British tourist shot dead at Thailand New Year party

[MrPlum]

Read it properly Mr P...I did not mention the child incident!! I ONLY your commented on the unfortunate death of this young man...so you can withdraw your last statement please!

Yes I know but you also expressed disapproval since the incident and I said nothing at the time. I took the opportunity to do so now, since Kendo felt the need to use it to retaliate and with the assumption your feelings haven't changed.

Have they?

[Siani]

Read it properly Mr P...I did not mention the child incident!! I ONLY your commented on the unfortunate death of this young man...so you can withdraw your last statement please!

Yes I know but you also expressed disapproval since the incident and I said nothing at the time. I took the opportunity to do so now, since Kendo felt the need to use it to retaliate and with the assumption your feelings haven't changed.

Have they?

Yes I did..but did not mention it in this topic...I left the other issue drop...it is you that has not

[MrPlum]

I left the other issue drop...

Glad to hear it and I'm glad to withdraw my previous comment.

[kendo]

Mr P i for one could not turn a blind eye in a situation that i have mentioned every child even close to home could be at risk not just the one child with the security guard because you didn't know the child does that make it a lesser issue .

I have been attacked in Hua Hin, 4 or 5 years ago i was walking with my wife, past the Hilton around mid day and two kids on a moped went passed us, the pillion had a lit firework and let it go in my face covering me in sparks i crashed down on my knee's, a really nasty experience that could have been far worst.
As a Super post Panamax crane driver that would be the end of my now 19 year carrier and would have finished my courier business had i had any damage to my eye sight.

I have also had to run for cover in our village up north as a very drunk man was firing a gun in all directions.

I have also witnessed violence that nobody would wish to see, up in Issan just outside our village the teenagers really hang the Sonkran thing out about 5 days, this drunken lad tried to stop a pick up truck with men in the back and the truck hit him he flew up in the air about 20 feet, and incredibly he landed on his backside. The truck stopped about 200 feet up the road and all his mates went running for the fight, all hell broke loose the driver a woman, was dragged out of the truck and beaten by the teenagers along with her passengers, people even came out of their houses to join in this stand off of about 25 people. The cops arrived after about 10 mins waving pump action shot guns around and broke the fight up it was very frightening.

Yes Mr P, i do have an issue in Thailand with safety, it's not unreasonable to take extra care in a country where life is cheap and the cops are useless unless you wave money under there noses.
Money owed or a relationship gone sour you really must think about personal safety in my opinion and take every measure to protect yourself and loved one's.

Kendo.

[Siani]

Mr P

Yes Mr P, i do have an issue in Thailand with safety, it's not unreasonable to take extra care in a country where life is cheap and the cops are useless unless you wave money under there noses.
Money owed or a relationship gone sour you really must think about personal safety in my opinion and take every measure to protect yourself and loved one's.

Kendo.

I agree Kendo...100% with all your comments.

[MrPlum]

Mr P i for one could not turn a blind eye in a situation that i have mentioned every child even close to home could be at risk not just the one child with the security guard because you didn't know the child does that make it a lesser issue .

Please stop acting as if you care more for children than I do. You do not. The issue is not that I 'turned a blind eye' but whether I could actually have done anything under the circumstances.

I have been attacked in Hua Hin, 4 or 5 years ago i was walking with my wife, past the Hilton around mid day and two kids on a moped went passed us, the pillion had a lit firework and let it go in my face covering me in sparks i crashed down on my knee's, a really nasty experience that could have been far worst.

As you say, nasty. But there is nothing anyone could do about such an occurrence, unless you permanently walk around wearing 'anti-flash' headgear and goggles.

I have also had to run for cover in our village up north as a very drunk man was firing a gun in all directions.

You don't need a heightened sense of security to run for cover. Only the brainless would stick around.

I have also witnessed violence that nobody would wish to see, up in Issan just outside our village the teenagers really hang the Sonkran thing out about 5 days

Yes. Songkran is definitely a dangerous time and violence and alcohol go together like Justin Bieber and infatuated teenage girls. No matter what country you are in.

Yes Mr P, i do have an issue in Thailand with safety, it's not unreasonable to take extra care in a country where life is cheap and the cops are useless unless you wave money under there noses.
Money owed or a relationship gone sour you really must think about personal safety in my opinion and take every measure to protect yourself and loved one's.

Of course. Yet, when I do so, you condemn me. I will ask you again. In that particular situation, did the risk to my personal safety and that of my family not take precedence, when the chance of any action being taken by the authorities was virtually zero?

You can't have it both ways.

[margaretcarnes]

Yet another very sad - and unecessary - death at a full moon party. So much for the alleged strict gun controls in Thailand which have been discussed on another thread. Sadly nothing we say will bring back the poor guy, or bring any solace to his family. Nor will we ever be sure that justice is fair. But what we don't need is flippant - and quite honestly senseless comments.
I really can't follow your reasoning Mr P. I have a good friend in the UK who got that knock on the door one night to say his son had died on holiday in Chile. It is totally devastating.
This young man had been on holiday as well. He will never return home. Regardless of the reasons, or of the outcome of any prosecutions, his family will always wonder why. They deserve our respect and sympathy.

[MrPlum]

I really can't follow your reasoning Mr P.

