Australian Tourist, 58, Dies After Phuket Assault

On 2/26/2026 at 3:48 AM, Xonax said:

Phuket and Pattaya have become way to violent. Visitors will soon start to select other destinations.

It's become an absolute cess pitt. Attracting the total worst of human society and Russians.

Real estate companies want the country open to sell their condos, but the cost to Thai society has been grave.

19 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Just another reason for @Gottfrid to stop blaming Thailand for extreme levels of violence, one many of us consider it to be infinitely safer than where we came from.

It feels that way as we tend to be in holiday mode, even if you live here. But statistically (and remember many crimes are not reported in Thailand) it is way worst for serious crime than the UK.

Since the opening of Covid Thailand has gone to the dogs, thanks to the visa policies and relaxed policing.

11 hours ago, Briggsy said:

The killer will pay his way out within 6 months. I don't think it will get to trial. If it does, it will be far more difficult at that point for the Turkish-Swede to buy his way out. It will never get that far.

There was a similar case of an American who killed an Aussie on Soi 6 in Pattaya and paid his way out.

These cases are pay days for the police.

Shocking to the chore if true.

16 hours ago, davb said:

Here's the video. Is it a martial arts hit of some kind? I wouldn't know. He seemed to be knocked out before hitting the ground.

Slap. Looks like he fainted. That wouldnt knock you out.

An off topic post and a reply has been removed.

1 hour ago, khaosokman said:

Slap. Looks like he fainted. That wouldnt knock you out.

A hard hit to the neck can knock you out, and obviously then the hit to the ground compounds matters. It would be wise to know if this guy has any martial arts background.

But in general do you think the guy would have gone up and hit him in say Dubai, Singapore, China? Nah he would have stayed on his bike and shrugged it off, something millions of us do everyday. But in Thailand there is simply no fear of authority, and mentally it becomes a playground for many to feel they can do as they wish - hence why the psyche of this man felt it's okay to get of his bike and hit him.

There needs to be a tougher stance from the authorities from the higher ups to tackle this behaviour.

1 minute ago, DonniePeverley said:

A hard hit to the neck can knock you out, and obviously then the hit to the ground compounds matters. It would be wise to know if this guy has any martial arts background.

But in general do you think the guy would have gone up and hit him in say Dubai, Singapore, China? Nah he would have stayed on his bike and shrugged it off, something millions of us do everyday. But in Thailand there is simply no fear of authority, and mentally it becomes a playground for many to feel they can do as they wish - hence why the psyche of this man felt it's okay to get of his bike and hit him.

It was a girly slap to face. That old guy looked to have something wrong with him. Maybe dizzy, low blood pressure. Martial arts no. That is not martial arts. Muay Thai guys don't slap people.

The way he fell indicates health issues. That slap would not have knocked the woman over.

20 hours ago, kimamey said:

It looks as if it might have been the fall that caused his death rather than the actual assault.

Ok, and was the assault the cause of the fall or did he just fall down and after got beaten?

Do you feel how that question reads? Did that bring some sense into it for you?

17 hours ago, davb said:

I posted one of them above. The woman with a lot of tattoos on her back seemed to be trying to calm down the Turk, but it doesn't show what set things off.

17 hours ago, davb said:

I posted one of them above. The woman with a lot of tattoos on her back seemed to be trying to calm down the Turk, but it doesn't show what set things off.

There's only one woman in the video. You spotted any more? What's having tattoos on her back got to do with it?

22 hours ago, kimamey said:

It looks as if it might have been the fall that caused his death rather than the actual assault.

I agree with that, sometimes the most dangerous part of an assault is if you lose your footing and fall down and hit your head on the concrete, the multitude of potential ailments that can be had from a fall like that are too numerous to mention, in addition to possible death.

So that brings up a secondary aspect of this anytime you assault somebody there is a chance of them falling down and hitting their head on a hard unforgiving surface. If the assault did not kill him but the fall did, he's just as guilty of manslaughter.

Lock Tugay up. For life. Or better yet send the useless creep to a hard penal colony where he can actually be of some productivity to society. I doubt if his mother would even miss him. Maybe it's time to reintroduce penalties to the world.

On 2/26/2026 at 9:40 AM, The Oracle said:

I wonder what a 58 year-old - of any nationality - could have done to require a beating severe enough to require their hospitalisation, let a one resulting in their death.
Of the many posts we've seen on here and other forms of media, it seems many or most are a generation younger.

While we often read about intra-/inter-marital assaults and spousal murders in this age group and higher, it seems to me at least uncommon for a tourist in this age group to be involved in such a violent altercation.

