PUBLISHED ON MON, SEP 3, 2018 11:35 AM

Big Joke threatens to blacklist alleged Koh Tao rape victim for life if she is telling lies

FILE PHOTO Maj-Gen Surachate Hakpan //Thai Tourist Police Bureau

Maj-Gen Surachate Hakpan has told the Thai media that the London teenager who claimed she was drugged, robbed and raped on Koh Tao will be blacklisted for life if she is lying.

And he has said that Thailand wants quality tourists – not bad ones.

So far the Maj-Gen – the deputy commander of the Tourist Police Bureau known as Big Joke in the Thai media – has said there is not a scrap of evidence to suggest she is telling the truth.

He was commenting after a visit to the controversial island last week.

High level contacts are being made via the British embassy in Bangkok with metropolitan police in London.

The Thais are seeking a formal statement from the victim and other evidence after it was claimed in British tabloids that she was raped.

A t-shirt with DNA is believed to be in possession of the family.

Maj-Gen Surachate said if it can be shown that she lied then she will be banned from entering Thailand for life.

She had already been invited by the authorities to come to Thailand to repeat her claims and show her evidence. Her mother told a Thai journalist last week that she didn’t want to return though she might consider coming herself.

Thai media also reported that there were four outstanding cases where people lied to authorities in Koh Tao (2), Koh Samui and Krabi for the purpose of gaining access to government funds for victims. Foreigners who lied will be deported and blacklisted.

Surachate added: “Thirty five million tourists come to Thailand each year making it the third most visited place on earth. We want to separate the quality tourists from those that are no good”.

Requests for comments from the alleged rape victim, her ex boyfriend and her mother have been made by Thaivisa without success.