A promising young journalist has been forced to quit his online reporting job after a former classmate from his early student days complained he raped her.
Thot Limsodsai, a darling of the student protest movement who reported live from their anti-government rallies, and was feted at industry events as an emerging talent, quit his job with the online news site The Reporters on Nov 26, after a half-hearted apology he posted online was met by savage criticism.
His victim, who identifies herself on Facebook as Kewi Chayanis, and posted a searing account of her attack, said she came forward after seeing Thot at a student rally, an encounter which she said left her numb. She also came across an online interview he gave in which she complained he portrayed himself as a saint.
Thot Limsodsai
"He didn't talk about the bad things he had done in the past, and I couldn't accept that. I don't want an apology, I just want him to come out and explain what happened," she wrote in response to his interview at the Bangkok Humans website.
The victim and Thot were studying at Thammasat University when the attack occurred four years ago.
Responding in two posts at his Facebook site, which has gone quiet since his resignation, Thot says he was upset by the claims, which he said strayed from the truth. While he acknowledges an incident occurred, he would not go into detail.
"I can't explain in detail publicly what happened as it would be of no use to anyone. Partly it stems from my own actions. I misunderstood everything.
"I am sorry the incident had such an impact on my friend. I tried to say sorry at the time including face to face. I didn't receive forgiveness and nor did I get a chance to explain. Since then I haven't been able to contact her," he wrote.
"I am pleased to enter the justice system or talk with my friend to look for the best way out."
He denied being a rapist, colluding with others, or being ill. "As a man I have never even thought about harassing or raping women. And as another human I am ready to prove my innocence and establish the facts," he said.
Netizens were angered by his apparent refusal to accept the gravity of what he did, and took exception to his claims that he had felt upset and in pain since the incident. "A real man would hand himself into police right away," one sniffed. "What have you been doing all this time?"
Critics said he dressed up his remarks in lofty language to make himself sound good. One, Pie Jiri, wrote: "You post as if you are the victim ... you know in your heart what happened. Don't go thinking you're handsome, you speak as well as you do so women will find you irresistible. You can stop with the defence mechanism stuff and bow before the truth."
Kewi, who has also taken issue with Thot's response, said the attack occurred one night when she stayed at a friend's dorm.
She and her friends had been out drinking when they witnessed a traffic accident opposite campus in which a student was killed.
Shocked, they headed home to bed, but it was too late for her to go back to her own dorm inside campus. She asked to stay with a friend and Thot, who were roommates.
The three were in the same bed together, with she and her friend on opposite sides and Thot in the middle. She said when the lights went out, Thot started kissing and groping her. While she fought back and tried to make as big a commotion as possible, her friend failed to wake up. Kewi said she believes her friend was pretending to be asleep, to let Thot carry on without interruption.
She said Thot managed to penetrate her and ejaculated without a condom. She fled as soon as she could. When she later encountered him at a drinking spot with friends, he tried to laugh it off. He did not tell his student friends what happened, and made no further attempt to seek her out to apologise.
Kewi said she was not game to tell anyone but close friends about the attack, as she was too ashamed. "Why do I have to live with the suffering and try to heal myself when he is not paying anything for what he did?" she asked. She had thought about killing herself, and for many months later was less trusting, and afraid. When she saw him at the student rallies, the trauma came flooding back.
Thot's boss, veteran journalist Thapanee Eadsrichai, founder of The Reporters news site, initially suspended the young man for a month.
"Even though the claims relate to the past before he started work for us, and have not been proven in court, to take responsibility, show ethics and give those involved the chance to find a way out, we have decided to suspend him initially for a month," she wrote.
A day later, Thot had decided to resign. "As my duties involve asking seeking out the answers, as well as giving importance to individual humanity, I hereby announce my resignation," Thot said.
People had been asking what prompted him as a human to do such a thing and he wanted to take responsibility.
Many netizens praised his decision to quit, saying "you can't correct the past, but can take responsibility for it". However, for others closer to the events, he did not go far enough. They are waiting for Thot to account for his deeds via the same media which has propelled him to fame.
Director misses young charge
Director and talent scout Poj Anon has abandoned his bitter contract dispute with a young protege with the pair now hugging before the media.
Poj Anon and Kunatip 'Nick' Pinpradap
Poj said last week he had offered young star Kunatip "Nick" Pinpradap a role in his new movie, Tell the World I Love You, as he had decided to give the young man another chance.
The two had been at loggerheads since August last year when Poj, who moulded the young man into a star in a series of low-brow comedies and ghost movies, declared he was suing Nick for 5 million baht for defaming him.
The row erupted when Nick declared he was sick of working for the famed director and wanted to be released from his contract. He said he had trouble securing back payments worth about 100,000 baht for a recent movie, Songkran Saeb Sathan Lorkan.
Poj, meanwhile, suspected it was a case of sour grapes, after he turned down Nick for the lead role in two more recent films and knocked him back for a starring role in a re-make of his movie, Bullet Teen. Complaining Nick was being ungrateful, he said he had paid the young actor 10 million baht in fees over their seven-year working relationship.
Nick offered a belated apology to Poj, claiming he still felt indebted to the director and that their battle, waged over social media, was grinding him down. Poj, however, said it was too late for talks or a mere apology.
Both sides hired high profile lawyers and the case had an initial hearing before the Criminal Court in July, when Poj asked Nick through his lawyer to make a public apology and pay his legal costs of 100,000 baht. Nick refused.
By last week, however, Poj had decided they should make a new start. He knew Nick was struggling to find work and decided he should help. Under contract, he was obliged to offer him work so offered him a role in his new movie.
"It was not a case of my conceding to Nick. We have tried not to rake over the past. But I realised it was not such a big deal, and we had not spoken since the row began," he said. "I still feel hurt, and haven't got over that. But next time we will both have to work harder at communicating," Poj said.
At a press conference held to mark the opening ceremony kickstarting production of his new movie, Poj and Nick hugged for the cameras.
Nick, who had set up his own YouTube channel to promote his work as he feared he would never act in movies again, said he was delighted to get Poj's call. He had asked to clear the air first; but Poj said there was no need.
Nick denied he had decided to make up with Poj because his career was going nowhere. "It's more a case of us missing each other," he said. Poj said Nick's contract still has two years to run, after which he could accept work from anyone.
The key to those riches
A village chief has her son's motorcycle to thank for a dream in which she says the winning number of last week's first prize lottery appeared.
Ratree Kadnok
Ratree Kadnok, 56, a village chief in Ban Krabueng Noi of Phimai district, Nakhon Ratchasima, won first prize in the government lottery on Dec 1 with ticket number 100994, worth 6 million baht.
She buys 5-10 tickets for every draw, because she has often won with the last two and three digits in the past. Before this her son, Kitti, 34, had won the third prize lottery, so she felt encouraged.
In this case Ms Ratree said she asked her son to buy a ticket with the last three digits 994. These are the registration numbers of a motorcycle he had given her.
"I dreamed I was riding it when the key broke and was stuck in the bike," she recounted last week, explaining her lucky win. Ms Ratree decided this might have significance for the coming lottery draw so asked her son to buy tickets with those numbers.
"My son had a friend buy it. He found a ticket with the number 100994, which won the draw." Ms Ratree said she would spend the money paying off debt, making merit, and salt the rest away for her son.
