SAMUT PRAKAN — A standoff lasting seven hours at a hotel in southeast metro Bangkok ended Wednesday night with a man arrested on suspicion of livestreaming a woman as she slept and then raping her.
Thanapol Nilpat opened fire on police as they tried to capture him at a hotel in Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli district, leading to the long confrontation. No officers were injured.
He eventually surrendered to police, who said he later confessed to the assault two weeks ago in Bangkok’s Suan Luang neighborhood. Thanapol, they said, saw a sleeping woman through an open door of an apartment. He entered the room and began streaming video of her over Bigo Live, a Singapore-based social media service that has many users in Thailand.
Thanapol said the woman woke up and at that point he sexually assaulted her before escaping. A security camera near the apartment caught him leaving the scene.
The 29-year-old man was charged with rape, attempted murder of police officers and gun possession, according to Col. Thongchai Wilaiprom of Prawet police.
