The week that was in Thailand news: Thailand is lethal enough without executions

[rooster59]

 

The week that was in Thailand news: Thailand is lethal enough without executions

 

 

I could barely believe my eyes when Tuesday morning’s translations arrived in my inbox. I read it over and over not really wanting to believe what was patently obvious even if it was in Thai.

 

Thailand had executed its first death row prisoner in nine years.

 

Theerasak, who went for his lethal injection on the back of a last meal of BBQ chicken and sticky rice, committed a terrible murder stabbing his victim 24 times while stealing a phone and a wallet. His family were not told, indeed it seemed to have caught just about everyone in Thailand and the rest of the world by complete surprise.

 

Rooster didn’t just smell a rat. I got the decidedly ghastly stench of fetid rodent in my nostrils. It was days before any kind of explanations were forthcoming and they all failed to satisfy.

 

No one in their right mind would make excuses for Teerasak and others like him who steal and kill. But I was brought up by a compassionate woman who was appalled by the case of halfwit Timothy Evans who most likely was hanged for some of the crimes of Reginald Christie, one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers.

 

Consequently I have spent my entire life opposed to capital punishment for that one reason. One innocent man or woman or child sent to the gallows or firing squad in my name is too many. Let them rot in jail – for goodness sake don’t let them out – but please don’t resort to the death penalty and risk ending the life of an innocent person.

 

Now, I hear the pro-capital punishment people say, but there was no doubt in Teerasak’s case. Well, there was no doubt in Timothy Evans’ case either – was Christie not a fine upstanding former policeman with a devoted wife?

 

The jury believed he was before his own trial proved otherwise.

 

Capital punishment is ghastly, expensive and about as much deterrent to hardened criminals as those push-ups you see the police doling out to teens not wearing helmets.

 

Of course, the great majority of the Thai public would probably beg to differ. A poll purported to show that 95% of them support it. Pocket general Prayut is one of them saying that it was necessary for “peace and order”. Bless!

 

He would do well to remember that he and his cronies have been in favor of the ultimate sanction for public officials that rip the nation off to the tune of a billion baht.

 

Britain’s public have always been in favor of the death penalty. It is to their eternal credit that the Blighty politicians refuse to pander to the mob on this issue.

 

Just a pity they have done just that on Brexit that is a bit like committing suicide as a nation…

 

Meanwhile Thaivisa was regaled this week with further “evidence” that the country is the most dangerous place on earth to take a holiday – with or without the death penalty.

 

It emerged that this was just for Brits and was based on insurance claims and without wishing to play down the potential for trouble in the kingdom we have all read plenty of stories about insurance fiddles in Thailand.

 

It reminded me of the Brit I met here years ago who was living a brief if extravagant ‘Life of Riley’ in Thailand after burgling himself back in the UK.

 

Funny but if you legalized recreational Maryjane and restricted British access to both lager and rented Thai motorcycles the problem would be solved overnight.

 

Over in Londinium, Big Too was smiling above his lovely Thai silk tie outside Mrs May’s Number Ten. Inside he was given a ticking off about something he wouldn’t have had a clue about – free and fair elections. After they got that political correctness out of the way they doubtless discussed the latest deal on dirigibles.

 

Mrs May then suggested a “sub” for a working lunch as the pocket general incredulously demanded of his aides why this one only cost three pounds fifty with a drink and some salt and vinegar crisps.

 

On a personal issue I suspect that Mrs May asked the general quietly if he had any dodgy videos of what Boris might have done while in Krung Thep the other month – just in case she needs them if challenged for the premiership.

 

Back in Thailand the usual suspects – police and teachers – were letting the side down along with a smattering of pot-bellied Australians.

 

Though, I’ll grant you, “smattering” is probably not the correct collective noun for such beasts.

 

The cops were those filmed in a highly unsightly affair as they took down a prominent and bespectacled old lawyer at Pahonyothin police station. He would not go quietly on land encroachment and environmental issues.

 

The brief thought he was there to present the case of a female Thai medium who has been embroiled in a defamation dispute but was instead presented with a warrant then unceremoniously forced to the ground and cuffed amid cries of “yaa na” and “jep”.

