KOH SAMUI, Thailand (19 Jan 2006) -- A Swedish woman told the police she had been raped early yesterday by two Thai men on the same island where a British woman was attacked and killed on New Year's Day. The 44-year-old Swede is on holiday on Koh Samui with her husband and children. Lt Thiraphon Somsuwanchai said the woman had told the police she had left a karaoke bar alone to go to the beach when two Thai men had put a knife to her and taken turns raping her. Thiraphon added that a medical inspection had shown signs that she had been raped. The police were looking for the suspects. Two Thai fishermen were sentenced to death yesterday for the rape and murder of British tourist Katherine Horton, 21, who had been on holiday on Koh Samui over New Year. The defendants in Horton's case - handcuffed, their heads shaved - were told to stand as the judge read the court's verdict in a case that has drawn international attention and calls for stern punishment from Thailand's prime minister. "The crime they committed has terrified people," Judge Chamnong Sutchaimai told the packed court, which made a rare exception of letting in TV cameras and photographers. "To prevent others from committing similar acts, the court rules that the two defendants be sentenced to death." | | The fishermen, Bualoi Posit, 23, and Wichai Somkhaoyai, 24, pleaded guilty last week to the brutal attack on Horton, a student from Wales who had been on holiday on Koh Samui, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. Horton's body was buried on Tuesday in Cardiff, Wales. The two men were arrested on January 9. They confessed to the crime but a trial was held on Friday as is customary in Thailand, even when defendants plead guilty. DNA tests linked the two to the crime. Both men kept their heads bowed as the verdict was announced. They made their first public statements of remorse afterwards. "I accept it. I'm sorry for what I did," an expressionless Bualoi told reporters, before the police led the pair to a waiting van. Defence lawyer Amarin Nuimai called the ruling "extremely harsh". He said the two were considering an appeal, and had a month to decide. Murder charges in Thailand carry a maximum sentence of death, but courts usually reduce such sentences to prison terms in cases where defendants plead guilty. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra made a public appeal for the killers to receive the "hardest punishment" possible, saying the slaying hurt the country's image and damaged its tourism industry. Defence attorneys presented no witnesses during the one-day trial, which was speeded through the court system because of international attention. 
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