Terror at Railay Beach in Krabi - foreign tourists taken hostage as shots fired

[webfact]

Terror at Railay Beach in Krabi - foreign tourists taken hostage as shots fired

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

A drug crazed Thai man took a group of foreign and Thai tourists hostage at a popular restaurant on Railay Beach in Krabi last night.

 

Several shots were fired as police desperately tried for the best part of an hour to get the man to give up his weapon.

 

Only after the intervention of the hostage taker's father over the phone did the drama come to an end.

 

Ao Nang police and tourist cops rushed to the scene of the hostage taking on the second floor of the restaurant, reported Thai Rath.

 

Four shots had been fired and 6 or 7 tourists were in fear of their lives.

 

Efforts were made over a period of 40 minutes to get the gunman to give up his weapon but they were not successful.

 

Police learnt that he was visiting a friend in Railay and his name was Ekaphot Phuangphet, 32, from Thung Song district of Nakorn Sri Thammarat.

 

They contacted his father over the phone from his hometown. The father convinced his son to give up his weapon.

 

Finally he gave up his .357 gun. Four shots had been fired and there were two more rounds in the gun.

 

Another seven bullets were found on the suspect's person.

 

Clearly high on drugs he was taken into custody at Ao Nang police station.

 

He told police that after taking drugs he suffered a paranoid attack believing that people were out to get him.

 

Ekaphot has been charged with detaining people illegally at gunpoint, having a weapon in a public place and shooting in a public place.

 

The weapon was found to be legally owned.

 

The two story wooden restaurant at the center of the drama was not named in the Thai Rath story.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-07-11

[flyingtlger]

9 minutes ago, webfact said:

Finally he gave up his .357 gun.

 

That's not a small weapon.  Thank God nobody was hurt and the hostage negotiators had the wit to call the gunmans' father....

 

[Dmaxdan]

Yet another crazy incident to dent the already fragile reputation of the Thai tourism industry. At least it was all resolved with no injuries or worse... 

[MaxLee]

16 minutes ago, webfact said:

Clearly high on drugs he was taken into custody at Ao Nang police station.

 

He told police that after taking drugs he suffered a paranoid attack believing that people were out to get him.

 

Ekaphot has been charged with detaining people illegally at gunpoint, having a weapon in a public place and shooting in a public place.

 

The weapon was found to be legally owned.

 

The nasty, nasty drugs,.... okay 500-1,000 Baht and case closed

[hansnl]

4 minutes ago, flyingtlger said:

 

That's not a small weapon.  Thank God nobody was hurt and the hostage negotiators had the wit to call the gunmans' father....

 

 

It's not a big weapon, also.

It's just a revolver, suitable to fire .357 and .38, which is around 9 mm.

.38 about the same power as a 9mm, .357 more powerful.

But only 6 cartridges in the weapon.

 

 

[lordblackader]

Yaba daba don't. 

[Get Real]

I guess it seems like everything starts to go back to normal.

 

1 hour ago, hansnl said:

It's not a big weapon, also.

It's just a revolver, suitable to fire .357 and .38, which is around 9 mm.

.38 about the same power as a 9mm, .357 more powerful.

But only 6 cartridges in the weapon.

By the way, Thanks for the very relevant input. It made my day.

[Ugothai]

why is it so easy to have a gun in thailand ?? what i see is that every thai people have a gun.....

[transam]

9 minutes ago, Ugothai said:

why is it so easy to have a gun in thailand ?? what i see is that every thai people have a gun.....

Any country has folk with weapons under the bed......

[Kieran00001]

8 minutes ago, Ugothai said:

why is it so easy to have a gun in thailand ?? what i see is that every thai people have a gun.....

 

15 per 100 people, of legally owned guns.  Quite high, but only the 37th highest worldwide, 16 countries in Europe have a higher rate of gun ownership, with Germany, Austria, France, Norway and Cyprus all having twice the rate of Thailand, and then the US with a rate over 5 times as high and having more guns than they have people.

