An Australian mother is pleading for a New Zealand woman to front a Thai court and tell the truth about an assault at a nightclub in which her son was badly beaten.
Annie Hansen-Bartel says her 21-year-old son Jack was bashed by two wealthy Chinese American students on June 10 last year on southern Thailand's Koh Samui resort island.
Raymond Chung and Ryan Yumshang Wang, both 19 at the time of the alleged attack, have withdrawn earlier guilty pleas for the assault that has left the Australian with injuries that require multiple surgeries and the family heavily in debt.
Jack Hansen-Bartel is now having to fight a legal case after lawyers for the two men filed assault charges against him.
On Monday, a criminal court judge on Samui dismissed charges against the two Americans of lying to police and defamation on technical grounds.
Annie Hansen-Bartel told AAP after the hearing the New Zealand woman, Tiffany Mariko Turner is a key witness in the case's outcome, but so far refuses to travel to Thailand to testify.
Ms Turner is currently studying at the private Fordham University in New York City in the US.
At the time of the attack in June last year, Mr Hansen-Bartel had accompanied Ms Turner to nightclubs on Koh Samui. Students from around the Asia region were marking the end of term.
Late in the evening, Chung and Wang appeared at a nightclub and attacked Mr Hansen-Bartel.
The Americans claim Mr Hansen-Bartel was molesting Ms Turner which led to their intervention, a claim the Australian strongly denies.
Wang was reported to have been in an intimate relationship with Ms Turner at the time.
Both Wang and Chung, arrested soon after the assault, initially pleaded guilty, but have since changed their pleas to not guilty.
"We really want this girl (Ms Turner) that Jack was allegedly molesting to come forward and right now she refuses (to do so) for the two attackers and also refuses (to give testimony) for Jack," Annie Hansen-Bartel said.
The attack has left Mr Hansen-Bartel, a student at Melbourne University, with serious facial injuries. He has had several operations and is due to undergo gum-grafting and tooth replacement surgery soon at a cost of close to A$13,000.
The legal and medical costs have exceeded A$250,000 with the family turning to social media for support.
The next court date was set for December 1, 2015.
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