Thai police prostitution
Thai police have stepped up patrols in a crackdown on crime in the area following reports of the gang rape of a British woman. Getty

A 19-year-old British backpacker has been gang raped in Thailand, according to local media reports.

The woman was allegedly kidnapped and attacked by a motorcycle gang as she walked to a shop in the early hours of Tuesday (26 May) morning in the Kanchanaburi district, 76 miles west of Bangkok.

According to Khaosad Online, the teenager was visiting the area with a group of tourists and was staying at a well-known local resort.

She had dinner at a restaurant on the Nanachart Road in Kanchanaburi on Monday night with friends and is then said to have walked to a shop alone at 1.30am. It was then that a group of motorcyclists appeared on the street, grabbed her and rode off.

She reported the incident to the Thai police explaining her ordeal. She said that the bikers raped her and stole her valuables and then dumped her at a market in Mueang district.

Officers are understood to be checking CCTV in the on the Nanachart Road to try and identify the alleged rapists. The source said the teenager had filed a complaint with police and police are checking feeds from security cameras

Khaosod online said the report of the rape could not be officially confirmed but a meeting of senior police officers took place at the Kanchanaburi Police head office at 11:30 am Thursday.

Pol Lt Gen Wirapong Chuenphakdee, commissioner of the Provincial Police Bureau 7 he held the meeting to instruct Kanchanaburi police to step up crackdowns on crimes in the popular tourist-destination province.

The Foreign Office tonight said it is investigating the report.