Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Sermphan Sirikong confirmed the release of the man, so far named only as “Noppadon”, age 34, this morning (Apr 7).
Noppadon’s release came despite him confessing to the charges against him, Maj Gen Sermphan admitted this morning.
Maj Gen Sermphan initially confirmed the arrest of and charges against Noppadon in a statement posted online after 11pm last night (Apr 7).
The statement came only after the female hotel guest posted online that Noppadon had been arrested, and details of her experience.
The post, uploaded on the Facebook page of “Tong Kamolchanok”, asked why no details of the incident had been reported. Her post was shared more than 800 times before it was removed.
Since then police and provincial officials have gone into overdrive to report everything they can about the incident, which they have deplored as “destroying the image of Phuket tourism” and sharing news of the police action against Noppadon with hashtags such as “Don’t do this to tourists”.
In her account of the incident, Ms Kamolchanok explained that Noppadon, who performed general errands at the hotel, located on Koh Siray east of Phuket Town, was seen on the balcony of the luxury villa, which she said cost tens of thousands of baht a night.
Noppadon was spotted peering through the blinds to the balcony. He was standing there “helping himself”, she said.
Once he realised that he had been seen, Noppadon promptly departed, apparently not an easy feat as the balcony was four to five metres off the ground, she said.
He quickly disappeared, an act also not easily accomplished as the luxury villa was isolated, with a golf cart needed to get anywhere else at the resort, she said.
Ms Kamolchanok and her male companion immediately reported the incident to the hotel reception. She complained it took five minutes for any staff to attend to her. It took 10 to 15 minutes for the Night Shift Manager to arrive.
Ms Kamolchanok accused the General Manager of dismissing the incident, telling her to go back to bed and that he would deal with it in the morning.
Adding to her experience was that while she was standing at the reception reporting the incident, she saw Noppadon in the hotel lobby. “That’s him!” she shouted.
Ms Kamolchanok reported the incident to Phuket City Police, which Phuket City Police Chief Col Sarawut Chuprasit has now confirmed was recorded at 6:35am.
Col Sarawut also reported that once officers were aware of the incident, a team of investigators was dispatched to inspect the room, including taking DNA samples from the scene.
Noppadon was brought in for questioning at Phuket City Police Station by 10:30pm last night, provincial officials confirmed.
Maj Gen Sermphan confirmed that Noppadon was charged with sexual indecency and trespass for purpose of conducting illegal activity.
Police took fingerprints and DNA samples from Noppadon while presenting the charges against him, Maj Gen Sermphan today confirmed. Noppadon was then released on what Maj Gen Sermphan called “temporary release”.
In his official statement issued last night, Maj Gen Sermphan urged people to ensure that the shower curtain was closed fully and to ensure the door to their room was locked while they were taking a shower or undressed for any other reason.
