Thai Man Fined Bt10,000 for Taking Up-Skirt Photos of University Student in Hat Yai

 

HAT YAI – A man who hid a mobile phone in a paper bag while taking up-skirt photos at an agricultural fair held at a public university in Hat Yai has been fined 10,000 baht.

Pongsak Kunawang, 35, of Bang Klam district of this southern province, on Tuesday turned himself in to Khor Hong police station in Hat Yai district to hear charges.

His surrender came after a young woman visiting an agricultural fair at Hat Yai’s Prince of Songkhla University filed a complaint with police accusing the man of using a mobile phone to take photos under her skirt.

The man allegedly hid his phone in a paper bag with a hole at the bottom in order to take pictures under the victim’s skirt. A passer-by noticed his actions, alerted the woman and took pictures of the suspect.

The woman then recounted the incident on her Facebook page on the night of Aug 11 to warn women of the danger.

Mr Pongsak handed over the mobile phone used in the incident to police. The SIM card had already been removed by a security guard at the fair.

The officers charged him with causing a nuisance, which carries a maximum fine of 10,000 baht.

Mr Pongsak confessed to the charges and paid the fine. He apologized to the woman for his action.

The woman forgave him and asked him not to do it again. She suggested that the man should go to see a doctor if he had a mental problem.

Mr Pongsak refused to answer journalists’ questions. He earlier posted on his Facebook page that he took photos under the woman’s skirt under the influence of alcohol.

Meanwhile, A man complained to police on Tuesday that he had come across a widely shared video clip on Twitter of him and his girlfriend having sex in a downtown motel room.

The man, whose name was withheld, told Muang Phetchabun police the video was taken and circulated without their knowledge and asked that they arrest all those involved.

He had a copy on his mobile phone and showed it to police, saying it he had downloaded it from a private Twitter group.

However after further investigation the 34-year-old man admitted to officers that he had set up a camera to record the scene himself in order to sell them, according to Pol Colonel Srithanon Ruanmool, superintendent of the Muang Phetchabun police.

Technology Crime Suppression Division spokesman Pol Colonel Siriwat Deepor said the offence of inputting pornographic materials into a computer system accessible publicly was punishable with a maximum imprisonment of five years or a maximum fine of Bt100,000.

Siriwat also warned against sharing pornographic images and clips that had been illegally obtained and published.

Such actions, he said, did not only break the law, they also had the potential to traumatise their victims, many of whom become suicidal, and their families.

By Soonthorn Khongwarakhom and Assawin Pakkawan