A former staff member at the Australian embassy in Bangkok has pleaded guilty to installing tiny hidden cameras in two women's bathrooms inside the secure government building.
Nayot "Bank" Thamsongsana, 39, appeared in the Bangkok South Criminal Court on January 30 and pleaded guilty to committing an indecent act to persons over 15 years of age by threatening with any means.
The locally engaged embassy employee was arrested by Royal Thai Police in January 2022 after a camera's digital memory card was found on a bathroom floor inside the Bangkok mission.
He was fired from his job as an IT systems manager the day after his arrest.
His guilty plea came just over a year later, on the day prosecutors and the defence had come to court for a witness and evidence examination hearing to determine the trial hearing dates.
"[Nayot] looked at the evidence to prepare to fight the case … and after he checked all the evidence, documents, and statements from the prosecutor, he confessed and pleaded guilty," deputy spokesman for the Office of the Attorney-General, Kosonlawat Inthuchanyong, told the ABC.
"He confessed that he put the cameras in the toilets to secretly watch the activity inside the toilets.
"An act like this is committing an indecent act by threatening, because there is no-one who would allow others to do that to them."
Images of two women recorded by hidden bathroom cameras
Sixty women who used the bathrooms where the cameras were installed gave statements to police.
"Many of them must have been so frightened and worried if their image was taken, or if they were watched," Mr Kosonlawat said.
"They filed complaints but after checking all the evidence we were informed by the prosecutor that only images of two people were recorded and found."
Mr Kosonlawat said Nayot cooperated fully with investigators and would have the option of giving a written or verbal statement of remorse to the court.
The former embassy staffer is expected to return to court to be sentenced on March 23.
Mr Kosonlawat said that under Thai law, Nayot now has the option of paying compensation and apologising to the two women in the meantime.
The women can then choose to accept the payment and apology and make a statement to police or the court that they are willing to drop the case entirely.
Or they can accept the apology and payment and continue with the court process.
The charges Nayot pleaded guilty to carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail, a 20,000 baht ($850) fine, or both.
The Bangkok embassy is one of Australia's largest diplomatic missions.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) would not comment on the case while it was before the courts, but a spokesperson said the department would "continue to provide support to staff, including through in-house counselling".
DFAT's principal psychologist has travelled to Bangkok to provide counselling, and staff also have access to support services in the country, as well as the 24-hour employee assistance program.
"The department has reviewed security arrangements at the embassy in Bangkok to ensure they remain robust and appropriate," the spokesperson said.
Mr Kosonlawat said he was sympathetic to the women affected by this case.
"The Office of the Attorney-General would like to express our sympathy for what happened," he said.
"We tried our best [to] prosecute the case as best we could under Thai law."
