Thai police yesterday said they have arrested four men in connection with the savage attack on a British couple and their son during a vacation in what was the latest blow to the country’s image as a tourist paradise.
A video of the attack, which was captured by overhead security cameras and posted this week on social media, has stirred shock and outrage over its brutality and the ages of the victims, a 65-year-old woman and 68-year-old man from Scotland and their 43-year-old son.
In the video the family is seen walking down a crowded street in the beach town of Hua Hin on the evening of April 13, amid festivities for the Thai new year.
An altercation breaks out with a group of men on the street who punch all three in the face, kick their bodies and stomp on their faces in an attack that lasts about two minutes.
Afterwards, bystanders can be seen coming to the family’s aid.
Police Colonel Chaiyakorn Sriladecho said it started after “the son accidentally bumped into one of the Thai men.”
“We have now arrested all four suspects,” Chaiyakorn said.
Three of the men were arrested within days of the incident and the fourth was arrested yesterday, he said, identifying them as in their 20s and 30s.
“The men say they are sorry and that they wouldn’t have done this if they weren’t drunk,” Chaiyakorn said.
The father and son suffered head injuries requiring stitches, while the mother had serious eye and head injuries that caused a buildup of fluid in the brain and required an operation, he said.
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