Man who stole weed from neighbor dies after attack - initially police won't prosecute saying owner had right to defend property

[webfact]

Picture: Thai Rath

 

A major case is brewing in the NE of Thailand after a man died after he was attacked for stealing marijuana plants at a neighbor's property.

 

The owner of the house beat him up and two weeks later he was dead.

 

The local police said there was no case to answer - the owner had a right to defend his property.

 

Now relatives of the deceased have appealed to the press and the provincial police chief who said there could be a case to answer of at least manslaughter. He promised justice for both sides.

 

The case is being re-examined.

 

Yesterday Wanna Aransorn, 55 along with six other relatives appealed directly to the provincial commander Pol Maj-Gen Phitsanu Unahaseri for justice.

 

This followed the death of her younger brother Khamdee Aransorn, 49.

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Back on November 15th at 10pm he went into a neighbor's property to steal ganja plants but was caught and attacked, reported Thai Rath. 

 

She said her brother was a widower with an 18 year old son who lived in a shack in her field. 

 

He had smoked weed since he was a youth.

 

After the attack he had tried to crawl out of the neighbor's yard but had been kicked until he was badly hurt. 

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

He was apprehended by local officials and taken to the Wang Sam Mo police who fined him 500 baht for fighting and let him go though he was initially told he'd have to spend a month in jail.

 

He went home and no one knew that he was coughing up blood after he was badly bruised. He couldn't walk and stopped eating.

 

On 23rd November he went to hospital and was admitted for several days but left after refusing to be fed via a nasal tube.

 

He died on December 1st and was cremated the next day.

 

The police refused to prosecute the owner of the house with the weed saying he had a right to defend his property. They threatened the family that they should leave the matter alone, claimed the family.

 

The family had tried to get recompense from the owner who said his plants were worth 100,000 baht and they were welcome to prosecute him in court.

 

He thought he'd win.

 

Believing they had not received justice the family went to the press and the provincial chief.

 

Phitsanu said that there could be a case for manslaughter or illegal killing and has asked the local police to more fully investigate. 

 

CCTV and other evidence including medical reports should be examined closely to decide if there is a case to answer in the courts. 

 

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[Dmaxdan]

9 minutes ago, webfact said:

The local police said there was no case to answer - the owner had a right to defend his property.

Or in other words, there is too much paperwork and not enough financial incentive involved to  prosecute him.

[Artisi]

4 minutes ago, Dmaxdan said:

Or in other words, there is too much paperwork and not enough financial incentive involved to  prosecute him.

Why should they prosecute him? 

[KhunLA]

Not sure how the homeowner can be responsible for the 'thief' not seeking medical attention.  That's just stupid, and leans more toward suicide than manslaughter.

[jacko45k]

19 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Why should they prosecute him? 

Assault and battery, manslaughter, something like that. 

[mikebell]

35 minutes ago, Dmaxdan said:

Or in other words, there is too much paperwork and not enough financial incentive involved to  prosecute him.

Or the vicious homeowner has 'friends' in high places.  How can anyone be allowed to beat someone up & not face prosecution!  Banana Republic.

[ezzra]

The blame really can be sherd by all parties, by owner who beat up the guy for a minor offence, the thief who refused medical treatment, the medics who let him go knowing his life was in danger, AND THE POLICE, for doing as little as possible, as usual, because there's no money in it to be had only paperwork...

[Gottfrid]

31 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Why should they prosecute him? 

What? Of course, there is a case and a reason to prosecute him. Are you living by the law book of Rwanda? Here we have a person that has been attacked and tries to crawl away. Then the owner of the property could have chosen to hold him and call police. Instead, he chose to kick the person until badly hurt. That is excessive force, that was not needed and can´t be called self-defense nor protection of his own property.

What you´re asking here is why they should prosecute him? Look at it this way, if I am in my own home eating french fries, and a person walks by stealing one of my french fries. Do I have the right to cause him bodily harm, that will later be the cause of his death?

[JonnyF]

6 minutes ago, mikebell said:

Or the vicious homeowner has 'friends' in high places.  How can anyone be allowed to beat someone up & not face prosecution!  Banana Republic.

Because he was on his property, stealing his stuff.

 

Here's an idea if you don't want to get beaten up. Don't steal from others. If it's not yours, don't take it.

 

He only died weeks later because he refused medical treatment. So not only was he a thief, but he was also incredibly stupid. 

 

Hopefully Thailand doesn't go the way of the west where the thief gets off scott free and the guy defending his property goes to jail.

