The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) is looking into claims that a staff member accused of the rape and murder of a 13-year-old passenger on Sunday previously raped two female co-workers.
Railway police check the luggage of passengers on the No.169 Bangkok-Yala train after its departure from Bangkok Wednesday. Safety was stepped up to unprecedented levels on all trains following the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl on a night train from Surat Thani to Bangkok. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
SRT governor Prapat Chongsanguan said the agency is investigating the two cases which allegedly took place early this year and the police are looking for the victims.
Mr Prapas said he had been informed that one of the cases was a sexual assault while the other was consensual.
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He also defended himself over his early comment that the railway agency had never been involved in any cases of sexual violence, saying he was new to the SRT and had no knowledge of a sexual attack over a decade ago.
He was referring to a another case in which a graduate student was raped by a rail worker on a night train.
The case involved an incident in a sleeper coach of a Sungai Kolok-Bangkok train on July 16, 2001. The suspect was later found guilty of physical assault and rape.
Mr Prapat said he would look into the case and the claim the SRT has dragged its feet in paying compensation to the victim despite a court ruling in the case.
He said he would authorise compensation payment to the victim if the case is within his authority.
Meanwhile, police on Wednesday took 22-year-old Wanchai Saengkhao, accused of the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nong Kaem, for a re-enactment of the crime at Wang Pong train station in Prachuap Khiri Khan. The re-enactment was observed by lawyers.
Mr Wanchai, who was hired by the SRT to make beds in sleeper carriages, allegedly told police he also had raped two female co-workers early this year but the victims did not file complaints.
He told police he took two speed pills when the train left the depot in Nakhon Si Thammarat and took one more while the train was on its way.
He spotted the girl while he and three other colleagues were drinking beer in another car.
He said he turned off the light in the car where the girl was sleeping when the train was in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Thap Sakae district and went to the girl's bunk where he sexually attacked her. He opened the window to drown out the noises.
The suspect said he searched the girl's backpack for her iPhone and iPad but she regained consciousness. He attacked her again before throwing her body out of the window.
He then threw out her clothes and the blood-stained bed sheet to get rid of the evidence. He took her backpack and went back to his car until the train arrived in Bangkok.
Mr Wanchai said he sold the smartphone, which police later tracked to arrest him. The suspect told police that he acted alone and had no accomplices.
Another team of police yesterday searched the suspect's house to look for other items of evidence.
Pol Maj Gen Thanate Sunthornsuk, chief of Prachuap Khiri Khan police, said officers will seek to detain the suspect at a court in Hua Hin today.
The investigation is expected to be wrapped up within 10 days.
He said police have found no evidence to link other employees to the case.
Mr Wanchai on Wednesday apologised to the girl's family and said the girl was still breathing when he pushed her body out the window.
The victim's family yesterday went to the Royal Thai Police to thank police for solving the case. The family also received 100,000 baht compensation from the Justice Ministry's Rights and Liberties Protection Department.
Following the incident, railway police have intensified patrols and stepped up security on trains.
Pol Pirat Nasomwat, a superintendent, said more police will be deployed and asked to patrol the sleeper cars more often. He admitted night patrols were limited to avoid disrupting the passengers.
A network working to reduce alcohol consumption is urging the Transport Ministry to revamp safety measures on the trains by banning alcohol on board.
Songkran Phakchokdee, director of the Office of Stop Drink Network, said the ministry should push for the enactment of a law to ban consumption and sales of alcohol on the trains and at train stations.
"While the law in question is not in force, we are asking railway police to make sure no alcohol is in passenger cars. Alcoholic beverages sold in dining cars must also be strictly regulated," he said.
Transport permanent secretary Soithip Traisuddhi promised to take action on the issue.
Permpong Chaowalit, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said authorities have tracked down a network believed to have supplied Mr Wanchai's drugs.