TV star left Thailand within hours of the attack for Dubai to be reunited with her 4-year-old son after the shock of her ordeal. The attack on Natai Beach in Phang-nga province where Ms Hummels had gone to spend a few days after 3 weeks filming of a popular German TV show in Phuket had wrapped up. The incident and worldwide press coverage of it, because of the celebrity status of the victim, has raised pressure on Thai authorities over tourist safety in the kingdom.
On Thursday, top brass with the Royal Thai Police in Region 8 held a press conference in response to worldwide media coverage following the assault and robbery of high profile German TV presenter Cathy Hummels on Saturday last at Natai Beach in the Khokkloi area of Phang-nga province. The incident is the latest in a string of attacks involving foreign tourists in Thailand which police admitted during their press briefing was damaging to the country’s image and efforts to attract foreign tourism. However, it has emerged from details given by the police during the press conference that the victim of the attack initially appears to have asked them not to publicise the incident or indeed pursue prosecution as Ms Hummels insisted on taking flight from the kingdom within hours of the assault.
The German TV presenter, media influencer and wife of World Cup star Mats Hummels flew out of Thailand hours after she was attacked on Saturday night last on Natai Beach in the Khokkloi area of Phang-nga in the Takua Thung District of the province on the Andaman Sea near Phuket in southern Thailand.
At a press conference on Thursday, convened by senior police officers at Khokkloi Police Station, the Commissioner for Police Region 8, Lieutenant General Amphon Buarabporn, expressed confidence that the perpetrator of the crime would be brought to justice by police assigned to the case.
He was accompanied by Police Major General Thammanoon Prayuenyong, the chief of the provincial police force in Phang-nga and other senior officers.
Beautiful Cathy voted WAG of the year in 2013, 2 years before she married the German World Cup winner
34-year-old Cathy Hummels is the beautiful wife of 33-year-old German World Cup hero and centre back for top German side Borussia Dortmund, Mats Hummels. She is a graduate of TU Dortmund University or the Technical University of Dortmund in the Geman state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Ms Hummels met her future husband in Munich in 2007 while he was playing for Bayern Munich.
The stunning young woman was voted WAG of the year for 2013 with WAG being a media term for wives and girlfriends of high profile sportsmen.
Ms Hummels is a media professional who made a name for herself at Berlin Fashion Week and at the 2014 World Cup which also made her husband a huge sports star in Germany when the European national side won the treasured trophy in Brazil in July that year beating Argentina one goal to nil.
Ms Hummels has a 4-year-old son named Ludwig
In 2015, Ms Hummels appeared on Let’s Dance, a popular German TV show which is a dancing competition for well-known celebrities. This was also the same year she married her husband on June 15th.
The couple has a four-year-old boy Ludwig Hummels who was born in January 2018.
At the press conference on Thursday, there appeared to be some discrepancy in relation to when the investigation into the report filed by Ms Hummels on Saturday night last, immediately after the incident, began and when a formal police investigation into the matter was opened.
Police investigation opened by officers on Monday, February 7th, Ms Hummels did not give a statement
The case was opened by the Deputy Head of Investigation at Khokkloi Police Station Police Lieutenant Colonel Parusk Masmalai on February 7th.
On Thursday, Police Lieutenant General Amphon noted that Ms Hummels had not given a formal statement herself to police and said that reports of the incident appeared to have been filed on February 7th or last Monday afternoon.
It is understood that Ms Hummels initially requested police authorities not to publicise the matter and declined to give a statement in person as she rushed to leave Thailand within hours of the beach mugging incident on a flight to Dubai where she was reunited with her son Ludwig after speaking with her husband by telephone.
Ms Hummels is already separated from her football star husband.
Frightened victim appointed a Thai representative through a power of attorney to liaise with police
It is understood that Ms Hummels spoke with a police officer who took pictures related to the attack and advised her to appoint a representative in Thailand with a power of attorney to act on her behalf before quickly taking her leave of the kingdom at short notice.
The story then broke on the Geman Bild newspaper, a popular tabloid publication with millions of readers where Ms Hummels gave a startling account of her ordeal on Natai Beach on Saturday evening last as she walked alone.
She said she had taken a stroll to get a good photo of the moon at night from the beach.
It is being reported that Ms Hummels was enjoying a few days off after filming in Thailand and Phuket over the last 3 weeks for the German TV show Battle of the Reality Stars, a German version of the popular UK TV show Love Island which is a reality TV show based on finding love and matchmaking.
Latest visit to Thailand was not a good experience Ms Hummels told her huge social media audience this week as she recalled her beach walk nightmare
She began by revealing that her latest visit to Thailand was not a very good experience for her.
Writing on social media she told her fans: ‘A few days ago, something terrible happened to me. I was mugged. The worst experience of my life. I did not know if I would survive. But I had the best reason to fight: you, Lumpi!’