 

It is in that very room that Rooster needs to report his whereabouts every six or seven years as part of permanent residence regulations. I hope the cops never find out anything unsavory about me….

 

Once again Thaivisa’s undisputed Number One Wag “Darcula” wins my post of the week award with his comment on the story after the séance woman escaped amid the melee.

 

“Police are looking for a small medium at large”.

 

The humor displayed by several posters on Thaivisa helps one through the day and also aids in negating some of the absurd comments such as those that pervaded the thread on a lady boy being denied employment at a Bangkok company.

 

How people can argue in this day and age that it is reasonable to deny employment based on appearance and sexual orientation shows how backward the public are. Another good reason to ignore them on the death penalty.

 

A teacher on the end of a massive and deserved public backlash was the Khru in Khon Kaen who left little five year old Nong Yaem in her pick-up in the blazing heat all day.

 

It was one of those stories that took me all day to click on as I have a five year old of my own. If serious harm came to HER Thailand wouldn’t need a death sentence for Rooster’s revenge to be enacted.

 

Forgetting children in cars is not peculiar to Thailand, of course, it happens the world over. I am firmly of the opinion that while the teacher deserves what is coming to her this is a tragedy that could happen to any parent with a child.

 

Parents are in denial if they think it couldn’t happen to them. A child sleeping in a car seat, perhaps, can all too easily be forgotten and as the experts have said, they don’t die of suffocation. They die in agony of the heat and that can be after as short a time as 30 minutes in Thailand’s blazing sun.

 

Please, please don’t think this can’t happen to you. Check and double check everything when leaving a vehicle. And like the school in Bang Plee who reacted well to the tragedy, teach little children how to disable locks just in case the unthinkable happens when they are with you or anyone else.

 

Another teacher who needs to think if being in charge of children is really for them is the one who decided to humiliate the boy whose errant father had not paid the 700 baht school fees. This is a matter between the school administration and the parents and shaming a child in this way is not only unprofessional but cruel.

 

If I had had such a person in my school they would have been getting their hat and coat and leaving the premises immediately.

 

The aforementioned Australians never imagined their pot-bellies would be plastered all over the internet. This came about after the Thai police arrested one of their compatriots in Muak Lek for advertising a booze and sex boat trip in Pattaya.

 

There are also suggestions that the man from Kangaroo Land, as the Thais call it, was tied up in importing cocaine into Australia in the shafts of hollowed out golf clubs.

 

Par for the course.

 

The Aussies on the booze cruise put the capital R in Ridicule as they stood about filming two north eastern Thai women doing what a friend of mine used to call “going the growl” onboard the “Love Boat”.

 

While they probably have not committed any crime they should at the very least be ordered to do some community service in one of Pattaya’s ubiquitous gyms.

 

The Darwin Award for Services to the Gene Pool this week goes to the Pakistani thieves who thought Thailand’s gold shops would be a soft touch for a bit of sleight of hand.

 

Proving that they should not procreate was the following evidence. Strike one, renting a vehicle in Pattaya, strike two, targeting gold shops and strike three trying to hide in Khao San Road without first getting rid of a bracelet and 100K in cash from the sale of a watch.

 

Gold shops, banks and ATMs are the daftest places to target – have you ever noticed that when they are robbed the most senior of provincial and even national plod are immediately on the scene meaning that their subalterns are forced to turn off Facebook and get some arrests sharpish.

 

And of course, plod’s main ally, the CCTV, is invariably actually functioning and clear in such places.

 

Perusing what his friends have just had for dinner on Facebook is hardly a charge one can level at Big Joke Surachet Hakpal. Though I suspect he might cast a few sly glances to make sure his PR people have posted his latest escapades.

 

This week the deputy commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau was busting taxi and tuk-tuk drivers at the Grand Palace, Chinese pretending to be Thai businessmen and even a 70 year old Brit on overstay in Petchaburi.

 

The story begged the question. Have all the Nigerians finally gone home or are they just lying low praying for a last 16 at the World Cup? As we all are…..

 

The overstaying Brit took some of the heat off the romance scammers and eastern European skimmers because he had simply outstayed his welcome the longest! Not to worry – he can still come back in five or ten years with a bit of luck.

