richard_smith237

Yeah... clearly they were stupid and allowed a situation to escalate. I've read on this forum a number of times how posters state that when the Policeman at a check point signals to pull over, they just continue through and ignore them... It would appear the NZ guys tried to do this and were chased.... very stupid of them do get into the situation in the first place. I'm just very sceptical as to how this turned into a wrestling match for the gun. Also how a shot was fired ? aren't guns supposed to have a safety, and you have to cock-it to chamber a bullet etc.. ?

So it seems ok for now... you 'got away with it'... But.. a parking attendant will see you at some point and then pull out the serious face and tell you 'no no - cannot' !!!... So, you'll have to go looking for the 'big bike parking'... And as your bike is a larger maxi-scooter, on size alone you should be allowed into the big bike parking area... if they don't like that, I think you are justified in 'pushing it'.

What authority do they have to do this? Obviously they have no authority whatsoever... and thats why there are in a lot of trouble. But, they are also alive... I can only think of a couple of reasons to try and take a gun off a policeman. 1) Insanity 2) Grave concern for personal welfare That depends on perspective - I'm not trying to defend the NZ guys... But, I'd like to know the truth as I don't buy the story as it is currently being told and the video certainly appears that the NZ were subduing the police officer and making the Gun safe rather than 'attacking / assaulting and steeling'... So... a lot of the story comes down to what happened before this point (that we see in the video). Two sides to every story - I think we need to read / hear of the 'other' side (of the NZ guys).

Thats what I'm also thinking... .... either the NZ guy is a complete lunatic and because he's insane attacked the policeman because he didn't like being chased and charged. OR... .... the Policeman drew the gun and NZ guy thought the Policeman was going to shoot him, perhaps a miss-fire had already occurred which made NZ guy even more concerned that the Policeman was going to shoot them so he decided to 'fight for his life' and subdue the Policeman and make the gun safe. I'n the video I don't see the NZ guy attacking the policeman.... I see him getting control of the gun and making it safe. How much of a reason would he have needed ?? Angry because the NZ guys wouldn't stop ?? is that enough of a reason to pull a gun ? Never (first hand), but I've read of plenty of stories on here of Policemen shooting at people in car and bike chases etc..

What 'facts' do you have ? We see a video of one NZ guy disarming and subduing a police officer, then handing the gun over to his friend who makes it safe - those are the visual facts. The rest of this is the 'story' we are being told by the media... I'm somewhat cynical of the 'story' as it is currently being reported and question whether or not there is more to this story than meets the eye and as such have offered other possibilities. If you want to blindly believe everything you read in the media thats up to you - but suggesting there is 'nothing to discuss' because you believe what you have 'read in coconuts or The Thaiger is 'facts' suggest you are a dash naive.

Thanks.. In the video - do you see the NZ Men attacking the Policeman ??? Or, do you see one guy trying to subdue the Policeman and remove the gun, after successfully removing the gun he hands it over to the other NZ guy who makes it safe (seemingly) ?? Why did the NZ need to fight for the gun if the Police officer hadn't pulled it out already ? Lots of the story seems missing... or rather, parts of the story which may paint the Policeman is a less than favourable light seems to be missing.

Learn English... In this case, I presented a counter scenario to contradict the 'media story' which at the moment is very one sided and itself may include significant inaccuracies.... I'm somewhat cynical of the veracity of the media-articles on this matter.

Really ??... I'd argue that a Thai Policeman who draws his gun does so not because he feels danger, but because he can... Unless the Policeman truly lost it... Had they not 'reacted' perhaps the story would be different and we'd be reading of two kiwi guys who were shot by a 'rogue' police officer... Absolutely... unless something is seriously amiss... I'm not sure we're getting the full story. Hopefully there is more footage than that we see in the media that can give authorities a clearer explanation... because either... a) the NZ guys are dangerous thugs, or, b) a policeman went over the top and the NZ guys were left with little choice but to defend themselves.

