THE BEACH on Koh Samui where the rape is alleged to have taken place.

The latest victim is 18-year-old Corrie-Ann Holt, a gap year student from Wigton, Cumbria.

Holt claimed that on January 21 she was drugged in the Green Mango bar in Chaweng, then dragged to a spot known as “Secret Beach”, where she was raped by two men, believed to be Thai.

She alleged police asked her not to press charges because it could harm tourism, and treated her as if she was drunk and available.

The latest allegations, which the British Foreign Office is aware of, were published two days ago in the Mail on Sunday.

Holt alleged that she was left for dead and that police also did not bother to take any of her clothing for DNA testing.

Not only did they not keep the allegations under wraps, but yesterday – three weeks after the event – the results of laboratory tests had still had not been received by investigating officers. This is despite the fact it took only six hours for police to establish that two Thai fishermen had raped and murdered Horton, who came from Cardiff.

“I want to say to people going to Koh Samui. Don’t go there. It’s that simple. The police do not care about you,” Holt was quoted as saying.

She said that she had had two beers and a tequila at the bar on the night of January 21, when she began to feel very woozy.

“I remember being walked out of the club or carried – I think I was saying things like ‘Where are you taking me?’ It was like being very drunk but having no control. One of the men was Thai, the other black.

“I don’t remember anything after that until I came to on a beach. I woke up in the middle of being raped. I screamed blue murder. They tried to cover my mouth and were saying in English ‘shut up.’ I bit one of them on the hand.

“I was screaming ‘Stop! Stop!’ but realised that wasn’t working. I shouted ‘Rape!’ and after a few moments they ran off.”

Holt believes she may have been drugged with Rohypnol. However, because she wasn’t given a blood test until 10 hours after the attack, all traces of the drug would have disappeared by then.

“I got up and stood on the rock screaming for help.  A Thai woman called down to me in English, asking if I was okay. I couldn’t see her but to know that someone else was there was such a relief.”

After 20 minutes police came and helped her climb up the cliff by the beach to the woman’s house.

“All of a sudden a whole lot of them arrived, along with the new chief of police. He came over and introduced himself to me and said it was his first day. It was slightly bizarre. I didn’t know what the police were saying as I couldn’t understand them. It had gone from being two police to being about 20.  They seemed more interested in impressing the police chief than helping me.”

At 6am on January 22, she said she was examined by a male doctor at the local hospital.

“He took blood and did an examination. He didn’t speak any English, which was infuriating, as I didn’t know what was going on.

“He gave me pills but didn’t tell me what [they were]. It wasn’t until I was taken to a private hospital by the British Embassy that I found out they were antibiotics and a ‘morning-after’ pill. I was also given anti-retrovirals against HIV at the private hospital.

“In the government hospital, when I went in for the examination, the chief of police tried to come in as well. I just shut the door in his face. I felt they were more worried about tourism and the damage to it than what I had been through.

“They tried to dissuade me from pressing charges and told me it would damage tourism. I sat there with my mouth open ... I couldn’t believe how I was being treated.”

Holt said she was then driven to the police station to make a statement. “I didn’t have an interpreter – they just wrote down what I was saying in Thai but how closely it matched I don’t know. They weren’t taping the interview.

Holt later learnt that police had not informed the British Embassy – officials only learnt of the rape after her father called the Foreign Office emergency line in London.

Koh Samui police chief Colonel Chakkrit Srisuwan, on learning of the allegations, denied that the rape was being covered up.

“When police interviewed the girl she was not clear about what happened and seemed drunk. She said she had been raped, and mentioned a black man – big, strong.

“A medical check was carried out by two doctors at the hospital. The examination could not confirm rape so they sent samples to a police hospital in Bangkok for analysis. We have yet to receive results.

“The girl was confused and uncoordinated, but there were no serious injuries.

“Police apprehended a Thai man known to have spoken to her and [who] had tried to carry her out of the Green Mango – CCTV cameras show the incident. The manager has made a positive ID – he was taken to Nathon police station.

“The next day the girl was also taken to Nathon to make a report, she still could not remember what happened and said she did not want to continue the investigation. Police advised her to continue and she was asked to identify the man from the club but she said he was not one of her attackers.

“Police are continuing with the investigation.”

Andrew Drummond

Special to The Nation