American Expat Murdered In Chiang Rai

[george]

US urges action on murder case

CHIANG RAI: -- The US Embassy yesterday urged police to find the intruders who shot and killed an American in his home in Chiang Rai on Friday.

Police said they found John Taylor, 56, covered in blood and crying with pain when they were called to his home. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but died of his gunshot wounds.

Police believe that at least two armed robbers broke into Taylor's house and took off with more than Bt80,000, a notebook computer, jewellery and other valuables.

Taylor's wife, Chopaka Hakhai, said he was a computer programmer for a major US company but gave no further details about his work.

The US Embassy has asked the police to protect Chopaka, who is a US citizen. The couple were married for more than 10 years.

Police said they would monitor banks and pawn shops as all the money the robbers took was in US dollars.

--The Nation 2004-05-16

[Doi Thong]

Hmmm, why I'm not surprised...the farang husbant is dead,Thai wife not,she got US passport,money,house etc.... Something wrong with my logic?

[Deadcert]

10 years of marriage, I do hope your logic is flawed.

[collinz88]

dead cert

IM married to a thai woman 11 years and counting.

The work it takes to last this long in marriage and build its success

dosen't square with your cynicism,

seems rather jaded & shallow to me...

but then I don't know they type of Thai women you run with.

Lie down with dogs, ya get fleas..

[najene]

It is my feeling that your logic is based on reading too many mystery stories or too much TV. People get robbed in real life with almost no other motive than the the fact that this poor man had a relatively good paying job and that unfortunately made him a target for some greedy scum. My condolences go to his wife of 10 years. I know how much this would devastate my Thai wife.

[castelleone]

ok, I am not married to a Thai wife. But why does always come up that cynisism about Thailand and Thai women. We farangs who live here do love the land and its people. Otherwise we would not be here. The case itself is tragic enough, don`t ya think Doi Tong? I for my part do feel very sorry for the guy.

[Snark]

Pre-judice, as pertaining to law: preconceived judgment or opinion (2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge

Police believe that /at least two/ armed robbers /broke/ into Taylor's house and took off with...

[hkthai]

It is refreshing to see that there are posters on this board that looks upon this event as independent of nationality.

There seems to be a healthy dose of cynicism on this board whenever a farang dies of unusual circumstances that it must be his Thai wife/husband/family/friends that planned the murder...and now reaping the riches. Amazing!!!!

[john b good]

Maybe Doi Thong is not a cynic. Why not ? because this sort of thing happens every day in Thailand and unless it has a bit of a profile (an expat or Thai with some status) it goes unreported.

Again as in a recent subject innocent until proven guilty (the wife that is)

And if the guy was alive when the police arrived surely he might have rtold them something.

[CM451]

Any yet still it seems safer than the USA, is my comment.

[maerim]

Does anyone know the clear up rate for murders here, Farang or otherwise?

My guess is it's pretty low compared to say the U.K.

If they just put some of the energy they use for stopping traffic into a real bit of police work might just do some good.

[ProThaiExpat]

It is foolhardy to make any conclusions when double hearsay is involved.

Questions can certainly be raised by inquiring minds.

My questions are:

1) Where was the wife at the time of the intrusion.

2) What time of day was it?

3) How did the police determine the number of intruders?

4) Was there a "breakin" involved?

5) Does the location, ie "Golden Triangle" have anything to do with it?

Hopefully, there will be follow up information provided, so we remaining expats can review our "security", and I use that term in the broadest sense.

[OOO]

There's no Mistery-Murder or pre-judice here,, surely the police would have taken sufficient information from the husband... he was found still alive when they arrived to the scene of the crime. But on the other hand, if you're 55 going 60

and you're wife could be still in here 20s-30s then be on guard for anything..(no disrespect intended to those real Thai-international relationships out there..just we haveto remember that in most cases the reasons they marry with within weeks

is that they seek security before anything else first..t

But then again, don't all women?

[maerim]

For our conspiricy theorists my missus said that she read in the Thai press this gentleman was out playing golf.

He returned home to find he had burglars he did what I would never do and had a go at them that's when he was shot.

I hope this helps.

[thaimee]

US urges action on murder case

CHIANG RAI: -- The US Embassy yesterday urged police to find the intruders who shot and killed an American in his home in Chiang Rai on Friday.

Well done US embassy for enquiring after it's citizen's oversea's.

Would the UK embassy in Thailand do the same for it's citizens?

I believe not!

Thaimee.

[astral]

My questions are:

1) Where was the wife at the time of the intrusion.

2) What time of day was it?

3) How did the police determine the number of intruders?

