Minivdo: Phuket Police Impose Strict Patrols For Yachts After A Foreign Yacht Skipper Was Attacked By A Foreign Robber Who Died.

[mrdome]

Imho, any violent death is still tragic. It's a waste of life, even/especially when a guy loses his way and does something wrong/stupid.

[Maestro]

That shot gun must have been built by a real terrorist...

The linked article from a Swiss paper quotes Mr. Oberson as follows: "Some kind of rubber bullet hit my shoulder"

Regarding the assailant's name, Mr. Oberson said: "He introduced himself only as Michael"

--

Maestro

[Hanuman2547]

she is lying through her sweet young lips. this was a set up to rob the rich guy between her and the dead frogman. who in the heil swims up to a yacht and is invited on to have a tour and drinks while the skipper is doodling his young innocent beauty. while the wifes away...skipper played. he got set up by two morons who couldnt pull it off. when her partner was hurt and jumped overboard she changed teams in mid stream so to speak. this was probably a boat jacking to sail off into the sunset....but the skipper was too fast and too strong.

also this b.s. about this man found dead maybe being the skinny little SCB bank robber is another joke. he was the bank mangers thai cousin. totally an inside job. can anyone here solve a crime?

It's a possibility and one should not rule out many possible scenarios/motives from this tragic incident.

[Foggy Bottom]

The dead diver found in the sea. His name is Jason Bourne.

Well that's cheered me up.

Someone nudge the Phuket police to check the photo with the Russian Embassy - it's maybe the last of that gang that did the bank job in Pattaya and got caught when their getaway speedboat ran out of gas heading for Hua Hin or wherever it was.

As for making light of this story compared to the shooting in Pai - remember there's a big difference - this was not a cop shooting two tourists, this was a wannabe Jack Sparrow biting off more than he could chew and getting just rewards.

Also for the "oh he's dead, that's terrible" crowd - the skipper is reported to have hit him twice with a boathook (a small metal hook on a broom handle) but received two gun shot wounds in return. Slightly disparate weaponry involved there, and all credit to the Swiss guy for winning the battle. Did Pornthip have any wounds?

Interesting though, about the diver dying of blood loss from the wrist wound - it must have been one hel_l of a cut for him to only get 75 metres away - especially allowing for tidal drift. What state of the tide was it at that time last night? Ebb / Flow / Slack tide? What's the current like in the bay there?

Weren't there any sharks cruising around to help his getaway? ..... (waits for the reply they were in a long tail boat )

[moe666]

What! no outrage at a farange being killed. O, thats right was not killed by a Thai.

[Maestro]

Translation of the full article in the Swiss daily BLICK:

*****

Diver attack on round-the-world sailor.

For the past 8 years Pierre-Alain Oberson (50) has been sailing around the world. In Thailand it gets bloody.

Pierre-Alain Oberson anchors his boat off Kata beach in Phuket. Together with his Thai lady friend Ponthip Jansom. At around 22.00 hours they hear somebody call “hello”.

A man in a diving suit. He is swimming in the water. “I invited him onto my boat”, Oberson tells BLICK.

After a coffee and a beer the stranger says good-bye. “He introduced himself only as Michael”, says Oberson.

But shortly thereafter the man returns. With a weapon and adhesive tape. “He ordered my friend to tie me up”, says Oberson. The Swiss from Cully near Lausanne offers resistance. Then the stranger pulls the trigger. “Some kind of rubber bullet hit my shoulder.”

Oberson manges to push the stranger over board. But he returns. This time armed with a knife.

The fight continues. Finally, Oberson throws a big fishing hook at the stranger. “Then he submerged”, says Oberson.

Local people bring the Swiss to a hospital in Phuket. He has knife wounds on a leg, among others.

The body of the diver is washed ashore early yesterday. Police suspect a robbery attempt. “We do not yet know the identity of the dead man”, says the local police chief.

Oberson does not yet know if he can continue his trip around the world.

*****

--

Maestro

Edited January 11, 2008 by Maestro
Corrected text to "fishing hook"

[ozymandious]

What! no outrage at a farange being killed. O, thats right was not killed by a Thai.

Rage! Rage! Rage against the killing of the white.

[blakegeee]

This BLICK story sounds a little different. Especially since its the story of the hospitalized Swiss guy who will not give his story for another 5 days??? It also doesn't mention his family at all. And after frogman failed with a gun, he returned with a knife, weird??? Then the Swiss throws a big "fish hook" at him...a Fish Hook??? How about an anchor??? And what did this have to do with New Zealand?

[Maestro]

… the Swiss throws a big "fish hook" at him...a Fish Hook??? How about an anchor???

