year old Wasin, also known as Game So What, at his rented room in Soi Phoe Gui, On Mae Luan Road yesterday, April 25, which was also his 25th birthday.

His arrest followed the rape case reported at Thakham Police Station last year. The 13 year old girl told police that Wasin contacted her via Facebook and offered her a tattoo for 400 baht. She thought Wasin was sincere because he had more than 7,000 followers on his account.

When the victim arrived at Wasin’s tattoo studio in the Rama II neighbourhood of Bangkok, he closed the studio saying he did not want to receive any more customers so he could concentrate on her tattoo. He lured the girl to the second floor of the studio and repeatedly raped her.

The victim kept the sexual assault to herself and did not tell anyone in her family. A month later, she suffered from stomach pains and went to the hospital, where her family members found out about the rape.

The girl had a vaginal infection which spread to her uterus, so she underwent immediate surgery to remove her uterus. She was treated for about three weeks before filing a complaint with the police.

Rapist’s boasts

Thakham Police Station summoned Wasin for questioning but failed to turn up as scheduled and fled from Bangkok to Phuket. The case was handed over to the IDMB, which led to Wasin’s arrest yesterday.

IDMB officers said they were able to track Wasin down because he was showing off his amulets and telling his story to locals in the area. He told others that his amulets would help him successfully evade arrest.

During questioning, Wasin denied raping the victim saying he loved the girl and previously engaged in a sexual activity a day before the incident day.

Wasin allegedly boasted that he had sex with more than 100 women and mostly without condoms. He insisted that he was not a womaniser but had not yet found his soul mate. He preferred one-night stands and had sex mostly with women he met on dating sites.

Wasin mentioned that he had previously contracted sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) on multiple occasions in the past but had undergone treatment and recovered. Therefore, he suggested that the girl’s symptoms may not necessarily be attributed to him.

Wasin also revealed that he was previously charged with sexually assaulting a minor aged 17 years old but paid 70,000 baht to the victim’s family to settle the case.

Wasin added that he chose to hide in Phuket because he heard that a tattoo artist was well-paid here, and the many tourists in the area made it easy for him to hide.

Wasin faces three charges including:

• Section 277 of the Criminal Law: raping a minor under 15 years of age with at least one accomplice. The penalty will be life imprisonment.
• Section 318 of the Criminal Law: taking away a minor under 15 years of age from parents or guardians. The penalty will be imprisonment from two to 10 years and a fine from 4,000 to 20,000 baht.
• Section 384 of the Criminal Law: taking away another person for obscene purposes by tricking, forcing, or using violent acts. The penalty will be imprisonment from one to 10 years and a fine from 2,000 to 20,000 baht.