Earlier this week, the National Legislative Assembly approved in principle a proposal to amend the criminal code so that male rape victims would be able to sue their abusers. Current laws recognise rape complaints filed by female victims only.

National Police assistant commissioner Jongrak Juthanont yesterday said if the proposal became law, it would be investigators' duty to gather evidence when male victims lodge rape complaints.

"We can examine the alleged crime scene. We can check the physical conditions of the complainants and their alleged abusers. We can check if any clothes are ripped," Jongrak said.

As an example, he said it would be hard to believe if a big man accused a smaller woman of raping him. A young boy's complaint that fully grown women raped him, on the other hand, could have more grounds, he said.

Jongrak added that the relationship between the complainant and the alleged attacker would also be a key matter.

"We have to be very careful if the accused and the accuser have had a relationship," he said.

Pol Colonel Pornchai Sutheerakhun of the Forensic Medicine Institute said physical examinations could find evidence in men who were forced to have anal sex if the victims immediately went to doctors.

"Bruises on the complainants' bodies also count as evidence," he explained.

Pornchai was not confident about gathering evidence for a man's complaint that a woman raped him.

Meanwhile, Women's Affairs and Family Development Office deputy director Kingkeaw Insawang said the proposed legal amendment was intended to protect all rape victims, including boys, men and transsexuals.

The change focuses on a legal clause in the current criminal code, which now defines a rapist as someone who rapes a person who is not his wife.

In the proposed draft, rapists are those who rape a person who is not their wife or husband.