A 31-year-old Thai woman says she remains traumatised after two Cambodian men allegedly followed her to her home, attempted to force open her door and left her afraid to return home.
The woman, identified as May, met police investigators at Chana Songkhram Police Station on Thursday to give her account of the incident, which occurred around 11pm on 21 July.
She said she had been drinking with friends and was walking back to the alley where she has lived for more than 30 years when she saw two men standing near a wall. At first, she thought they were people she knew, but realised they were strangers as she got closer.
She said she held onto her bag, turned on her phone camera to record the situation, and walked past them.
The two men then allegedly called out, “Come have a beer with us,” but she refused. Moments later, one of the men wearing a red shirt allegedly ran towards her, forcing her to run back to her house.
After locking the door, she said the man tried to reach through the metal bars of the gate, causing her to scream and threaten to call police before running upstairs.
CCTV footage showed the two men leaving the front of the house before returning again while she was calling police. She said they attempted to open the door once more, forcing her to shout at them to leave.
After the incident, May posted about the incident on Instagram. A relative known as “Bank Talad Indy” shared the post and helped organise local residents to search for the suspects.
The two men were located and detained on 23 July, with the first suspect found at a rented room before police and residents tracked down the second suspect.
May said the suspects apologised after being detained, but she told them: “I already told you not to do it.”
She said she has been suffering from anxiety since the incident, crying every night and refusing to sleep at her home. She has temporarily moved elsewhere and vowed to continue legal action against the two men.
“I do not want to see them again,” she said.
Meanwhile, the girlfriend of the suspect in the red shirt, identified as Chanvesna Touch, 24, visited him at the police station and apologised to the victim on his behalf.
Sinh Sinh, 23, said she had been in a relationship with Chanvesna for eight years and they have a 10-month-old daughter.
She said her boyfriend told her he had been drinking more than seven bottles of beer with Cambodian friends before the incident. He allegedly saw the woman walking by and called out to her before following her.
After watching the CCTV footage, Sinh said she believed her boyfriend’s actions were inappropriate and that the case should proceed through the legal system rather than through violence.
She said Chanvesna denied touching or assaulting the woman, claiming he returned to the house because he wanted to apologise after realising she was frightened.
She also said the second man, who was wearing a white shirt, only followed him and did not speak to or approach the woman.
Sinh apologised to the victim, saying she understood why the woman felt afraid and that she was not defending her boyfriend’s actions.
“I am also a woman. If I were in that situation, I would feel scared too,” she said.