Taxi friends prompt warning.Two drivers nabbed for alleged attacks on passengers

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Taxi friends prompt warning

Two drivers nabbed for alleged attacks on passengers
Published: 11/07/2011 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: News
 
Police are asking women who travel by taxi to be mindful of their safety, after two Bangkok taxi drivers who allegedly attacked their female passengers were arrested in just one week.

On June 29, Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police arrested taxi diver Paithoon Norkaew, a 28-year-old native of Bang Len district of Nakhon Pathom province, after he allegedly robbed a passenger, stripped her, and attempted to rape her.

They say he robbed his passenger, a vendor, of over 50,000 baht worth of cash and valuables, then dumped her naked on Buddha Sakhon Road in Krathum Baen district of Samut Sakhon province.

The victim, 28, was traumatised so much that she tried to commit suicide but a friend was able to find her in time.

The crime took place at 2am on June 8. Police arrested Paithoon when he returned to his taxi depot on Lat Ya 5 Road in Klong San district, Bangkok.

After throwing her on to the road, he made off with her cash, belongings and a mobile phone.

The victim frequently called his taxi service and they knew each other.

Shortly afterwards, CSD police arrested taxi driver Anat Saweeyanont, 39, from Bang Bua Thong district of Nonthaburi province, on similar charges of robbery and attempted rape _ but against at least three alleged victims.

Police say he was arrested while hiding in a rented house in tambon Ron Thong of Bang Saphan district, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, on July 4. One of his alleged victims was a 27-year-old woman who flagged down his taxi on June 7 in front of Kasetsart University.

She was intending to return home on Navamin Road, but the driver left the correct route, claimed to be a detective and demanded to search her bag. The victim resisted. He pulled out some handcuffs to back up his demand and ordered her to move to the front seat.

The driver grabbed her groin and kept his hand there until the car arrived at a toll plaza on the Watcharapol-Kanchanaphisek expressway system. As the taxi stopped, the woman fled the vehicle and contacted police.

The driver fled the toll plaza and left his vehicle on Rangsit-Nakhon Nayok Road near Klong 4 canal.

Police say that both attacks show that young women can put themselves in danger when they flag down a taxi. Pol Lt Col Theeradet Thammasuthee, deputy chief of CSD Division 1, urged women passengers to take a note of the driver's details, as displayed on the passenger side of the vehicle.

Pol Lt Col Theeradet said women passengers who fall victim to such drivers are often too embarrassed to report the wrongdoing. Others are in a state of shock and fail to recall any identifying details of their attackers.

When a woman passenger believes she is likely to be attacked, she should quickly stand up to the driver. This catches him off guard and often forces him to change his plans, he said.