 

He can look on the bright side. He is much more likely to last that long in the UK away from the dangers and temptations of lethal Thailand.

 

Rooster will be out of the kingdom this coming week taking a well-deserved break from translation duties on Thaivisa to represent Thailand in the World Seniors’ Scrabble Championship in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Along with other over 55’s I shall be attempting to show that it is not just the Thai students – featured in a story about the latest Thai “Crossword Game” tournament in Sri Racha last weekend – who know a few weird English words!

 

However, I shall be careful not to use all the vocabulary I read online this past week.

 

The Tourist Police website should be reprimanded by Big Joke for their spelling.

 

Unless there really is a word “bereau”.

 

Rooster

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-06-23

 

[johnsuma01]

when there are strong evidence that a people is a criminal I am 100% for immediate execution.

All criminals are always claiming they are innocent as they know that jury believe it it will escape the dead sentence.

[biggles45]

I am also in favour of the death penalty where absolute guilt can be proven, but can you rely on the corrupted Thai 'justice' system to justify an execution? 

[DieterWiehe]

a long story about shit

[TonyClifton]

No government can be trusted.

 

[StevieAus]

Whilst I share Rooster’s concerns about the wrong people being convicted, and agree that statistics do suggest that capital punishment does not act as a deterent, there is one group for whom rotting in jail is too good.

Those are the unspeakable misfits who commit horrific offenses against children, including some of the indigenous people in my home country involved in sexual offenses against children as young as two years old.

Such people in my book are not fit to live on this earth.

[TonyClifton]

1 minute ago, StevieAus said:

Whilst I share Rooster’s concerns about the wrong people being convicted, and agree that statistics do suggest that capital punishment does not act as a deterent, there is one group for whom rotting in jail is too good.

Those are the unspeakable misfits who commit horrific offenses against children, including some of the indigenous people in my home country involved in sexual offenses against children as young as two years old.

Such people in my book are not fit to live on this earth.

The problem is that many of those whom you have just described, have languished on death row for 20 years only to be later proven innocent due to DNA evidence.  What do you say about that?

[Artisi]

2 hours ago, DieterWiehe said:

a long story about shit

Guess you enjoy it seeing as how you were polite enough to comment 

 

[bbbbooboo]

hmmm.... I couldn’t agree more .....finally someone has said it publicly...will anything change?...TIT

[Cranky]

The Death Penalty is fundamentally wrong for a number of reasons not least of which is the countless wrongful convictions in every jurisdiction around the world (and executions in some).  Second, executing someone 10 - 15 or 20 years after the crime following endless appeals and stays amounts to cruel and unusual torture.  If there really could be no doubt whatsoever and the execution took place the same day it would be a perfect solution, sadly not possible - who would vote to top the Burmese pair?  Many deserve it without a doubt but in the absence of a cast-iron system who is to judge who gets it?

[TPI]

On 6/24/2018 at 12:48 PM, johnsuma01 said:

when there are strong evidence that a people is a criminal I am 100% for immediate execution.

All criminals are always claiming they are innocent as they know that jury believe it it will escape the dead sentence.

What???

[StevieAus]

On 6/24/2018 at 5:16 PM, TonyClifton said:

The problem is that many of those whom you have just described, have languished on death row for 20 years only to be later proven innocent due to DNA evidence.  What do you say about that?

I say that you are welcome to your opinion as I am to mine.

Some people always looking for a reason to forgive the unforgivable.

[RC8]

Thousands of "innocent" people die on the roads every year but we don't ban driving.

Whilst it would be regrettable if innocent people were executed by mistake, I don't see that as a reason not to have a death penalty. It doesn't have to be expensive or cruel. Nitrogen fed helmet would be not a bad way to go. Quick and painless....and cheap. That's what I will do if I ever get MND or a similar horrific disease. For criminals that's too good though. I would bring back the collosseum and make some money for society instead of taxing us ever more.

[Freed1948]

For heaven's sake Rooster, get off your high-horse.

[nausea]

Obviously, many people don't understand what a death sentence actually means. It's been the subject of much literary treatment. They can't make it public cos then it becomes a circus. Overall, I would say a death sentence suits a savage society. And that's fair enough. But a rational society? I suppose we're in an in-between stage.