Kathu Police Deputy Chief Lt Col Amponwat Sangruang confirmed to The Phuket News today (Nov 20) that the attack took place about 6:30pm.
Col Ampornat confirmed that police were looking for two men and one woman for the attacked, but declined to give any further details .
“Now police are hunting the attackers as fast as we can,” was all he would say.
The information about the incident was first published on social media by the victim’s boyfriend, Alexander, and later shared by on Russian-language Realny Phuket social media page on the Telegram platform.
The post said that the victim, a Russian woman, was walking along the main road near the entrance to Loch Palm and Red Mountain Golf Courses when three suspects on one motorbike approached her from behind, got off the vehicle, knocked the woman on the ground and started beating her in order to get her belongings. Then the trio escaped on their bike with the woman's bag.
"[On their escape route] there were two golf club CCTV cameras and one camera near a Family Mart store, but the suspects’ bike had no license plates, so we don’t expect too much from the investigation. Though we checked all the records and handed them to the police,” said Alexander in his original post.
According to a different post by the same user, some Thai people also saw the suspects but didn’t recognise any of them. He also mentioned that witnesses were threatened by the suspects to keep silent.
Talking to The Phuket News, Alexander said that his girlfriend, Maria, 23, escaped serious injuries. The stolen possessions included some cash, earphones and bank cards. The woman managed to save her phone by throwing it into roadside bushes.
Alexander said that they both live in Loch Palm which they know as a safe locale and warned people to be vigilant when walking alone after dark, especially lone women.
“I shared this information to warn people, that’s it,” he said.