 

 

[4MyEgo]

26 minutes ago, ezzra said:

The blame really can be sherd by all parties, by owner who beat up the guy for a minor offence, the thief who refused medical treatment, the medics who let him go knowing his life was in danger, AND THE POLICE, for doing as little as possible, as usual, because there's no money in it to be had only paperwork...

I have to disagree with you, as I believe the blame lay solely on the intruder, I mean you know that you wouldn't risk going onto a neighbours property at night or any other property for that matter.

 

It's called trespassing and the intruder was out to steal, regardless if it was ganja, his intention was clear, a good beating should have made him learn a lesson, in my days, the cops would do it.

 

The fact that he refused medical treatment when it was to be administered, shows to me that he is incapable of accepting things for what they are and has a problem mentally.

 

He is lucky my wife didn't catch him in our yard as she wields a manchette pretty well and won't think twice about using it.

 

As for the relatives, well to me, it shows that they are only after money as they can't see past their own noses, the guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time and unfortunately got a beating which medical treatment could have sorted, however he refused it, so there is no manslaughter case to be answered and no compensation to be made in my opinion.

 

Everyone has a right to defend their property and this sends a clear message and is within his rights in my opinion.

[OttoPollmann]

Double standards in this Banana Republic. Thai walks scot free and this swiss guy sits in the monkey house for defend himself from an armed intruder in the middle of the night. 

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

On 23rd November he went to hospital and was admitted for several days but left after refusing to be fed via a nasal tube.

 

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

the medics who let him go knowing his life was in danger,

He would have had to sign a waiver to be released against doctors advice. Don't blame the medical staff, you can not be held in hospital against your will. 

[Gottfrid]

2 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Because he was on his property, stealing his stuff.

 

Here's an idea if you don't want to get beaten up. Don't steal from others. If it's not yours, don't take it.

 

He only died weeks later because he refused medical treatment. So not only was he a thief, but he was also incredibly stupid. 

 

Hopefully Thailand doesn't go the way of the west where the thief gets off scott free and the guy defending his property goes to jail.

 

 

Tragic to read what you post. There is a perfect solution here, that you seem to have missed totally. The guy was already attacked and brought to the ground. He was trying to crawl away. The property owner could have held him and called the police to remove and charge him. Instead, he made the choice to kick a man already laying on the ground. You don´t need to talk about getting away scott free. The point is that the owner had already diffused the situation before he caused grivious bodily harm on a person seemingly unable to defend himself. So, he used violence, when there was no need for it.

That he attacked him from start is not anything wrong with, as that is defending his own property. However, adding extra violence that can be tracked down as a reason for a person´s death can never be right.

[metisdead]

An off topic post about the USA has been removed.

[JonnyF]

7 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Tragic to read what you post. There is a perfect solution here, that you seem to have missed totally. The guy was already attacked and brought to the ground. He was trying to crawl away. The property owner could have held him and called the police to remove and charge him. Instead, he made the choice to kick a man already laying on the ground. You don´t need to talk about getting away scott free. The point is that the owner had already diffused the situation before he caused grivious bodily harm on a person seemingly unable to defend himself. So, he used violence, when there was no need for it.

That he attacked him from start is not anything wrong with, as that is defending his own property. However, adding extra violence that can be tracked down as a reason for a person´s death can never be right.

Frankly, I am skeptical about the level of detail in the story. How do we know he attacked him as he tried to crawl away? It's unlikely the homeowner claimed this, so was it the victim or the victim's family? The victim would be claiming he didn't deserve the beating and the family clearly want justice (or more likely money) so I would be skeptical of both of their stories.

 

If true, yes I believe that level of violence is not necessary and OTT. However it is unproven. What we do know is that the "victim" was on the guy's property, stealing his possessions and possibly not for the first time. If you do that, you have to accept a certain level of risk of being caught. He would have known the risk and still chose to do it, then refused medical treatment afterwards. It's certainly regrettable that he died, but in this case it seems to be an example of "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes". He could just as easily have been shot, stabbed or killed by a pack of dogs during the theft. Had he stayed in hospital, no doubt he would still be with us today, planning his next theft.

[huangnon]

Property owner might want to smoke a bit of what he's growing and chill out a tad.?

 

Granted, the guy was a thief, but kicking him on the ground enough to kill him seems like a large overreaction to me.

[prakhonchai nick]

Well over 30 years ago, there was a break-in at my home in Pattaya. Not much stolen and nobody at home.   13 (yes thirteen) police  attended for the pointing photoshoot.

