Fake seer arrested on rape charge

[BalanceOfPower]

Fake seer arrested on rape charge

Published: 11 Oct 2013 at 15.16
Online news: Local News

Bangkok police arrested Phakin Thanawatwasawong, sitting, on a rape charge on Friday.

A man claiming to be a fortune teller was arrested on Friday on charges of luring young women customers to hotel rooms, raping them and stealng their money, police said.

Phakin Thanawatwasawong, 23, was apprehended in a sting operation at a shopping mall in Bangkok's Pin Klao district.

A 20-year-old woman had reported to police that she began communicating with the man through the social media.

The woman said the suspect used different social media sites to tell people that he was a fortune teller.

She decided to use his service, and he told her to transfer 2,000 baht to his bank account and meet him at the shopping mall.

When they met, Mr Phakin told her he would perform a "sadoh kroh" ceremony to dispel her misfortunes, but it must be in a private room. The man then took her to a love motel on Charansanitwong Road, where she said he later forced her to have sex against her will, stole 2,500 baht from her and fled.

Mr Phakin admitted to police he had posed as a fortune teller for more than a year, being paid 500 to 2,000 baht each time for each service, according to police.

Police checked his bank accounts and found more than 10 transactions since early September.

Mr Phakin allegedly admitted he had lured women into meeting with him and had forced himself on at least five women.