It will be interesting to read what details are made public.

How about looking at a mentally unbalanced guy wrong, that might be sufficient. How about a light bump in the shoulder, that might be sufficient. How about eyeballing the guy's girlfriend, that might be sufficient, but are those grounds for death?

5 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

It feels that way as we tend to be in holiday mode, even if you live here. But statistically (and remember many crimes are not reported in Thailand) it is way worst for serious crime than the UK.

Since the opening of Covid Thailand has gone to the dogs, thanks to the visa policies and relaxed policing.

I guess that all depends upon your point of view, certainly things have changed since covid and certainly many of us have been required to adapt, but so many of us have a really good lives here, one that we could never hope to have in our countries of origin, and I'm not only grateful for living here, but every day I wake up here is a good day!

The Australia media is calling it a karate chop. In the video above the aggressor was rubbing the side of his hand when walking away.

It wasn't a slap!

It was appaently road rage. One or the other cut off the others bike.

16 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

The Australia media is calling it a karate chop. In the video above the aggressor was rubbing the side of his hand when walking away.

It wasn't a slap!

It was appaently road rage. One or the other cut off the others bike.

Totally agree. It was a chop rather than a slap.

On 2/27/2026 at 10:37 AM, Scouse123 said:

Neither of which you have any proof of.

You said so yourself he was from Liverpool! The Swedish immigrants gangs problem is well documented

I've seen this happen in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia etc..see if you can relate. An Australian, drunk and loud sees a brown person and starts to mouth off vile and racist rhetoric trying to pick a fight. When the victim obliges, the Aussie usually gets his ass handed to him or worse. I have Aussie friends that will condemn this type of action but for the most part it is still going on everywhere.

2 hours ago, Old Croc said:

The Australia media is calling it a karate chop. In the video above the aggressor was rubbing the side of his hand when walking away.

It wasn't a slap!

It was appaently road rage. One or the other cut off the others bike.

It could be. I watched it 10 times. The guy seems to faint which can happen if the neck nerves are hit. I was wrong.

8 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

Shocking to the chore if true.

The probable outcome is that in under 6 months, this thug will be back in Sweden or Turkey or anywhere but a jail in Thailand. There are various ways the police can put the fix in but they all involve money.

Look at the similar killing of Benjamin Robb in Pattaya in 2018. The killer, Jose Manuel Polanco Jr., 43, was allowed to leave Thailand.

47 minutes ago, Turd5506 said:

I've seen this happen in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia etc..see if you can relate. An Australian, drunk and loud sees a brown person and starts to mouth off vile and racist rhetoric trying to pick a fight. When the victim obliges, the Aussie usually gets his ass handed to him or worse. I have Aussie friends that will condemn this type of action but for the most part it is still going on everywhere.

Mostly true. Lots of white racists.

19 hours ago, blaze master said:

You seem to be confusing scams with violence.

Scams and violence are highly related. Scam='s lost money ='s anger='s Physically harm scammer severely.

On 2/26/2026 at 3:50 PM, NanLaew said:

The tourist status may be an assumption? Especially since it happened in the epicentre of tourist activity on the island.

I'm more concerned that the police were only alerted after his death, some 6 hours after the alleged assault.

Then I remember where I am and it all makes perfect sense again.

Age hasn't anything to do with it, it's murder, and we don't no much more.

Put it into the suicide bracket, fell down a flight off stairs, end of story

18 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I guess that all depends upon your point of view, certainly things have changed since covid and certainly many of us have been required to adapt, but so many of us have a really good lives here, one that we could never hope to have in our countries of origin, and I'm not only grateful for living here, but every day I wake up here is a good day!

Thais feel the same when they come to London. They love the extra income and realise what an awful life they had in Thailand.

14 hours ago, Briggsy said:

The probable outcome is that in under 6 months, this thug will be back in Sweden or Turkey or anywhere but a jail in Thailand. There are various ways the police can put the fix in but they all involve money.

Look at the similar killing of Benjamin Robb in Pattaya in 2018. The killer, Jose Manuel Polanco Jr., 43, was allowed to leave Thailand.

So how does this then provide a deterrent for other visitors from carrying out such behaviour ?

Off topic troll posts removed

2 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

So how does this then provide a deterrent for other visitors from carrying out such behaviour ?

That is not the goal of the police here.

They pay to join, pay a lot more to join as a commissioned officer, pay for promotions, pay for postings, need to funnel money upwards each month. All opportunities are monetised. A foreigner killing a foreigner is often a superb opportunity. There is no local family to put pressure on the police.

