Police arrested woodcutter Supornchai Noonoi, 31, at 5am on Wednesday based on DNA evidence.
He is also linked to four other rape cases including a rape in Khon Kaen in 2008, 2015 and last year, as well as another recent rape of a 30-year-old woman in Chon Buri's Panat Nikhom.
Villagers demanded that the suspect apologise, despite police explaining that officers had to gather evidence for submission along with a detention request to court on Friday.
They even suggested they would take the girl's body to the precinct for the suspect to apologise in front of everyone.