richard_smith237

How to say you're from the USA without saying you're from the USA. --------- I know how I react when asked to stop by the Police (whether they are armed or not). I've stopped, thats the only thing to do, even when suspecting 'fake Police officers at 2am - but thats a different story. I also know how I react when I'm subject of a shakedown - calm, polite, but deal with it. I also 'worry' about how I'd react if my life (or lives of loved ones) are placed in danger by someone going rogue or insane with a weapon in my presence. Now, I don't know if the Policeman went rogue, drew his gun unnecessarily (or necessarily), and accidentally or deliberately released two rounds, or if the reports are correct and two rounds went off in the struggle for the gun.... BUT... What makes a guy go for a Police Officers Gun if that gun is holstered and the Police officer is calm ???? That is the question that strikes me as mattering most in this story ????... - Either the NZ Guys are complete nutcases, were aggressive and attacked the officer... OR.. - the NZ Guys felt they were in grave danger, in a fight for their lives and had no choice but to subdue the policeman.

Don't let that get in the way of a posters schadenfreude....

I recall having an issue in Indonesia. Came out of departures (about 11pm - night time).... spoke with the taxi counter, taxi counter stated price - I agreed and was given a slip with the amount. Drove out of the airport (about 500m), taxi pulled over and asked for an extra 50,000 Rupiah (about 100 baht more), I refused so the taxi driver told me to get out... so I agreed... I then started working on the issue, by the time we got to the hotel, the hotel security were waiting. The reality is - travelling through many places, taxi drivers have a reputation for scamming passengers, so of course the passengers are on alert to anything which seems abnormal.

I think a lot of issues such as this originat from Thailand in general having the reputation of having a lot of cheats and scammers so people are on high alert. Tourists come here - use an App to try and avoid the scams, then the driver asks for more cash. I can understand why the tourists think this may be a scam. When I first came here and paid for the taxi from Don Muang... there was a 50 baht airport surcharge, then two additional toll charges on top of the metered fare.... I was quite suspicious until I figured it out. I can also understand the driver being up set - the BiB should have explained to the Tourists what the charge was for - there are enough translation apps to around to sort that issue out.

.... the wording used (translated) is 'not riding close to the left side of the road'.... This excuse has been used by the BiB in the past for a shakedown.... In this case I think its just the 'written' (or verbalised excuse / reason) for the BiB to want to stop two foreigners on a Motorcycle. It doesn't matter what the excuse is.. If the BiB ask a motorist to stop, they have to stop. They can then contest whatever the reason is. So the NZ guys were clearly stupid for not stopping and allowing the issue to escalate beyond this point. BUT... it has to be mentioned (I've mentioned it already in this case) - Numerous posters on this forum alone have commented that they 'burn through check-points' and never stop because they want to avoid the being the target of a shake-down - that in itself is dumb.

Thanks... Still no CCTV though... But the Russian woman has 'reportedly confessed to the assault'... Is the pic (liked article) is that the Russian woman's fella thinking... gawd... she's done it again ? She is apparently a Model... Aliona Kupriyanova (and can be found online). So.. If story is true: 1) Russian woman walks into shop with sandals on (shop has no shoes sign) 2) Thai woman asks the Russian to remove her sandals 3) Russian woman goes ballistic and unloads a verbal barrage of abuse and kicks the pregnant Thai woman 4) Innocent Thai woman seeks medical assistance before reporting to the authorities So... the Russian woman goes from Zero to Incandescent with rage just because she was asked to take off her shoes ???? There is either something very wrong with the mentality of the Russian woman, Or, there is still more to this story than we are reading.... i.e. was there an altercation that when back and forth with abuse from both sides before it turned violent ? Has the Russian woman just been told to apologise and the issue will go away ?...

