A British couple viciously beaten unconscious in Hua Hin over Songkran recounted the attack to a Thai court yesterday.
The couple — Rosemary Owen, 65, and Lewis Sr Owen, 68 — were attacked along with their son, Lewis, 43, by four Thai men after the son accidently bumped into one of the men.
CCTV footage of the brutal attack on the family after they left a bar in Hua Hin on April 13 sparked outrage in Thailand and abroad.
Lewis Jr required 16 stitches in three areas of his head after the attack.
His dad needed six stitches in his forehead and suffered heavy bruising and two black eyes.
His mother suffered the most serious injuries, undergoing several operations to help reduce swelling on the brain.
Rosemary recounted the event to Hua Hin’s provincial court from a private room because she was too scared to face her attackers.
“I still have nightmares. And the headaches. The headaches are there all the time. I don’t know if it will always stay with me, the memory, but for now I have nightmares and it is sad that this has happened to me by a small group of Thai people, people who I love,” Mail Online reported.
The couple had their testimonies recorded ahead of their scheduled flight home today.
The family has said they will never return to Thailand after the vicious attack.
“I’m not going back to Thailand again,” the son, who returned to Singapore last week, said.
“Mom and dad won’t be either. Never, ever again.”
However, Prime Minister’s Office Minister ML Panadda Diskul contradicted the family’s comments when he spoke to local media yesterday morning at the hospital after the elderly couple had another checkup.
Contrary to reports in British newspapers, Panadda told the Thai press that the couple “understood perfectly” that an attack could happen in any country and that they would come back to Thailand like they do every year, Naewna reported.
Panadda presented the couple with fruit and flowers and offered an apology for the attack.
Photo: Sanook
Pol. Col. Chaiyakorn Sriladecho, chief of Hua Hin police, said the elderly couple and their son were attacked because the son accidentally bumped into one of the Thai men.
No date has been set for the trial.
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