Foreign survivor criticises slow response of Thai police in Siam Paragon shooting (video)

[recom273]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

RTP officials clarified that their headquarters was not equipped with the necessary special operations team required for such emergencies.

Probably the area with the highest foot traffic in Thailand, probably the area with the highest risk of something like this, with the highest fatality rate - like this hasn't happened before in this area, Erawan bombings? and their HQ (not some local satellite station) is not equipped for this.

 

TBF, I don't think anywhere could be totally prepared for something like this, but like Thailand has a pretty large police force, when a VIP would visit Songkhla, you would see a police officer every -50M from HY airport for 30km, and now they aren't equipped or prepared .. hub of excuses.

[ikke1959]

3 hours ago, swm59nj said:

The police might had been able to respond quicker.  But they are probably not trained to handle this sort of situation.  Except for a special operations team unfortunately. 
The ambulances were probably held up in traffic as part of the reasons.  But the usual protocol is an ambulance won’t enter an area  unless a serious situation in completely contained 

Has the RTP even any training? If you sometimes how they act... 

[ignore it]

Not to be critical, but every Thai cop and his brother-in-law have a gun.

But seems none of them have any balls.

[ChipButty]

24 minutes ago, recom273 said:

when a VIP would visit Songkhla, you would see a police officer every -50M from HY airport for 30km, and now they aren't equipped or prepared .. hub of excuses.

Some years ago I was staying in HY and one evening I had to drop a friend at the airport on the way I could see police around, sure enough on the way back I got stopped and told to park down this dirt track and turn the engine off, i was there for about 45 minutes until they all went flying by at 100 mph, 

[keithkarmann]

Why do the police carry guns? When they are not prepared to get involved when there is a shooter on the loose.

[keithkarmann]

4 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

I'm not seeing a lot of "blame", well maybe here on this forum, but I think people are looking for explanations. What happened to this child? How'd he get a gun? How'd he get inside the mall/hotel? Why was the response so slow? It is not unreasonable for the public to ask these questions, nor for the authorities, civil and police, to not be able to answer them honestly.

 

After the Nong Bua Lamphu Massacre the Police and various government officials promised action on gun control/safety. But all the public got was crickets, apparently.

 

I think it is unreasonable to expect the RTP to be proficient at handling a situation for which they were unprepared for, and untrained for. 

This was a police headquarters,  why no proper training, do they just hand out hand guns to the officers willy nilly? Just to control traffic offenders.

[ChipButty]

7 minutes ago, keithkarmann said:

Why do the police carry guns? When they are not prepared to get involved when there is a shooter on the loose.

I would rather they didn't get involved, 

[Mr Meeseeks]

3 hours ago, Eloquent pilgrim said:

Surely their Headquarters is the one place that you would expect to be housing both a “special operations team” and a “rapid response team” ….. if not there, then where ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Police HQ is where they take bribes to process your criminal record check quicker. 

 

TiT.

[Mr Meeseeks]

25 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Some years ago I was staying in HY and one evening I had to drop a friend at the airport on the way I could see police around, sure enough on the way back I got stopped and told to park down this dirt track and turn the engine off, i was there for about 45 minutes until they all went flying by at 100 mph, 

Been there, seen it and done it myself as well. 

[ChipButty]

According to people we know Paragon is all quiet, one girl we know does a limo service everyone has cancelled no bookings she said, 

Edited October 5, 2023 by ChipButty

[kwak250]

6 hours ago, HaoleBoy said:

Why don't the Thai's teach "drop and shelter" in the event of gunshots?

Better to stay in 1 place rather than running around in chaos since you wouldn't know where the gunman was.  Sounds echo in a big shopping mall and a gunman can come down floor(s) using an escalator.

You might be right but I am not going to hide behind  a handbag display.

I am gong to get the <deleted> out of there 

[ChipButty]

4 minutes ago, kwak250 said:

You might be right but I am not going to hide behind  a handbag display.

I am gong to get the <deleted> out of there 

some people we know hid in the stock rooms as they were on the ground floor, 

[Eloquent pilgrim]

1 hour ago, sqwakvfr said:

I did not say “do nothing at all”.  I said the cost  would be a major impediment for any company to consider.  No security screening system is 100-%.  

So, rather like myself, you don’t seem to know of any better solutions other than a scanning system ?

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

how many units you could fix instead of getting those Chinese submarines without engines

There are no engineless subs being bought.

[connda]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

RTP officials clarified that their headquarters was not equipped with the necessary special operations team required for such emergencies.

Sounds like the Thai cops had an Uvalde mind-set.  Sit on the sidelines and look cop-like until one brave off-duty Border Patrol agent armed with a borrowed shotgun and some cajones ends the standoff. 

So - there are similarities it seems.  The questions should be, if they are not trained - why?  And if they are trained - why?  And like Uvalde, where the hell was the leadership?

 

Edited October 5, 2023 by connda

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

RTP officials clarified that their headquarters was not equipped with the necessary special operations team required for such emergencies. “It ....... took them about an hour and a half or two hours to get here" was apparently a statement by a bystander. 

The man in the video did not say that about the police, he said that about the ambulances but, then, he also said "It was a stampede...well, it wasn't really a stampede"!

