A motorcycle taxi driver turned himself in to police in Khon Kaen on Thursday to face a charge of raping an Australian woman in Bangkok’s Taling Chan district 10 days ago.
Ekburut Ritrakkhaphan denied he had raped the woman, saying they had consensual sex.
The 32-year-old Bangkok motorcycle taxi driver surrendered to police in Muang Khon Kaen district about 10am on Thursday. The suspect was handed over to investigators from Metropolitan Police Division 7 and Taling Chan police station, who were there to take him back to Bangkok, media reports said.
Mr Ekburut was detained under an arrest warrant issued on the basis of CCTV footage from the area where the 23-year-old woman said she was raped early on Dec 5. The court warrant was approved on Dec 14.
The tourist lodged a complaint with Taling Chan police, initially saying a tuk-tuk driver and another man had sexually assaulted her in a vacant lot beside the deserted Wattachak building on Boromratchonnanee Soi 43 in Taling Chan district around 4am on Dec 5.
Police examined footage from surveillance cameras in the area and identified a suspect - a motorcycle taxi driver, not a tuk-tuk driver.
Mr Ekburut had fled to Sakon Nakhon to seek help from a friend after police intensified the hunt for him. He could not contact his friend so he sought help from a relative in Khon Kaen, who later contacted local police to arrange for his surrender.
During interrogation, Mr Ekิburut denied he had raped the woman. He claimed she consented to have sex with him, the reports said.
He told police she waved down his bike in the early hours of Dec 5. He took her to Taling Chan area. On the way she had hugged and fondled him, arousing his desire, he said.
He then headed to the deserted Wattachak building on Boromratchonnanee Soi 43 in Taling Chan district, where he had sex with her one time. He then left, leaving her there alone.
The investigators took the suspect to Bangkok by car for further interrogation.
The suspect's arrest was confirmed in Bangkok by Metropolitan Police Bureau chief Sanit Mahathavorn.