Meanwhile, police have also confirmed that no arrest warrants have been issued for any of the attackers despite telling The Phuket News on Monday Oct 8 they expected them to be issued during that week.
On Oct 8, Chalong Police confirmed that a case related to an assault on a German tourist last month was being investigated and that arrest warrants should be issued that week.
Speaking to The Phuket News, Col Pakkayot Tanongsak of the Chalong Police confirmed that officers were investigating an assault on German tourist Patrick Starke by four suspects with weapons at 10:30pm on Sept 27.
The attack, which left Mr Starke with wounds to head and arms, was caught on CCTV from in front of a 7-Eleven near Soi 11 Sai Yuan Rd in Rawai.
Col Pakkayot said, “Police will seek arrest warrants from images caught on CCTV. Now we are waiting for the names of the four suspects who attacked the tourist. I expect the arrest warrants to be ready in this week.” (See story here.)
However, speaking to The Phuket News today (Oct 18), Lt Col Somsak Soompakan of the Chalong Police said police were still in the process of identifying the four suspects.
“An investigation team went out to find the suspects and they found four people who were possible suspects.
“Officers didn’t arrest them or take them to the police station, but they did question them about the incident and also took their photos so that the victim could possibly identify them as his attackers.
“Yesterday (Oct 17) the victim came to Chalong Police Station to see the photos but he said they were not the four people who attacked him,” he said.
“This means officers have to go back to the beginning again,” he added.
“Also, the reason this case is taking so long to resolve is that the victim’s memory on the incident is not clear, and also footage from CCTV is blurred so it is hard for us to find these four people.
Lt Col Tada Sodarak also of the Chalong Police added that arrest warrants have not yet been issued and that police still don't know who attacked Mr Starke but are still looking for them.
“We haven’t had arrest warrants issued yet as footage from the CCTV in front of the 7-Eleven where the attack took place is blurred and is of no use,” he said.