THAILAND: Rape Charge Puts Accused – and Accuser – on Trial

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Chayanit Poonyarat

BANGKOK, Jan 21 2003 (IPS) - A woman who accused a senior Thai government official of rape has won praises from women’s groups for her willingness to go public, but is finding herself put on trial just like the official she accuses of violating her.

Earlier this month, Pakaporn Santhalunai, a mapping official at the public works office, alleged that on Nov. 21 last year, Sombat Uthaisang, former deputy interior minister and now chairman of a committee working on Bangkok’s new airport, raped her in a hotel in the Thai capital.

Sombat, in his first public comment weeks ago, denied raping Pakaporn after media reported on Jan. 14 that she had lodged a complaint with the crime suppression police. He angrily said he would sue her for defamation.

But after she disclosed physical evidence of the assault, and the police said they would like to have more tests, Sombat admitted at a press conference on Jan. 18 that he had paid 20,000 baht (467 U.S. dollars) to have sex with the 28-year-old Pakaporn.

Sombat said he did not know Pakaporn until she called him seeking financial assistance for her studies at university. The ex-minister said he felt sorry for her and agreed to meet her before she let him take her to a hotel where they had sex.

But the first media reports said that Pakaporn had asked him for help in collecting a debt his brother owed her, and that the rape allegedly occurred he misled her into believing a person they were going to meet was at the hotel. Pakaporn said Sombat told her the rape was a lesson for ”complaining about his brother”, according to these reports.

But apart from the story itself that has made the headlines here, just as important to activists is how the debate has led to not just the supposed guilt of Sombat, but Pakaporn – and her credibility – being put on trial before the Thai public.

Indeed, Assistant Professor Malee Prukpongsawalee of Women’s Studies Programme of Thammasat University here said, ”The man will probably get away with it if the case is treated as he buying sex from the woman.”

According to the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act 1996, she says, guilt and punishment apply to only a person who gains money from sex – and not the one who buys it.

”The course of justice, in this sense, is not a justice in itself,” she argued.

The law, however, only reflects society’s attitude toward the inequality of men and women on issues of sex. While it is viewed as taboo for women, men are seen as gaining popularity from the fact that they have sex with many women, says Malee.

Yet ”the most important thing is that society must have the right attitude toward rape. The victims are not the wrongdoers and being raped is not a failure of the victims,” says the coordinator of the Friends for Women Foundation, Jaded Chouwilai.

Pakaporn also told the Thai-language newspaper ‘Daily News’ that since the case was brought to public, she had been harassed many times and questioned. ”I’m not sure now whether I am an accused or complainant,” said Pakaporn, who also been shown on television.

When he at first denied raping her, Sombat said she might be trying to blackmail him. Many have also been debating the veracity of Pakaporn’s allegations.

”Many things can be questioned about this woman’s claim,” said an employee who asked to be referred to only as Veera. ”There is no reason why a prominent man like Sombat would rape a woman and why she kept it quiet for three months before bringing the case to public. I say this is all a set-up.” According to a poll conducted among 1,240 respondents in Bangkok by the Dusit Rajabhat Institute on Jan. 18 and 19 – when Sombat made his admission – 22.54 percent see the scandal as defamation and 20.13 percent say it is a ”normal matter for men”.

Only 8.99 percent think of the case as showing men’s attitude toward women and sex, the poll showed.

Pakaporn said she had kept quiet about the rape for months because Sombat had repeatedly threatened her and often asked her to have sex with him. She said she was also too embarrassed to go public about her ordeal.

But Sombat has a different story. ”She said I dragged her to the bed and pinned her down and raped her in five minutes. But I am 66 years old and slightly built. How could I rape a woman bigger than me? Any sane man can see what happened,” he argued.

Pakaporn says she is standing by her rape charge and is ready to fight the case in court. ”Sombat can say anything because only he and I know what happened,” she said.

Police hospital statistics show that only five to 10 percent of rape cases are reported to police. In 80 percent of cases, the victims have a close relationship with the rapist.

Whatever the verdict turns out to be in the Pakaporn case, rape is a delicate issue, said Jaded, adding that many victims choose not to report the cases to the police. Many victims think that what happened to them is something to be ashamed of, a perception that has roots in society.

”In cases like this, women should bring the case to have their rights protected,” he said, although conceding that as Pakaporn’s case shows, this is far from easy.

Even then, Jaded said he noticed that officials’ attitudes toward rape victims have become more understanding and sensitivity. ”This is very important,” he said. ”However, it is too soon to say that the victims will always be treated equally without bias.”