4) Was there a "breakin" involved?

5) Does the location, ie "Golden Triangle" have anything to do with it?

Good questions to raise,

but you cannot expect Sgt Plod of the local police to manage

anything as complex...............

Come on this is Thailand.

[mandl]

Reminds me of the IT_M thread.

C'mon folks. This was a newspaper report. Guilty until proven innocent?

Do you really believe that all the facts are shown here on Thaivisa? Let's show a little restraint until we know the facts in this case.

mandl

[Ausiefella]

Thai wife is as guilty as sin. Get yer heads out of the sand There is only one thing they love more than the family and thats money, farang hubby's come in below everything else.

[meadish_sweetball]

I can't believe you pass judgement that easily. Of course farang get ripped off and in some instances killed, but how commonly does this occur after 10 years of marriage? Also, if he was actually alive when the police found him, and he suspected his wife for something, wouldn't that be the FIRST thing he told the police?

We simply don't know what happened, because we WERE NOT THERE. Even if a million farang men had been killed by their wives here in the past, and this same woman had killed four previous husbands, we still WOULD NOT KNOW. Stop being paranoid, passing judgement and spreading rumours too easily, please.

[Khaow8989]

Ok, It seems that there are a few people out there that are asking the who, what, why, when and how questions about the terrible event that happend. First, I would think after 10 years of marrage I would hope that the Thai lady was with him for love and companionship, if it were for money or anything else; why wait for 10 years? Second, someone was asking for details as to what happend, there is a reason that the entire information was not given about what tookplace, how many there were and things like that. The police are following the normal procedure of investigation. They only tell what they have to tell, if they say anything more such as the full events that took place it would jepardize the case and the possible evidence that the "perps" may have left. I know how this works, as I have been an officer with my cities police department back in the states for about 3 years now. I hope that this information has helped someone somehow with the real basic questions. Until next time, take care everyone.

Quote: " An obsticle is what you see when you take your eyes away from your goal. "

[I wonder]

Sad isn't it.

[argus1949]

Agree with Aussifella

1st: money

2nd: family

.

.

.

99th: farang husband.

So farang with thai wifes, you know what this means.

Don't lay back and relax, have your eyes open, day and night!!

[taxexile]

i dont think the police have any clear cut procedures for investigating a crime or keeping the crime scene "clean" until a forensic investigation has been done.

if it was a crime connected to a business dispute or an "unfaithfulness" issue then they may find those responsible,

if it was a robbery/murder by people unknown to the dead man then i doubt if they will be able to find them.

i think the thai police just dont care whether its solved or not.

[hkthai]

Agree with Aussifella

1st: money

2nd: family

.

.

.

99th: farang husband.

So farang with thai wifes, you know what this means.

Don't lay back and relax, have your eyes open, day and night!!

Amazing farang living in Thailand.

[MadFranky]

It is refreshing to see that there are posters on this board that looks upon this event as independent of nationality.

There seems to be a healthy dose of cynicism on this board whenever a farang dies of unusual circumstances that it must be his Thai wife/husband/family/friends that planned the murder...and now reaping the riches. Amazing!!!!

lol.. your real tuned in

[BlackJack]

the som tum lady reckons the butler did it

[Up2U]

At least in Chiang Rai the police are treating it as murder.

In Pattaya they would have determined that, after playing a bad round of golf, he went home and shot himself four times.

WWith regard to the cynicism, it does seem misplaced here. The guy was alive and evidently concious when found. He must have made statements that will lead the police in the right direction. Not all Thai wives are solely after immediate gratification. Some see long-time security with a farang husband to be worth some input. And education of children is appreciated in many instances. Farangs are good for this sort of thing, far more than many Thai husbands. (According to my wife)

[maerim]

i dont think the police have any clear cut procedures for investigating a crime or keeping the crime scene "clean" until a forensic investigation has been done

I know they don't after the Kirsty Jones murder here a couple of years ago.

The crime scene was more like a photo oppotunity for the police to get their pictures in the press.

Don't look like they will get their man or woman now does it?

[ossie99]

One other thing we have forgotten to mention is why someone would cut off the hand that fed them. Unless there was a extremely large insurance policy, which is nearly inexistant in LOS, on the poor blokes head there would be very little reason for foul play. The man was well to do and therefore so was the wife. 80,000 baht and a handful of crummy jewelry does not equate to the lap of luxury. My condolences to his wife and family, just one more senseless act of violence in a world spinning out of control.

[taxexile]

Don't look like they will get their man or woman now does it?

inspector clousseau would stand a better chance of solving it.