Of course, I could answer in response to your question the stress of the uncertainty of the situation, the being locked up for a few weeks on remand whilst the financial pressure is imposed and the cost of, say, 20,000 Euros is a deterrent but clearly it is not justice.

5 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

That is not the goal of the police here.

They pay to join, pay a lot more to join as a commissioned officer, pay for promotions, pay for postings, need to funnel money upwards each month. All opportunities are monetised. A foreigner killing a foreigner is often a superb opportunity. There is no local family to put pressure on the police.

Of course, I could answer in response to your question the stress of the uncertainty of the situation, the being locked up for a few weeks on remand whilst the financial pressure is imposed and the cost of, say, 20,000 Euros is a deterrent but clearly it is not justice.

Agree with the career of a police officer.

Not dis-similar to teachers.

Baht.

Baht.

Baht.

But the aggressor here will be looking at millions of baht.

No way 20,000.🙃😘

2 hours ago, Briggsy said:

That is not the goal of the police here.

They pay to join, pay a lot more to join as a commissioned officer, pay for promotions, pay for postings, need to funnel money upwards each month. All opportunities are monetised. A foreigner killing a foreigner is often a superb opportunity. There is no local family to put pressure on the police.

Of course, I could answer in response to your question the stress of the uncertainty of the situation, the being locked up for a few weeks on remand whilst the financial pressure is imposed and the cost of, say, 20,000 Euros is a deterrent but clearly it is not justice.

Every single department in Thailand is corrupt from the local, to the state government, to the federal government. You cannot get a position within the government at any level, the police, customs or immigration without buying that position. Everybody knows that and fortunes are being made on a daily basis.

My wife's sister-in-law just paid 200,000 baht for a lowly 10,000 baht a month position in their local village. It's so common.

Of course reform is just a silly dream, everybody's making so much money with this bizarre patronage system, when hundreds of thousands of baht are being paid for a low position and millions are being paid for a high position. The fortunes that are being made and the illegal and illicit funds that are being collected are astonishing, shameful, and holding Thailand back on so many levels, as it completely obliterates any system based on merit.

43 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Every single department in Thailand is corrupt from the local, to the state government, to the federal government. You cannot get a position within the government at any level, the police, customs or immigration without buying that position. Everybody knows that and fortunes are being made on a daily basis.

My wife's sister-in-law just paid 200,000 baht for a lowly 10,000 baht a month position in their local village. It's so common.

Of course reform is just a silly dream, everybody's making so much money with this bizarre patronage system, when hundreds of thousands of baht are being paid for a low position and millions are being paid for a high position. The fortunes that are being made and the illegal and illicit funds that are being collected are astonishing, shameful, and holding Thailand back on so many levels, as it completely obliterates any system based on merit.

One of the rackets for collecting the "fee" for service is really a cunning plan, you purchase a few square metres of real estate as a joint owner in a property - this of course is quite legal and the amount you pay/purchase is based on area / price / position.

A very clever work around generating a huge "legal" but immoral profit - - but then of course, when has morals ever had anything to do with profit, ask any accountant if you're unsure 😉.

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Every single department in Thailand is corrupt from the local, to the state government, to the federal government. You cannot get a position within the government at any level, the police, customs or immigration without buying that position. Everybody knows that and fortunes are being made on a daily basis.

My wife's sister-in-law just paid 200,000 baht for a lowly 10,000 baht a month position in their local village. It's so common.

Of course reform is just a silly dream, everybody's making so much money with this bizarre patronage system, when hundreds of thousands of baht are being paid for a low position and millions are being paid for a high position. The fortunes that are being made and the illegal and illicit funds that are being collected are astonishing, shameful, and holding Thailand back on so many levels, as it completely obliterates any system based on merit.

It's a 2 way street Spidey.

The wife's SIL has possibly bought into the Social Security system (pension).

Also possibly qualified for advanced healthcare for her parents & siblings.

200K sounds right to buy in.

10,000 baht salary doesn't sound right?

Likely that is what she is saying?

Grab a payslip.🙃🙃

48 minutes ago, Lucky Bones said:

It's a 2 way street Spidey.

The wife's SIL has possibly bought into the Social Security system (pension).

Also possibly qualified for advanced healthcare for her parents & siblings.

200K sounds right to buy in.

10,000 baht salary doesn't sound right?

Likely that is what she is saying?

Grab a payslip.🙃🙃

I have no reason to distrust my wife's sister-in-law. These are really straight honest people that I've known for many years.