Police have been ordered to speed up legal action against a gang of teenagers who allegedly targeted and raped girls aged 13 and 14 years in Sukhothai province.
The instruction was issued by Deputy Prime Minister Somsak Thepsutin, who is a Sukhothai native.
He said on Monday that he sympathised with the victimised girls and their families and authorities were working out assistance and compensation packages for them.
"Things like his should not happen in our society," he said.
Mr Somsak instructed police to take the case seriously. There were other girls who also complained they had been raped by the gang, he said.
The issue started making headlines when Kanthat Pongpaiboonvej, alias "good Samaritan" Kan Chompalang, reported that the grandmother of a 13-year-old informed him the young girl was lured into the company of a gang, numbering about 10 teenagers, who then raped her in a hut in Ban Dan Lan Hoi on Thursday night last week.
It was reported the girl was left in front of a local school early Friday morning. She suffered from many abrasions on her body and genitals.
Mr Kanthat said that another girl, aged 14, had also told him she was a victim of the gang.
Five suspects aged 15-18 surrendered to Ban Dan Lan Hoi police on Sunday and were charged with raping a young girl.