[worgeordie]

"He told police that after taking drugs he suffered a paranoid attack believing that people were out to get him"

 When in reality he was out too get them .

" The weapon was found to be legally owned." I hope the Police don't let him have it back.

 

regards worgeordie

[transam]

18 minutes ago, Get Real said:

I guess it seems like everything starts to go back to normal.

 

By the way, Thanks for the very relevant input. It made my day.

The difference between a .38 and a .357 mag hitting you would probably make a lot of difference..

[grumbleweed]

Can't wait for the TAT spin on this one

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

they don't call it a magnum for nothing. 

 

In this case the caliber is not the only factor. A magnum round has a lot more hitting power.

 

In any case I wouldn't even want to get shot by a .22 short round.

[Falcon]

1 hour ago, hansnl said:

It's not a big weapon, also.

It's just a revolver, suitable to fire .357 and .38, which is around 9 mm.

.38 about the same power as a 9mm, .357 more powerful.

But only 6 cartridges in the weapon.

 

 

Are you serious? A .357 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and your saying it’s not a big gun??? Try facing someone head on when this ‘small gun’ is being brandished about, especially by someone high on drugs and see just how small it is!!

[Briggsy]

Thread hijacked by gun enthusiasts.

[transam]

Just now, Falcon said:

Are you serious? A .357 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and your saying it’s not a big gun??? Try facing someone head on when this ‘small gun’ is being brandished about, especially by someone high on drugs and see just how small it is!!

The .357 mag was not the most powerful handgun in the world..For a period it's big .44 brother was but that is history..

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

Thread hijacked by gun enthusiasts.

No, just chat and info...

[Chassa]

a single shot from a .22 can kill, in this case size is irrelevent.

[klauskunkel]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The weapon was found to be legally owned.

by who? the drug addict?

[HAKAPALITA]

I carry a Magnum around quite often. i prefer the Strawberry one though.

[faraday]

36 minutes ago, transam said:

Any country has folk with weapons under the bed......

 

I have a Chamberpot under mine.

 

Full, of course.

 

[Deli]

Make a movie: Showdown in Railey !

And it will not harm the tourist stream...

[Get Real]

34 minutes ago, transam said:

The difference between a .38 and a .357 mag hitting you would probably make a lot of difference..

Irrelavant in this case and the news in the OP. They have and know what weapon was used, and nobody was hurt or killed.

With the sentence above is like the guy in the picture you attached to it.

[stbkk]

27 minutes ago, transam said:

The .357 mag was not the most powerful handgun in the world..For a period it's big .44 brother was but that is history..

You mean Dirty Harry wasn't telling the truth? I'm devastated...!

[transam]

1 minute ago, Get Real said:

Irrelavant in this case and the news in the OP. They have and know what weapon was used, and nobody was hurt or killed.

With the sentence above is like the guy in the picture you attached to it.

My post was just info if the weapon was used...Chill out chap...

[transam]

1 minute ago, stbkk said:

You mean Dirty Harry wasn't telling the truth? I'm devastated...!

Dirty Harry used a S & W model 29 .44 Magnum, not a .357......

[Emster23]

" The weapon was found to be legally owned." Makes me feel so much safer.... what are the standards for owning a gun, and are they adhered to?

Remember RFK was killed with a .22 pistol, for what that is worth

[Just Weird]

1 hour ago, Ugothai said:

why is it so easy to have a gun in thailand ?? what i see is that every thai people have a gun.....

It isn't easy to have a licenced gun and you have not seen that every Thai person has one, licenced or not.

[Berkshire]

2 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

Yet another crazy incident to dent the already fragile reputation of the Thai tourism industry.

I see the "final nail in the coffin" brigade has shown up once again.  Yet, the tourists keep coming.  Don't you guys ever get tired of being wrong all the time?