‘One night while walking, I was hit in the head from behind. The attacker hit me quite a few times, at some point, I realised that this was a matter of life and death. After that, I just said: ‘Take what you want and let me live!’
‘I only had one phone on my body. He took mine and ran away. I gathered all my strength and ran back to the hotel. All the time I only thought of my son Ludwig.’
On Thursday, the police chief of Region 8 told reporters that Ms Hummels had been hit once with a blow or punch to the head. It is also reported that the shocked young woman was thrown to the ground in the assault.
Ms Hummels revealed that the attacker had taken her expensive iPhone 12 Pro max smartphone and also left her with bruising to her left arm.
Beach area dimly lit, a shocked Ms Hummels was not able to provide a good description of her attacker
On Thursday, police officers said that the victim had not managed to get a good picture of her attacker because the scene of the assault and mugging, approximately 800 metres from the Alleenta Hotel in Khooklai, was dimly lit.
Ms Hummels has 665,000 followers on Instagram while her husband has 3.7 million fans.
In the last few days, she has told her social media audience that the incident has left her frightened and nervous of being approached by strangers.
‘I’m glad to be alive. The thought is constantly in my head. If a man walks behind or next to me, I wince. I got really scared,’ she confided.
‘Mentally I’m actually strong. But I will probably never forget this moment on the beach for the rest of my life,’ she wrote.
Reported the attack to police but did not want it publicised and was unsure of pursuing a prosecution
Police also indicated that Ms Hummels was unsure when she made her initial report if she wanted to pursue a prosecution concerning the matter.
On Thursday, Police Lieutenant General Amphon told the media that he had ordered his officers to pursue a detailed and thorough investigation into the incident.
He said he was confident that the attacker would be apprehended and brought to justice.
Headache for tourism authorities as incidents grow
Last Saturday night’s attack in Phang-nga is a problem for Thailand’s tourist promotion agencies and comes after the killing of a UK tourist in Kanchanaburi province in January this year as well the murder of 57-year old Swiss tourist, Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf in August last year while on holidays, in nearby Phuket, by a 27-year-old local who initially attempted to rape the woman but later stole ฿300 from her bag.
Murder of Swiss tourist on Phuket raises the disturbing question of tourist safety in Thailand
Accused tells the press he murdered the Swiss tourist last week in Phuket and stole ฿300 for drugs and orange juice
The man arrested for that murder which shocked Thailand was Teerawat Thothip who used the money to buy orange juice and drugs.
Attack resurrects the heartache of the murder of German tourist Miriam Beelte on Ko Si Chang in 2019
For German audiences, this week’s incident will also resurrect memories of the harrowing sexual assault and murder of young German tourist, Miriam Beelte on the beautiful island of Ko Si Chang in April 2019 for which a local man, 24-year-old Ronnakorn Romruen, a drug addict, was later handed down a death sentence.
In August last year, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, ordered a review and improvement in security for foreign tourists including more volunteer police members and additional CCTV cameras in places popularly frequented by tourists.
This, of course, is particularly difficult for Thailand’s idyllic and quiet beaches which are part of the attraction of the kingdom to visitors in the first place.
On Friday 14th of January, in Pattaya, a Swedish tourist reported being attacked by two assailants on the beach in the resort near Soi 7 but the visitor was not robbed or injured.
The incident was reported 4 days after it took place.
On Thursday, the senior police officers gathered in Phang-nga, admitted that this incident had tarnished Thailand’s image abroad and it’s foreign tourism industry.
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Further reading:
Murder of Swiss tourist on Phuket raises the disturbing question of tourist safety in Thailand
Accused tells press he murdered the Swiss tourist last week in Phuket and stole ฿300 for drugs
Thai man sentenced to death for the Ko Si Chang murder of German woman Miriam Beelte in April
Evil struck a Thai island on Sunday when a local brutally raped and murdered a German woman
93% of Thai people want to see the death penalty put to use to curb shocking murders and drug gangs
New ‘Green’ future for tourism in Phuket as officials crack down on prostitution on the island
Phuket reopening getting up holidaymakers noses with no less than 5 Covid-19 tests to be paid for
Prayut says Thailand will revert to normal for tourism from mid-October as Phuket set to reopen
Closure of Phuket bars and alcohol restrictions turn off prospective foreign tourist says survey
Blow for travellers: strict rules, no bars and entertainment venues allowed to open in Phuket
Wave of calamity scuppers any foreign tourism recovery with even 7% of visitors now in doubt
UK variant driving the 3rd virus wave in Thailand may have come from Phnom Penh in Cambodia
Thai economy is still in reverse despite rising confidence and a virus threatening a 3rd wave
Reopening of Phuket still not officially approved although it is the ideal test for a broader move
Minister urged not to be afraid to borrow in 2021 as fears grow for a quick foreign tourism revival
Economy to rebound as the year progresses driven by exports and a return of mass foreign tourism
Door closing on quick foreign tourism return as economic recovery is delayed to the end of 2022