I was here at that time, and as opposed to what followed him, Thaksin was actually elected by the people. I did not experience any more xenophobia then, than before or especially after.. And I can certainly not recall any officials commenting on 'dirty foreigners', as was the case with the non-elected govt that followed. There were some policies that were very 'pro Thai' understandably and these were interpreted as 'xenophobic'... Thaksin also brought in the Thai Elite program which was remarkably foreigner (rather pro money). The 'Dirty foreigners' comment is the comment made by Anutin (Dept Prime Minister and health Minister) and is a comment taken out of context... when at a press conference he tried to hand two foreigners a face mask (beginning of covid) and the foreginers just ignored him... this obviously embarassed him and he had a 'choice response' (saving face) but perhaps belayed an underling impression of xenophobia. The reality - is a lot of Thai's in positions of power are not xenophobic at all, but they are to some degree intimidated by freer thinking more worldly wise educated Westerners who can see through their scheming and cheating.... they put of a veneer of defensiveness. The reality also is that when you are a national 'leader' (term used loosely) its your job to promote your nation, support your nation and protect the interests of your nation - sometimes this comes with a negative impression for 'immigrants' such as ourselves. Moot point somewhat... because I suspect those such as Anutin in positions of such power are more in it for themselves than they are the greater good of the Nation and Thai's in general.... Perhaps thats true of nearly all politicians... Its an impossible and thankless task they are forced to swim in the cesspool of corruption, collusion and back-stabbing - world wide its not a environment conducive to honest giving people.

Can’t name names here Ralf, defamation and all that. you know that, right…. RIGHT ? More cobblers...it's not defamatory to name a restaurant that you patronised and was asked to leave. Or he could just name the restaurant he had 3 beers at.... He won't because he's lying of course.... I'll add no more to this thread as its clearly feeding the troll... everyone else should follow suit.

Hey Bob... Whats the name of the restaurant next door where you had 3 beers ? (no defamation there)...

A perfectly viable option... Bob... Prepared to name the place ??.... If you are correct, the same will happen to any Non-Thai poster who goes to the same restaurant and speaks Thai to the owner and staff.

Negative things happen to you Bob, that do no happen to other long timers here... Its intriguing to the point you should get a film crew following you around.... then we'd see what really happens outside of your delusions.

Did she drop the classic line... Farang Koh̄k ?? (koh-hok).... 'cos that would be more appropriate...

Yup... agree with all of this... And there is plenty of precedent of both the Police and Military guys drawing and using their service weapons in heated situations, not specifically at foreigners in traffic stops, but still plenty of reports, stories, news articles etc. That's certainly enough for me to understand that pi$s off a police officer enough and this is a possible reaction !!!...

I do hope to see a follow up as these stories do interest me... Not so much the event itself... but from a sociological and psychological point of view... i.e. what everyone reads into the reports of these events, how the media tone influences our bias etc. I'm also interested in the follow up as more often than not, after the initial damning news story and ensuing debates etc there is rarely any follow up and things just turn quiet...

A DNA test is not required for my Son's first UK Passport (this was 10 years ago though) - application in Thailand. I was married, and listed on my Son's birth certificate (born in Thailand). I had a full (long version) UK birth certificate (mine).

Erm.... ok... its not a positive story.... happy with that ? Agreed... Do you think we be seeing any further result of this 'investigation' ??? You've misunderstood again... I haven't implied its a set-up... I have implied that there are multiple possible scenarios, one of which is that the story is a fabrication....

There is a concrete solution. Just as there is a concrete solution to the issue of Soi Dogs in other area's. The issue of course is that many do not have the stomach to agree that the 'concrete issue' is required, often religious beliefs get in the way. ------- I recall an 'ant infestation' in the kitchen at a work site years ago. The cook wouldn't deal with it and said she was Buddhist and couldn't kill ants. I point that the next cook may not have such an issue (implying that she'd be let go if she didnt deal with the issue). That was that, ant infestation resolved. Point here - people don't want to take action against animals here unless forced to.

Where did you see the Russian woman 'clearly kicking a pregnant woman' ??? I'm confident there was a confrontation.... that confrontation potentially became physical. I'm not so confident one party is solely to blame while the other is a picture of innocence. Agree with this... At the moment there is only the accusation and nothing more really.

