Pathum Thani — A 20-year old Chinese woman tourist was assaulted and robbed by a taxi driver as she was heading to Don Mueang airport to return home on Thursday, police said.
Chinese tourist Zhang Li points at her hat dropped at a crime scene.
The robbery took place on the side of a motorway in Khlong Luang district at about 3pm when Zhang Li, a tourist from China’s Yunnan province, was travelling in a taxi with her suitcase.
Speaking through an interpreter, she said the driver took her to an isolated gravel road by the motorway and stopped the vehicle. He then punched her in the stomach several times but she managed to open the cab door and run away. The attacker sped off with her suitcase which had 3,000 baht in cash, 500 yuan and a book bank and plane ticket apart from clothes.
Ms Zhang said she climbed over a metal fence on the motorway to seek help from highway police.
The Chinese woman was taken to hospital for treatment for minor injuries to her leg. The victim described the attacker as a large, overweight man with a blackish complexion, but she could not recognise the cab’s licence number.
Police said Ms Zhang arrived in Thailand with a friend on Aug 13 and had travelled around Bangkok, Chon Buri and Chiang Mai. She was heading home alone as her friend was staying longer. Police are checking security camera footage on a possible route used by the robber.