Frenchman Charged for Allegedly Raping British Teenager on Island of Koh Tao

KOH TAO – Thai Police have arrested a 26 year-old Frenchman in connection with the suspected rape of an 18 year-old British backpacker.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Piyapong Boonkaew of Koh Tao police told Thai Media that French national Yohan Michael Tunka Buaga was currently being held on the nearby island of Koh Samui for the suspected rape of the young woman.

Colonel Piyapong said Mr.Buaga has admitted to having sexual intercourse with the victim, but he said that it was consensual and not rape.

“We are now investigating the case and waiting for forensic examination.”

The 18-year-old victim had been drinking with the suspect and two friends on the notorious holiday spot last Wednesday night when she was allegedly raped.

She told police she woke up the next morning to find the suspect, Yohan Michael Tunka Buaga, 26, pleasuring himself in his boxer shorts next to her half-naked body.

The Brit says she was wearing only a T-shirt.

She allegedly had a pain in her genitals and believed she had been drugged.

The teenager contacted friends in the UK before going to hospital, where staff put her in touch with local police.

The woman’s family contacted the British embassy in Thailand who worked with local police officers to help the teen.

He was arrested in Phuket on Sunday.

Buaga claimed the sex was consensual, that he had come to the Island to “relax“, and showed police selfies taken with the 18-year-old on the night: “He stressed that he had consensual sex with the woman three times and that he even saw her off when she left for her hotel by taxi.”

Buaga remains in custody on the Island of Koh Samui

 

By Sofia Petkar