Yeah... I can see that happening too.... my Brother in law tried to run from the BiB at a check point (I think he'd seen the check point up ahead so he did a U-turn 100m before it, so they gave chase) when they caught up with him, he stopped and they gave him a bit of a kicking. So... As you mention, I too can see the scenario where the Policeman was angry and drew his weapon. Perhaps thats when there was a miss-fire (gun not secure, round in chamber no safety on). NZ scared for their lives needed to react and subdue the police who they thought was going to shoot them. Plenty of possibilities in this story - I wonder if we'll get to hear the side of the NZ guys.

I've wondered that a lot too over the years.... It seems there is no genuine interest in giving the customer what they need. There are so many scenarios where I walk away from 'business'.. .buying something etc because the owner or staff are so apathetic and just can't be bothered. My thoughts: How do these people survive when they can so readily lose custom ???

I don't blame you... I've had by bike scratched in those tight cr@ppy overcrowded scooter parking places. A lot of people riding cheap motorbikes don't have any consideration or respect for other peoples properly... I've been in situations where I can't take my bike off the stand because another bike has parked so close I can't 'up right my 200kg bike' and I have to 'drag the sh!££y scooter' out just so I can access my bike... Its the same in the UK in supermarkets - people just open their doors and ding your car (it seems to happen less so here). As eisfield mentioned, there is very likely 'big bike' parking - and they don't allow the small scooters in to that area... usually the 'cut off' is engine size (i.e. 400cc etc). What bike is yours ?? type / size ? Anyway... IF there is bike parking and spaces and you take up a car parking space, some parking attendant is going to want to deal with that and stop you - thats the worst that will happen.

It is rare for a Thai cop to pull his gun out, there must have been provocation.... It's rare that people would subdue a Policeman and take his weapon... So why ?... was the policeman acting dangerously ? We've read of plenty of times a policeman loses it and shots at someone. We've read of plenty of times of policemen chasing vehicles and trying to shoot out the tyres etc. This is an extremely rare sitation - Very little adds up with the media versions of events at the moment. So.. Did the BiB draw his gun prematurely ? Fired at the tyres ? Men retaliated to subdue him ?

Because 'cops' in Thailand are nothing more than organised criminals shaking people down... Thats why there is little respect and certainly not enough respect for the Police here to go any distance. That said: I'd agree, play the game and stop if asked to. But, perhaps they did not notice the signal of the BiB. or, perhaps they thought they could burn through the checkpoint and get away with it (no license). Did the Policeman draw his weapon on them (and they took it) to make themselves safer because they were scared ? OR... Did they attack the Policeman and during the attack they too his weapon ? (There's a lot more to this story I'm sure).

The Policeman had a gun... Did the NZ guys grab the gun from the Policemans holster and the gun went off ? Or... Did the Policeman point the gun at the NZ guys and they felt they had little choice but to disarm him ? (i.e. was the policeman so angry they thought he would shoot them ?). There's more to this story, I wouldn't be so quick to blindly believe any media report on this at the moment, all reports are quite varied and we have not read of the NZ guys side of this, only the side of the Policeman and the media pushing the 'bad-farang' rhetoric.

Playing devils advocate. - As the men approached, one policeman figured he'd stop them as they were "not riding close to the left side of the road and riding at high speed"... Which seems like made up BS (the BiB can't tell how fast they were riding and the "not riding close to the left side" is trumped up BS. - The Policeman saw white foreigners and signalled them to stop. - NZ guys didn't see that they were told to stop so carried on, or, - NZ guy didn't want to get extorted so refused to stop (guys on this forum talk of just riding through when told to stop). - BiB gave chase and pulled tried to shoot out the tyres (?) - NZ frightened at getting shot at stop. - Policeman had the NZ guys under arrest with gun drawn, NZ guys frightened that a crazy Policeman had them at gun point. - NZ guys took the gun off the Policeman just in case he was crazy enough to shoot again. - Policeman lied about shooting and used the 'miss-fire during a tussle' excuse to pin further blame on the NZ guys. No idea what really happened of course - but the above is also a possible scenario.

