THE Saudi woman who made a desperate plea for asylum after landing at Bangkok airport will not be forcibly deported from Thailand, an official said yesterday.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun said that she ran away from her family while travelling in Kuwait because they subjected her to physical and psychological abuse.

The 18-year-old said she had planned to seek asylum in Australia and feared she would be killed if repatriated by Thai immigration officials who stopped her during transit Sunday.

The incident comes as Saudi Arabia faces intense scrutiny over the shocking murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year, which has renewed criticism of the kingdom’s rights record.

Thai immigration chief Surachate Hakparn said Sunday that Qunun was denied entry because of her lack of documents.

But he made an abrupt about-face the next day, following a global media frenzy as the young woman pleaded on Twitter for different countries to help her.

“If she does not want to leave, we will not force her,” he told reporters at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday, saying the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) would be able to meet her.

“The UNHCR and I will... listen to what she wants, whether or not she wants to receive asylum to which country, and we will help coordinate.”

Qunun was stopped by immigration because Saudi Arabian officials contacted them to say she had fled her family, he added.

If she wished to stay in Thailand, the U.N. would have to verify the legitimacy of her asylum claims, Surachate said.

“Thailand is a land of smiles. We will not send anyone to die,” he added.

The UNHCR said it had been granted access to Qunun at the airport “to assess her need for international refugee protection and find an immediate solution for her situation.”

Qunun posted a video on Twitter of her barricading her hotel room door with furniture.

She said Saudi and Kuwaiti officials had taken her travel document from her when she landed — a claim backed by Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

But at the press conference, Surachate said it was Thailand’s “procedure to take the passport of anyone who we deny entry to.”

Abdulilah al-Shouaibi, charge d’affaires at the Saudi embassy in Bangkok, told Saudi-owned TV channel Khalijia that the woman’s father had contacted the diplomatic mission for “help” to bring her back. (SD-Agencies)