PHUKET, Thailand — One expat woman has been raped and a second expat woman bashed in a sex attack while she was out jogging around the tranquil tourist area at Cape Promthep and Nai Harn lake. The attacks took place within 24 hours of each other but what's unclear at present is whether different attackers were involved or whether one rapist is now on the loose on Phuket. A woman from Europe was attacked and raped in her own home at Nai Harn around 7am on Saturday, as she returned from using her outdoor shower facility. The previous day around 8am, an American woman out jogging was attacked by a man armed with a screwdriver. Learning of the rape through a mutual friend, the American met up with the European woman to compare descriptions of the attacker in both cases. ''We don't know if it's the same guy,'' said the American woman. The European woman has since left the island on a short trip, but is expected to return. The American woman, aged in her late 30s, has given her account of the first attack to Phuketwan. She prefers to remain anonymous. She says she was punched and dragged into a ditch where the man produced a cutter and held it to her throat. However, she managed to eventually attract the attention of a man out walking, and escaped. Recovering the next day from bruises to her badly swollen face, she was alarmed to hear about the second attack in Nai Harn within 24 hours. ''I run all the time at Nai Harn and usually head up the hill towards the cape,'' she said. ''On Friday morning this guy on a motorcycle stopped as I was jogging and said 'Hello.' I kept on jogging. '''Do you need a ride?''' he asked. I said, 'No. I'm exercising.' Do you have a boyfriend? he asked. 'Yes, I do' I said. ''He went on ahead up the hill, parked the motorcycle, and then walked back down towards me. I noticed he'd undone his belt and had a screwdriver in his hand.'' She grabbed the screwdriver and they wrestled, she said, with the man punching her several times. ''He pulled me and knocked me down into the ditch. Then he jumped on top. He had me in a headlock and held me down and held a cutter to my neck. ''At the same time he was trying to pull his pants down and grabbing at my shorts. I was trying to stay alert and I hoped someone would come along, so I kept one leg up over the edge of the ditch. ''The I noticed him looking up so I just started screaming at the top of my lungs. I was able to push him to one side enough to see a motorcycle coming, and a man walking as well.'' The man on the motorcycle slowed to see what was happening but did not stop. The man who was walking also appeared reluctant at first to stop, although she called out ''Help me! Help me!'' ''Somehow I finally got away,'' she said. ''I ran down to the other guy.'' Spurred into action, he joined her in jogging down the hill to where they were met by a Swiss man and a Thai woman who had heard the commotion. ''By that time I was pretty much out of it,'' she said. ''The four of us went on down to the benches by the lake.'' Soon after, uniformed and plain-clothes police officers joined them at a nearby resort where she gave her account in detail. The police were obliging and concerned for her welfare, she said. Just over a year ago, she said, while out riding a motorcycle, she was a victim of purse-snatchers in Nai Harn. The snatchers did not get away with her bag but did inflict head injuries, and she has some hearing loss. ''I don't blame it on Thailand,'' she said. ''These things happen all over the world. I've just had a lot of bad luck.'' | 
