Up to 5 officers were involved in the investigation and arrest of the pair who abjectly apologised at a press conference on Saturday evening in which a senior Pattaya police officer warned of the harm such actions can have on Pattaya’s international image and its ability to attract tourists.
Pattaya police staged a press conference on Saturday at the city’s police station in which a Russian couple apologised for engaging in an act of public indecency on the beachfront of the holiday resort on New Year’s Eve. It was the second such incident in a week, but this time, police succeeded in tracking down the pair who were prosecuted to the maximum extent.
A short video of the couple engaging in sexual relations in broad daylight was handed in by a shocked local on the same day to police who finally caught up with them on Saturday.
The young Russian couple were arrested at their hotel after a police investigation led to their door following the incident on the Pattaya beachfront on New Year’s Eve.
Young couple seen in video having sex in plain view
27-year-old Roman Grigorenko and his 19-year-old girlfriend Daria Vinogradova were recorded by a Thai citizen on the beach engaged in sexual activity in plain view.
The video clip was handed in to police in Pattaya. It follows public outrage over a similar incident on December 28th on the same beachfront when a couple were recorded making love near the seashore.
Police tracked the couple from the beach to their hotel
On Saturday evening, following a police investigation in which the police tracked the couple from the beach through CCTV footage, the pair made a new recording from Pattaya Police Station where they profusely apologised to the Thai public and city authorities for their actions.
Abject and public apology with clasped hands
Both Russians wore surgical masks and clasped their hands in prayer according to Thai tradition to show respect. ‘I apologise for offending citizens and harming the reputation of the city. We’re sorry,’ said Mr Grigorenko although many observers noted that he was wearing a Pornhub T-shirt in the video. Pornhub is one of the world’s largest pornographic video sharing site headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
Both were fined ฿5,000 each – the maximum penalty for the offence under Thai law that can be imposed
Police later fined the couple ฿5,000 each on charges of public indecency. It was the highest penalty that could be imposed under current legislation for such an offence.
Local handed the video clip to Pattaya police
Pattaya Police took the matter very seriously when the video footage was handed in by a concerned citizen following an earlier incident 3 days earlier. It is believed that up to 5 officers were involved in the investigation to track down the pair and then arrest them at their hotel.
Initially, the shocked couple were taken in for questioning on suspicion of engaging in an act of public indecency.
‘Destroys the good image of Patytay as a tourist resort’ said the senior Pattaya police officer
At Saturday’s press conference in Pattaya, Police Lieutenant Colonel Piyapong Ensarn explained why: ‘Such an act destroys the good image of Pattaya as a tourist resort. Officers were immediately dispatched to the beach to look for clues.’
Thai national horrified by the couple’s beach antics
The person who took the video was horrified by the content of the clip in which the 19-year-old Russian woman was first seen on top of her partner, removing her pants and unbuttoning her partner’s jeans. This was followed by 30 seconds of footage showing the couple engaging in sexual relations on the open beach.
Alcohol contributed to the incident
Police Lieutenant Colonel Piyapoort on Saturday explained what happened: ‘Both tourists confessed to being the people in the video clip. Before the incident, both of them travelled to celebrate the New Year. They left a bar on Walking Street then continued to sit on the beach drinking alcohol.’
He underlined the role of alcohol in the incident. ‘They said they felt sexual arousal and because they were intoxicated, lost the awareness of where they were and started to have sex,’ he told reporters.
The Russian couple explained to investigating police that they failed to notice anyone in their immediate vicinity.
Join the Thai News forum, follow Thai Examiner on Facebook here
Receive all our stories as they come out on Telegram here
Follow Thai Examiner here
Further reading:
American arrested by police task force in Chiang Mai on a warrant related to public indecency
