Scottish woman raped by 4 men in Thailand

POLICE in Thailand are investigating the alleged gang rape of a 20-year-old woman from Scotland.

The victim, believed to be from the Lochaber area of the Highlands, said she was attacked in the southern provincial capital of Nakhon Sri Thammarat in the early hours of Saturday.

Detectives are hunting four men who allegedly dragged her away after spotting her walking alone as they drove along in a pick-up truck.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We are aware that a British national has been involved in a serious assault in Thailand. We are providing consular assistance.”

Police said the woman had earlier been drinking with another traveller, but that they had separated after leaving the Nakorn Vieniane Restaurant.

The men are said to have taken the woman to the balcony of a building and carried out the attack. She was found at 5am.

A police spokesman said: “The victim had been in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province for only two weeks. She had applied to be an English teacher at Srithammarat Suksa School. She was still waiting for the school to reply to her job application.

“She had scratches on her body and she was taken to hospital for forensic tests. She was found crying on the second-floor balcony.”

Thailand has one of the lowest rates of rape, with the latest statistics showing six people in every 100,000 of the population are raped each year. This compares with a rate of 14 in the UK. The highest rates of rape are in Australia, at 79 per 100,000, Canada at 73 and the United States, at 30.

Round-the-world cycling couple killed by truck in Thailand

A British couple on a cycling tour of the world have been killed by a truck in Thailand.

Peter Root and Mary Thompson set off on their trip of a lifetime last July, and had cycled through Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and China.

The pair, both 34, who had been chronicling their journey in a blog, died after being struck by a pick-up truck in a province east of Bangkok last Wednesday.

The couple, who met at art school, lived on Guernsey. Mr Root’s father, Jerry, said: “They were leading the life they wanted to. It was the happiest, the most fruitful of lives.”

The driver of the pick-up was arrested and faces charges of causing death by dangerous driving, which carries a maximum penalty of ten years in jail.