Tour organiser who sexually assaulted sleeping man in hotel room gets caning, 5.5 years' jail

SINGAPORE — While his roommate was fast asleep, Chalermnarong Namsri reached under his blanket to sexually violate him.

The victim thought it was all a dream until he woke up and saw Chalermnarong retreating to his own bed.

On Tuesday (March 3), the 46-year-old Thai was sentenced to five-and-a-half years’ jail and three strokes of the cane. He pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault by penetration. 

The 24-year-old victim cannot be named due to a court order to protect his identity.

The court heard that Chalermnarong came to Singapore early last year as a tour coordinator for a sponsored trip and the victim, also a Thai, was part of the same group. 

Court documents did not state who had sponsored the trip.

Chalermnarong was working as a freelance event coordinator in his home country then, and his job in Singapore included liaising with tour guides for the sponsored participants.

While he did not know his victim before the trip, a tour guide had assigned both men to sleep in the same room at Hotel Grand Central, located in the Orchard Road area.

They both had a single bed of their own.

On March 27 last year, the younger man went to bed at about 3am after taking a shower and changing into a T-shirt and shorts.

Chalermnarong went to bed after him. When the other man’s alarm clock went off at about 5am, Chalermnarong woke up but his roommate was still sleeping. He then went over, lifted the man’s blanket and pulled down his shorts to stroke his private parts.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Grace Teo told the court: “At this point, the victim reached under his blanket and grasped the accused’s hand. Thinking it was a dream, the victim let go.”

Chalermnarong then went on to sexually assault the man. After a few minutes, the victim woke up, tugged his shorts up and pulled the blanket up to his neck.

When he turned around and saw Chalermnarong going back to his bed, he was shocked and decided to take a shower to think about what to do.

Later, he asked Chalermnarong how long he had been “doing that to him” and Chalermnarong then apologised. The victim left the room and met his cousin to tell him what had happened.

Both men sought advice from the Thai embassy and made a police report the next day.

DPP Teo sought six years’ jail and three strokes of the cane, saying that Chalermnarong had exposed his victim to the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and took advantage of a situation where the victim was “incapable of fending off the accused’s assault”.

In mitigation, Chalermnarong’s lawyer Anand George said that his client was remorseful and was a law-abiding citizen for most of his life. He will also return to Thailand after serving his sentence.

The lawyer said: “He should not have laboured under the false impression that the victim could have consented or did consent to the act… During the (sexual assault), there were some factors that led him to consider that perhaps the victim may have consented.”

To this, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt replied that the victim had been asleep.

The judge added: “There is some suggestion that in the course of committing the offence, there was no reaction from the victim, and maybe the accused thought there was some form of consent. I cannot accept that.”

For sexual assault by penetration, Chalermnarong could have been jailed up to 20 years, as well as fined or caned.