 

Next day a senior policeman visited, and tried but failed to sell me his gun for 6,000baht. He told me that I had every right to shoot any intruder, BUT, if I did, as a farang, to say it was my wife who used the gun!

[Will B Good]

So the police decide what the law is......and there's me thinking it was the legislative arm of the executive.

[Gottfrid]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

Frankly, I am skeptical about the level of detail in the story. How do we know he attacked him as he tried to crawl away? It's unlikely the homeowner claimed this, so was it the victim or the victim's family? The victim would be claiming he didn't deserve the beating and the family clearly want justice (or more likely money) so I would be skeptical of both of their stories.

 

If true, yes I believe that level of violence is not necessary and OTT. However it is unproven. What we do know is that the "victim" was on the guy's property, stealing his possessions and possibly not for the first time. If you do that, you have to accept a certain level of risk of being caught. He would have known the risk and still chose to do it, then refused medical treatment afterwards. It's certainly regrettable that he died, but in this case it seems to be an example of "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes". He could just as easily have been shot, stabbed or killed by a pack of dogs during the theft. Had he stayed in hospital, no doubt he would still be with us today, planning his next theft.

You have been awarded! First price, a precious gold medal goes to JonnyF for professional victim blaming.

[KhunLA]

2 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Had he stayed in hospital, no doubt he would still be with us today, planning his next theft.

IMHO ... in the end, things worked out as they should.

Karma's a bitch sometimes 

[Joe Farang]

23 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

So the police decide what the law is......and there's me thinking it was the legislative arm of the executive.

If a person is walking along the footpath/pavement/sidewalk minding their own business.

Should they arrest that person, then let someone else decide whether they were breaking the law or not?

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, Joe Farang said:

If a person is walking along the footpath/pavement/sidewalk minding their own business.

Should they arrest that person, then let someone else decide whether they were breaking the law or not?

Yes.....the police don't decide...the courts do.

[Nsp64]

Police threatened the homeowner with a month in jail but reduced it to a 500 baht fine . Now why doi you think they did that?

Now they are warning the relatives of the thief to leave it alone .

The whole thing stinks of bribery .

[Deli]

Intruding, stealing and maybe high on on drugs. Don't take the risk if you cannot live with the consequences. No sympathy.

[BKKBike09]

Thai media reports that this was the 4th time this guy had trespassed on the property to steal weed.

https://www.khaosod.co.th/around-thailand/news_7402657

 

Plus he wasn't taking a few leaves - he took armfuls of weed as can be seen in the CCTV footage:

 

As the houseowner points out, it took the thief a long time to seek medical attention. Good luck proving that he died as a result of injuries received that night - perhaps he tried to steal something else a day or two later and got beaten up by another person? 

[JayClay]

4 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

He is lucky my wife didn't catch him in our yard as she wields a manchette pretty well and won't think twice about using it

Seems to me your wife is the lucky one as she's not potentially facing charges.

 

Just out of interest, just how badly would things have ended up worse for the guy if he had run into your wife? I mean, he's already dead... So what fate would your wife have imposed on him which is worse than that?

[4MyEgo]

4 minutes ago, JayClay said:

Seems to me your wife is the lucky one as she's not potentially facing charges.

 

Just out of interest, just how badly would things have ended up worse for the guy if he had run into your wife? I mean, he's already dead... So what fate would your wife have imposed on him which is worse than that?

You missed the whole point, i.e. if they guy was on our property, he would have received more than a beating, he would be dead, suffice to say, how hard would it be to say that he tried to rape my wife and she feared for her life, end of story, next !

 

 

[BritManToo]

6 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Do I have the right to cause him bodily harm, that will later be the cause of his death?

Yes, you do, killing an intruder is allowed in Thailand (as it is in the USA and UK). 

[Mikeyfromoz]

If you can't defend yourself, your family or your property, without fear of prosecution, then humanity will continue to fail, and the criminals will ALWAYS win...!!!
If criminals continue to get away with committing crimes, then obviously they will continue committing crimes....!!!
If punishment is swift and very severe, then only the stupidest criminals will continue to commit crimes, and if they continue committing crimes and get caught, then locking them up for a very long time will solve many problems...!
If this criminal gets beat up for breaking the law, and if he didn't go to hospital quick enough after being beaten up while committing a crime, AND if he refused to be fed through a tube to help save his life, then HE is responsible for his own death...!!!

[wombat]

all the hang him high mob make me laugh....you've come home and found someone robbing your castle...what are you going to do?...
say
I say old sausage best off you go tootle pip like a good fellow?