I wrote that this is a 'horrible story'.... its not a nice story is it ??? its a horrible story... someone kicking a pregnant woman. You are letting your foot off the clutch too early and stalling as you are missing the comprehension of my underlying points Trans, as just highlighed above. We cannot be making any judgement until we have more information... but, a lot of people have already passed judgement and condemned the Russian woman. We've been fed partial information, its also clear where information is missing..... thats where my cynicism exists.

I think some people can only view these issues in a binary fashion... from the perspective of 100% right and 100% wrong... There's potentially a lot of grey area in this story....

Gaslighting.... but yes... Deadly serious... If I ever find myself in a situation which has escalated to the point at which I am fearful for my life... then it would be foolish not to take defensive action. Of course, avoid escalation in the first place... and thats where the NZ guys were foolish. But, once the situation had escalated to the point a 'gun became involved'... then any decision made from there can have grave consequences. Thus: I can see a scenario whereby the Police officer was so visibly angered by the actions of the NZ Guys that he lost his cool and in a state of meltdown drew his weapon - in such a scenario, its better that the NZ saved their own lives than get shot at. - maybe the reasons NZ guys are alive today is because they disarmed the policeman. There are already enough reports of those in positions of authority using their service weapons to attack others because they lack the emotional stability handle the escalating situation. - Just one story yesterday of a Thai Military officer drawing his gun in a road rage incident.

I disagree... I'm stating that there may not be any mountain at all... No.. my cynicism has nothing to do with me personally not being shown CCTV footage, you are projecting and making this personal - its not about what I have or haven't seen... .... its about what information is being made available to the public in general. The public (all of us) have been fed a horrible story of a Russian Woman attacking a pregnant Thai woman... Just one photo taken from CCTV exists, and that photo does not show anything damning... I am of the opinion that IF there were damning CCTV evidence, we'd have seen it and thus, with the absense of anything solid, this is just an angry woman making an accusation... and that I point my cynicism at. I find it rather disappointing that so many people are ready to take any side at all..... there needs to be better evidence before any of us can pass judgement against the Thai or Russian woman.

Its a discussion point thats... But, the manner in which the temperature appears to be altering and the manner in which social media is taking over the punitive process is potentially worrying... ... Particularly as we seem to have some sort of "Stockholm syndrome' going on whereby any 'negative report or accusation' against a foreigner is even taken as fact with a strong 'hang em high' response even in light of a significant absense of balanced information from both sides... A lot of the forum is siding with incomplete information and completely buying into the media rhetoric without critical thought. For many, they're stupid, so that can be expected, but for others its surprising that they are buying these reports when clear facts are so thin on the ground and information which could be available is clearly missing.

Perhaps the police have seen the CCTV footage and have issued the 2 photos from it to identify the assaulter, the police are probably very sorry it's not been issued for the AN budding Sherlock Holmes......😋........😂 Then why did they not issue a photo of the CCTV of a woman actually 'kicking out' ??? I can only assume that there is no such footage and existing CCTV does not show anything at all. ------- I addressed point specific to AN in the post above - it surprises me that you are also taking this tactic and have not recongised the bigger picture that this question is bigger than specifically AseanNow readership... why has CCTV not been released / leaked to the public in general ???... The answer is that it can't be, for legal reasons - but that has never stopped anyone before. Or... the CCTV does not show anything because the accusation is fabricated. Or... the CCTV is poorly positioned and doesn't show anything anyway.

The CCTV footage has been presented to the police. Not to AN readers. From the article in The Thaiger Yep... and 'usually' when CCTV footage is damning, its leaked very quickly and spreads through the media. So.. why has the CCTV footage not been leaked ??? Could it be because it does not show anything damning ? ------- Separate point: but both you and Liverpool Lou are taking the perspective of "why should the CCTV footage be released to the AN sleuths".... that is broken logic... This is nothing to do with AN other than we are discussion the issue on this forum, there are other discussions else where going on too.. Amongst Thai's on Thai forums, in Thai social medial, in western language Social medial across Thailand... Thus: This question of "why has no CCTV footage been released?" is not specific to AN, but is a wider question that goes well beyond AN.