Phuket court acquits Swiss man accused of kicking Thai woman on beach
Court rules public prosecutors failed to prove accused had intentionally kicked the plaintiff in the back as charged
The Phuket Court on Tuesday acquitted a Swiss national of a charge that he kicked a female Thai doctor who was sitting on a beach in front of a luxury villa he had rented in Thalang district in February.
The court reasoned that public prosecutors and a co-plaintiff, Dr Thandao Chandam, failed to prove beyond doubt that the Swiss man, Urs “David” Fehr, had intentionally kicked the doctor in the back as charged.
As a result, the court said Fehr was acquitted on the benefit of doubt.
Earlier, Thandao, 26, a doctor at Dibuk Hospital in Phuket, told media that she had been kicked in the back on the night of February 24 by Fehr while sitting on steps at Yamu Beach in front of a villa in Thalang district.
Thandao said she felt the need to go public and expose the alleged assault because during the incident Fehr’s Thai wife had claimed a strong connection with senior Phuket police officers.
Fehr later came out to explain to the public that he ran towards the doctor out of misunderstanding that she was a Chinese tourist and to warn her not to sit on his property, and he slipped and his foot touched her back accidentally.
A celebrity lawyer, Kerdphol Kaewkamnerd, said he believed police had made the case report too weak to convict Fehr.
After Thandao’s case was publicised, it led to uproar among residents of the tourist-destination province. They alleged that many well-to-do foreign businessmen came to reap business interests in the province and looked down on locals, and even blocked them from accessing public beaches.
After the uproar, the provincial administration and the Interior Ministry ordered crackdowns on blockades of public beaches, allowing locals to visit many beaches they were blocked access to in the past.
The incident also prompted the Phuket governor to recommend that the Immigration Bureau annul Fehr’s long-stay visa. He got the long-stay visa for investing in the opening of an elephant farm in Phuket.
In March, the Phuket Immigration Office announced that it revoked the long-stay visa for Fehr as recommended by the governor but it must wait for the case against the Swiss to be finalised before he would be deported.
At press time, it is still uncertain whether Fehr will still be deported now that he has been cleared of charges by the court.