Perhaps you are choosing not to. I thought it was pretty clear. I am focussing on the actual risk of anyone experiencing violence in Thailand, rather than this one tragedy, which appears to have been more an accident than anyone setting out to target this particular young man.

My view is that while, yes, Thailand is more lawless than some countries, the risks of experiencing violence are less here than back in the UK, where you can be battered by gangs of feral youths, on a whim. JJB said he felt safe here. I feel the same. Are we right to feel so? Or is Kendo's alarm justified?

How many tourists visit Thailand each year? Krabi isn't Johannesburg.

Even so, SOME understanding of Thailand can help reduce the risks...

1. Don't make a Thai lose face.
2. Don't get into a fight with a Thai, even if you are built like Arnie. Within seconds there will be 20 of them beating you with anything they can get their hands on.
3. Don't go out dressed like a dog's dinner and walk alone in quiet streets. Opportunist thieves will grasp the chance.
4. Don't carry anything of value, while on a motorbike. Handbag and jewellery snatchers are about.
5. Don't stay out late in bars. The risk of drink-fuelled violence obviously increases.
6. Don't piss off Bob the Builder.
7. Don't marry a 24 year old bar girl if you are 70 and have a high net worth.
8. Make friends with your local Police colonel/General.
9. Don't leave a child alone with a Thai male. (Sadly necessary)
10. Don't argue with obsessional forum members taking drugs/medications.

There's probably more but aside from the last, I tend to follow these rules and that is perhaps one reason I have never witnessed a violent act here. The one occasion when someone growled at me was some tattooed, overweight, British yob bringing his thug mentality with him to these shores. A quiet word from a friend put him back in his box.

They deserve our respect and sympathy.

Why? Tragedies occur every second of every day. If every psychiatrist cried when a patient revealed a trauma what good would that do? If every Doctor broke down at the loss of a patient, how does that help anyone? When my daughter spent 6 months in an incubator I was appalled at the lack of sympathy from some of the nurses and felt them cold and callous. What I failed to realize until it was explained recently was that within 2 years the sympathetic nurses couldn't cope any more and would quit or break down. The emotionally distant ones were the best employees. One of the coldest men I ever met was an undertaker. A ghoul drained of all feeling. These public expressions of sympathy to complete strangers who will never read them are very nice but I find them a bit pointless and ritualistic. It sometimes feels like a competition to see who can out-sympathize each other.

And before the knuckle-heads dive in, ask anyone that knows me. They will tell you I am a deeply compassionate person. I DO cry in sympathy when someone reveals a deep wound. This is one reason I try and keep an emotional distance. If I allowed myself to dwell on every death that occurs in the world, or be angered by every opposing point of view, I'd be an emotional wreck in a week.

My comment was actually mild in comparison to when I was serving. Don't you know how many in the military or uniformed services cope with death and trauma? They take the p**s.

[richard]

It's not confined to Moon parties on the beach. I've seen footage of a scooter gun battle in the early hours of the morning near the pier in Hua Hin. I've also been in Luknam disco when bullets and bottles were flying around (Police vs Army)

I still prefer living here to back in the UK

[Siani]

They deserve our respect and sympathy.

Why? Tragedies occur every second of every day. If every psychiatrist cried when a patient revealed a trauma what good would that do? If every Doctor broke down at the loss of a patient, how does that help anyone? When my daughter spent 6 months in an incubator I was appalled at the lack of sympathy from some of the nurses and felt them cold and callous. What I failed to realize until it was explained recently was that within 2 years the sympathetic nurses couldn't cope any more and would quit or break down. The emotionally distant ones were the best employees. One of the coldest men I ever met was an undertaker. A ghoul drained of all feeling. These public expressions of sympathy to complete strangers who will never read them are very nice but I find them a bit pointless and ritualistic. It sometimes feels like a competition to see who can out-sympathize each other.
My comment was actually mild in comparison to when I was serving. Don't you know how many in the military or uniformed services cope with death and trauma? They take the p**s.

President Obama couldn’t hold back the tears as he told the nation he was addressing, everyone not as the President, but as a father. He was also joined in grief by Police officers, this was during the Connecticut school shooting.

I do not think you can compare the emotions of undertakers, doctors, nurses etc. , with ordinary people. They are used to dealing with death most of their working days. I did however, speak once to a Policeman who told me how he is deeply moved to the point of tears, every time there is a death on the motorway, especially if children are involved.
I think respect and sympathy is a good way to try and comfort someone in times of extreme grief.

[MrPlum]

I think respect and sympathy is a good way to try and comfort someone in times of extreme grief.

Me too but if it were me, I would improve my chances of being read by posting to a Krabi forum, Facebook page, or even the comments section of the Telegraph piece.

Obama is a terrible example. You know why.

[BaaBaa.]

Tragic, but I don't understand why this is the top story on Sky News for the last few mornings.

[Nereus]

How many tourists visit Thailand each year? Krabi isn't Johannesburg.

I would improve my chances of being read by posting to a Krabi forum,

What has this got to do with Krabi? I always thought that the island was in Surat Thani province. Krabi has its own problems without being dragged into this.

[MrPlum]

What has this got to do with Krabi? I always thought that the island was in Surat Thani province. Krabi has its own problems without being dragged into this.

Really? How so? Thanks for pointing out my Island mix-up. Had Railey Beach in my head for some reason.