[sqwakvfr]

23 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

And?

"And"?  I have some experience in security matters and dealing with active shooter incidents.  What about you?

[Rimmer]

A post and replies contravening our Community Standards has been removed.    

[sqwakvfr]

35 minutes ago, Eloquent pilgrim said:

So, rather like myself, you don’t seem to know of any better solutions other than a scanning system ?

1) Actual physical searches of people and bags (time consuming) 2) X-ray scanners of bags and people (very expensive). Ever wonder why these types of equipment are mostly at airports and in government buildings? Have done both on Government funded contracts.  Doubt a for profit company that operates shopping malls would be eager to take on such expensive projects.  Also, those scanners at the malls that beep are mostly useless. The same goes for the "Garrett" hand held scanners. 

[roo860]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

 

A foreign man shared his experience of the shooting incident at Bangkok’s Siam Paragon shopping mall on October 3 with Thai media and accused the Thai police and authorities of being slow to act.

 

The Royal Thai Police (RTP) faced substantial criticism from Thai citizens on social media in the aftermath of the mall shooting.

 

People accused the officers of being slow in their response and the rescue efforts for those trapped inside. Some individuals highlighted the close proximity of the RTP headquarters, a mere 500 meters from the shooting scene.

RTP officials clarified that their headquarters was not equipped with the necessary special operations team required for such emergencies.

The criticism extended beyond the Thai community, as the foreign survivor of the shooting shared his ordeal with ThaiRath in an interview. The man also agreed with Thai netizens that the police were slow to act.

 

“I think the response was very slow. You see those ambulances behind us, they probably just got here. It took them about an hour and a half or two hours to get here. So, I don’t think it was that fast, I don’t think they were well prepared for this at all.”

 

 

 

 

Mall mayhem

 

The Indian man said he was visiting the shopping centre with his wife and baby. While they were inside, they heard several gunshots and people started running all over the place. Everyone was scared.

 

The man added that there was a lot of chaos and it was almost like a stampede. Police later cleared people out of the mall 45 minutes after the shooting, according to the foreign man.

 

by Petch Petpailin

TOP: A bouquet of flowers is offered by a Chinese man in front of the Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok. Photo by Wason Wanichakorn via AP.

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2023-10-05

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

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What did he 'survive'?

[2baht]

7 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

Retired American Police Officer here

Did you used to say "Git on the ground, mothertrucker!" when you made an arrest?

[tandor]

4 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

How many scanners and how many additional trained, qualified and competent security officers would each mall have to hire?  Even the TSA misses firearms , grenades and even explosives on a frequent basis. 

in your reply you said a 'bag search', what would be the point of that when a small pistol/knife/grenade can easily be secreted on the body.

So what if the Malls have to hire additional security, they will build that cost into the rentals and the businesses add it onto the retail cost..don't you know!

Don't forget Thai society and poor parenting are to blame. The same parallel can be drawn with the results of the actions of Osama Bin Laden and the effect that had on world travel.

[tandor]

22 minutes ago, 2baht said:

Did you used to say "Git on the ground, mothertrucker!" when you made an arrest?

fancy fessing to that here!

[tandor]

45 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The man in the video did not say that about the police, he said that about the ambulances but, then, he also said "It was a stampede...well, it wasn't really a stampede"!

i thought i heard the clumping of buffalo hooves in the background..may have been Mall music.

[Eloquent pilgrim]

34 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

1) Actual physical searches of people and bags (time consuming) 2) X-ray scanners of bags and people (very expensive). Ever wonder why these types of equipment are mostly at airports and in government buildings? Have done both on Government funded contracts.  Doubt a for profit company that operates shopping malls would be eager to take on such expensive projects.  Also, those scanners at the malls that beep are mostly useless. The same goes for the "Garrett" hand held scanners. 

So, not much than can be done practically then. I guess the scanners could at least make someone think twice; although the committed nutter will always find a way. Paragon, and some of the other Malls in Bangkok could certainly afford to spend more on security, if they have a mind to.

[tandor]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

There are no engineless subs being bought.

going for modified galleons now with two banks of oars..farang on lower level of course!

 

[tandor]

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

some people we know hid in the stock rooms as they were on the ground floor, 

I'd feel 10' tall and bullet-proof too with the latest YSL tote bag on my svelte shoulder

[sqwakvfr]

35 minutes ago, 2baht said:

Did you used to say "Git on the ground, mothertrucker!" when you made an arrest?

Only in the movies or on TV.

[sqwakvfr]

15 minutes ago, tandor said:

in your reply you saidI wo a 'bag search', what would be the point of that when a small pistol/knife/grenade can easily be secreted on the body.

So what if the Malls have to hire additional security, they will build that cost into the rentals and the businesses add it onto the retail cost..don't you know!

Don't forget Thai society and poor parenting are to blame. The same parallel can be drawn with the results of the actions of Osama Bin Laden and the effect that had on world travel.

Only the owners of the malls in Thailand could answer this.  I know the mall operators in the US would never do bag searches in the US. 

[freeworld]

2 hours ago, keithkarmann said:

This was a police headquarters,  why no proper training, do they just hand out hand guns to the officers willy nilly? Just to control traffic offenders.

Just like the US then.