The incident came to public attention when Facebook user ‘Earn PhimPhattha’ shared an 18-second CCTV video with the caption ‘A drug-addicted transvestite came out of nowhere and asked for the motorbike key.” at 10:30pm on Sunday (Sept 8).
According to the CCTV footage, a transvestite wearing a white tube top and pink shorts was seen walking into the house.
Reporters yesterday (Sept 9) went to the scene of the incident, opposite the Thalang branch of National Telecom (formerly TOT) in Moo 1, Thepkrasattri.
Ms Earn, who posted the CCTV footage, told reporters that the incident occurred on Sunday.
She said her 19-year-old sister was with her 4-year-old nephew in the house when a ladyboy, around 30 years old, arrived at about 9:08pm.
The ladyboy asked for the key to her sister’s motorbike, a small red motorbike parked in front of the house. Confused because she had never met him before, Ms Eam’s sister refused to hand over the key.
The ladyboy walked out, and came back at about 9:31pm on a small green motorbike.
This time, the ladyboy allegedly walked into her sister’s house, which was one house away, rushed into through the drawers, and took the motorbike key.
At that time, her nephew came out and saw him. Frightened, Ms Eam’s sister quickly called her mother and brother-in-law to hurry back home.
The brother-in-law soon arrived and confronted the ladyboy, asking "What are you doing here?" Then, the ladyboy tried to ride off the green motorbike she had arrived on.
The brother-in-law pulled the motorbike over, landing it on its side on the ground, prompting the ladyboy to flee on foot. The brother-in-law gave chase, but soon returned alone.
However, Thalang Police officers arrived at the same time and arrested the ladyboy. Officers deemed that, from their visual assessment, the ladbody was probably high on drugs, said Ms Eam
The officers were going to take the ladyboy to the police station to be tested, but the ladyboy said, "I’ll go myself," and took advantage of the moment when the police were not paying attention to jump on the green motorbike and escape, she added.
From photos of the licence plate, police were later able to confirm that the green motorbike that ladyboy had arrived on actually belonged to the ladyboy’s mother.
After the incident Ms Earn was told to bring the evidence from the CCTV camera to file a complaint to prosecute the ladyboy..
Of note, The Phuket News has several video files from the CCTV, which corroborates only some of the version of the story told to the press.