I agree... Thai men don't seem to have any interested in getting to know us or hanging out with us... but why should they just because we are foreigners ?.... ... There are many foreigners and Thai's I also have no interest in becoming friends with and hanging out with... But, when when there is a mutually respectful interest friendships can develop quite naturally. Language is obviously a key issue.. Most of my close Thai friends speak English fluently as do the close Thai friends of many of my Western friends.

You're speaking of your own limitations and failing there Bob and projecting that on everyone else.... You repeatedly make this mistake with your comments... In this case - its clearly not impossible for us (Westerners) to make close Thai friends, we just have to ensure we are decent people ourselves. Mixing within your own socio-econonoc-educational demographic is key to making genuine Thai friends IMO as Thai's tend not to mix so well outside of their specific demographic.

Don't most shopping mall car parks have dedicated 'bike parking' for bigger bikes ? I had an ADV Bike which could not comfortably fit into the 'scooter spaces'... but there was 'big bike' parking, I think for anything over 400cc. So check if they have that... Ultimately, if your trusty steed with saddle-bags can't fit in the 'scooter parking' its not your fault, so go ahead and park in a car space until someone tells you otherwise.

The two NZ are still alive - maybe they made the correct choice. There is a lot of conflicting information, but it appears the Police Officer was angry and went for his gun and the NZ guys tried to prevent him drawing, in doing so the loaded gun fired (which means the Police officer had a chambered round and safety off)... Dangerous stuff but there is surely more to this story... ... It could be NZ guys protect themselves against 'crazed police officer' who drew gin.

Indeed.. I'm not even sure it is a sound of a slap... The lady hands the male a bottle of water seconds after the 'slap sound' - IMO, its the sound of a fridge sticking as its pulled open and not a slap at all (neither party is behaving like the other just slapped them)... SO.. the video is not proof of anything. Bob wrote - a picture paints a thousand words, but he doesn't understand the 'interpretation' of that picture could paint 1000 wrong words. Here is a perfect example of that:

Ah ok.. So I've used SkyScanner a lot - its always the first 'go to' when searching for flights.... I also often give Kayak a try With both of them I never find any significant saving over going direct with the Airline. Given your earlier reply I thought you had a 'specific travel agent' which had good fares rather than the travel search engines (Skyscanner / Kayak). There is also another reason I go direct with the airline - After searching on sites such as SkyScanner and establishing that Emirates (usually) is the better option for us (my family) we can then go direct to the airline and get a cheaper fare still using AirMiles to offset the cost. Also; Travel Supermarket only searches flights originating from the UK so its not useful when base in Bangkok (and choosing flights originating from Bangkok).

The prices seem to be 10-20% higher than on one2car website. Is it worth it? That depends how much 'deal assurance' and warranty is worth it to you. The vast majority of cars on one2car are from the 'tents' (private dealerships) - so you are taking of a chance, as someone who is 'not mechanically minded' (and really, who is with modern cars)... dealership warranty can mean a lot to us.

A lot of people are just trolls.... I wish they're bring back the older system where we could tell who posted which emoji's so we can just ignore the trolls... It would also cut down retards just posting emojis when they don't like someone.

And then you stole her AseanNow user name ????

Grab in Thailand does take a cancelation fee.... If you are not a 'card' customer, it simply adds the cancellation fee from your next ride... So.. not what app YOU use in Thailand... cos you are wrong (Grab Thailands Policy below) https://www.grab.com/th/en/terms-policies/transport-delivery-logistics/#:~:text=2 If you decide to,7.2. The taxi driver tried to physically manhandle the girl into his taxi, there is a video (CCTV) of the incident... It seems you are unaware of what assault actually is .... particularly from a legal context (people often confuse assault with battery - i suspect you are doing the same). (Assault refers to the wrong act of causing someone to reasonably fear imminent harm. This means that the fear must be something a reasonable person would foresee as threatening to them. Battery refers to the actual wrong act of physically harming someone). Kind of agree with this... nevertheless, she acted within her 'rights'... and the taxi driver tried to force her into his cab and acted outside of the terms of his Grab contract.