SURAT THANI: Police are waiting for a 22-year-old Portuguese woman who was hit on the head with a bottle and needed 20 stitches during the Koh Phangan full moon party on Sunday to come forward and lay charges against her assailant.
Surat Thai police chief Apichart Boonsriroj said on Tuesday that no legal action could be taken against the attacker without an official complaint from the victim. He believed she was still on the island.
Police identified the bottle-wielder as Jakkrit Jantason, a 29-year-old assistant at a pharmacy on Rin Beach. The man hit Franco Correia on the back of her head with a glass bottle during a brief scuffle after the party on Sunday night.
Mr Jakkrit told police that he found the tourist lying in front of the shop about 2.45am on Monday and asked her repeatedly to leave. He showed her a sign in English asking people not to block the shop entrance, but to no avail.
The woman appeared drunk and scolded at him and they then exchanged strong words. The woman then scratched his face. That made him angry so he hit her with a bottle from inside the shop, Mr Jakkrit said.
Earlier, police told both parties to get treatment for their injuries before filing their complaints. Mr Jakkrit waited for the woman on Monday morning, but she did not show up.