The father, whose name was not revealed, also petitioned to the French Embassy in Bangkok and called for protection for his children and himself as he alleged that he has been followed and threatened.

His lawyer, Tatchapon Chuenchonphruk, told reporters that the petition contained medical reports from Thai and French hospitals about the psychological condition of the children. The reports said the children were under stress, said Tatchapon.

Tatchapon said his client would also seek justice from the Crime Suppression Division as he claimed police in the area where the abuses took place had failed to do their jobs concerning the case.

The father alerted police in Chon Buri’s Banglamung district in June about his allegation that his eight-year-old daughter and four-year-old son were abused by their stepfather in the presence of his former Chinese wife, who lived in Pattaya.

Tatchapon said the father met his Chinese wife about 10 years ago in Hong Kong where he had a clothes business. They married without registering the marriage and had a son and a daughter.

When they later came to Pattaya for a vacation, he and his then-wife had problems so he left the family in Pattaya. Later, his now ex-wife met a British man and they got married.

The father says that his children told him during a visit that their mother punished them by slapping their faces and their stepfather taught them to drink beer. The boy allegedly was taught to give the stepfather sexual services and the stepfather raped his daughter five times.

In June, the father filed complaints with Pattaya police and took the children to meet doctors at Smitivej and Police hospitals for medical and psychological examination. He said doctors at Smitivej Hospital diagnosed the children as having psychological conditions that were not normal and they needed rehabilitation.

He already filed a complaint with the court seeking its permission to take the children with him to France because he wanted them to have a good education and future. The case is still being considered by the court.

His ex-wife worked in an entertainment venue in Pattaya and she had to leave the children with the stepfather during the night, he said.