"We have to wait until she's ready to testify coherently. We have to hear from her exactly who the culprits are. But at this point investigators are unable to get this information from her," General Sombat Milinjinda of the Metropolitan Police Division VI said yesterday.

The girl is now under the care of the Social Development and Welfare Department, he said.

"For the time being, we will gather circumstantial evidence and question witnesses," he said.

Police say the girl repeatedly changed her story of what happened to her on the night of June 9 since filing her complaint on Sunday. She first said she was abducted and gang-raped. Later, she said her Cambodian boyfriend picked her up for a Pattaya trip but he and his friends gang-raped her. In her latest statement, she said she was selling sex services in a van but was forced to leave the vehicle after she refused to agree to a customer's request for perverted sex.

"When she feels ready, we will question her again," Sombat said.

Thanawadee Thajeen, director of the Friends of Women Foundation, said her social workers found the girl feeling very upset, dazed and drowsy and it was unclear whether "this comes from drug abuse or trauma".

She said mental problems and fear could have led the girl to give confusing statements and "the huge media coverage can only make her feel worse".

The girl would be ready to tell the truth if she was kept away from the press and underwent mental rehabilitation for a week, she said.

"When the girl is ready to speak, please assign female investigators," Thanawadee said, and recommended that a psychologist assist in the interrogation.

She said the girl's mother was not at her home and could not be located.

Mayuree Sukyingcharoenwong

The Nation