Hua Hin attackers get two years

(Photo from Hua Hin CCTV)

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: The Hua Hin Provincial Court on Sunday sentenced the four Thai men who savagely assaulted three British tourists in Hua Hin during Songkran to four years in prison.

The jail term was not suspended. However, the court reduced the term by half after the defendants - Uphattha Baithong and Yingyai Saengkhamin, both aged 32, and Siva Noksri and Chaiya Jaiboon, both 20 - confessed. After the court’s ruling, the men were taken directly to Prachuap Khiri Khan Provincial Prison.

Orasa Awutkhom, director of the Prachuap Khiri Khan tourism office, said officials from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in England would inform the family of the court’s decision.

The men were found guilty of physical assault causing severe injury to Lewis Owen, 68, his wife Rosemary, 65, and their 43-year-old son, Lewis John Owen.

The attack started in the early morning of Songkran Day, April 13, when Lewis Owen Jnr accidentally bumped into Suphattha, one of the defendants, in Soi Bintabhat in Hua Hin district early on April 13. A scuffle broke out and as his parents tried to stop it, Suphattha and his three friends punched the three in the face, kicked their bodies and stomped on their faces.

The Thais apologised and admitted they were drunk. Chaiya claimed he thought one of the tourists had hit one of his friends first.

The assailants were detained in Hua Hin on April 16 after local police found CCTV footage a day after the assault that showed three people lying unconscious after being beaten in the soi.

The video of the savage attack, which made headlines overseas, sparked public anger and calls for maximum punishment against the four thugs.

Members of the Prachuap Khiri Khan office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand visit battered Rosemary Own in her hospital recovery room on April 16, three days after the brutal attack by thugs. (Photo courtesy TAT)

EARLIER REPORT

Hua Hin Brit attackers get two years in jail

By Online Reporters

The Hua Hin Provincial Court on Sunday sentenced four Thai men who savagely assaulted three British tourists in Hua Hin during Songkran to four years in prison.

The jail term was not suspended. However, the court reduced the term by half after the defendants —Suphattha Baithong and Yingyai Saengkhamin, both aged 32, and Siva Noksri and Chaiya Jaiboon, both 20 — confessed.

After the court’s ruling, the men were taken to Prachuap Khiri Khan Provincial Prison.

Orasa Awutkhom, director of the Prachuap Khiri Khan tourism office, said officials of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in England would inform the family of the court’s decision.

The four men were found guilty of physical assault causing severe injury to Lewis Owen, 68, his wife Rosemary, 65, and their 43-year-old son, Lewis John Owen.

The attack started when Lewis Owen Jnr accidentally bumped into Suphatth, one of the defendents, in Soi Bintabhat in Hua Hin district early on April 13. A scuffle broke out and as his parents tried to stop it, Suphattha and his three friends punched the three in the face, kicked their bodies and stomped on their faces.

The Thai men apologised and admitted they were drunk after drinking beer before the attack. Chaiya claimed he thought one of the tourists had hit one of his friends first.

The assailants were detained in Hua Hin on April 16 after Hua Hin police found CCTV footage a day after the assault that showed three people lying unconscious after being beaten during Songkran festivities on Soi Bintabaht. The video of the savage attack, which went viral online and made headlines overseas, sparked public anger and calls for maximum punishment against the four thugs.

Rosemary Owen suffered a serious head injury while her husband and son needed multiple stitches. A local family friend said the Owens had visited Hua Hin for 20 years because they love the place and its people. But they have insisted that they will never return to Thailand again.