Sorry, that should have been “fishig hook”, I guess, or whatever you call it. There’s this photo of it in the OP:

--

Maestro

[distortedlink]

This has all the hallmarks of a gangland dispute.

The middle aged dead Farang looks like the usual dross one sees hanging about in a bar pretending not to be the owner.

Sadly Thailand is becoming a haven for way too many of these iffy Farangs.

The only good part is that they intend to wipe each other out, and are in difference worlds to those decent Farang residents that live in Thailand.

Let this be a lesson to those who get involved with these people.

[JimsKnight]

Agree with Distorted.

Some outlaw low-life expat wanting to live life on the edge when the money probably got tight.

He got the livin' on the edge alright...

A big swinging boat hook around his head by the look of it!

Score one to the good boat dude

[Maestro]

Not much on Pierre-Alain Oberson on the Internet, except that he operates a school for motor boats on the Lake of Geneva.

A sailing magazine reproduced the story printed in Bangkok Post:

Shot Cruising Sailor Kills Intruder on Yacht

--

Maestro

P.S. Got the part about his operating a school for motor boats wrong.

Edited January 11, 2008 by Maestro
Added postscript.

[Maestro]

… And what did this have to do with New Zealand?

It appears he sailed from New Zealand to Thailand, which may be the reason why some news reports say he is a New Zealander.

--

Maestro

[arco27]

http://www.blick.ch/news/ausland/taucher-a...tumsegler-80368

funny, that Swiss paper even though they seem to have talked to Mr. Oberson, don't mention his wife and kids staying at the hotel at all! Swiss discretion seems to be as well developed as Thai discretion

[yankeechief]

she is lying through her sweet young lips. this was a set up to rob the rich guy between her and the dead frogman. who in the heil swims up to a yacht and is invited on to have a tour and drinks while the skipper is doodling his young innocent beauty. while the wifes away...skipper played. he got set up by two morons who couldnt pull it off. when her partner was hurt and jumped overboard she changed teams in mid stream so to speak. this was probably a boat jacking to sail off into the sunset....but the skipper was too fast and too strong.

also this b.s. about this man found dead maybe being the skinny little SCB bank robber is another joke. he was the bank mangers thai cousin. totally an inside job. can anyone here solve a crime?

Now that is the most reasonable theory I have heard yet. Knowing how the women in this part of the world are so effective in turning realitively intelligent men into braindead zombies, who will do anything to keep the little lady happy.

[Thai-Aust]

Knowing how the women in this part of the world are so effective in turning realitively intelligent men into braindead zombies, who will do anything to keep the little lady happy.

Maybe this is not about 'women in this part of the world' or ' will do anything to keep the little lady happy', but rather men's behaviour who enjoy ... other than their wives.

Sorry, I can't see this kind of man is so intelligent, otherwise they wouldn't engage in this kind of practice.

The story to me looks like these men knew each other and went out with a woman to enjoy themselves then something went terribly wrong. Of course I can be wrong. Better not to say anything until the truth comes out.

Edited January 11, 2008 by Thai-Aust

[kmart]

Worse things happen at sea. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

[farangconnection]

So lets get this story right:

A swiss national from New Zealand, used a boat hook to shoot a causican thai pirate. , on a massive boat that was moored at Chalong pier and the back end was off Kata beach. Police took a long boat, ( maybe not as long as the boat in question)from the pier to the boat (about 5 meters). No wonder things get muddled up.

[iforget]

The dead diver found in the sea. His name is Jason Bourne.

Can't be. Jason Bourne never loses. He always kills the other guys.

[Prakanong]

The dead diver found in the sea. His name is Jason Bourne.

maybe the guy was simply trying to deliver a box of Milk Tray before it suddenly went all pear shaped..

Now that made me laugh - I guess you have to be a certain age.

[bob4you]

Couple of questions come to mind :

What happened to the parrot , no mention of that and is it possible to swim with a wooden leg and a hook ?

Parrot is alive and well at Mini's Aviary in Pattaya. But he took the fifth and refuses to testify.

[Smithson]

The story to me looks like these men knew each other and went out with a woman to enjoy themselves then something went terribly wrong.

How does the fins and wetsuit fit into this theory? Rubber fetish?

[grantbkk]

Please! I need help. I have been contacted by the creators of South Park and the movie and television producer, Jerry Bruckheimer. Both want a screen play version of of this incident immediately. Jerry says Tata Young is under contract to star as the mother of the girl on the boat while the wife was on shore. I can do one version only.

After an incident like this I will sleep much better knowing that a police commander (maybe Jet Li can play him) has called for pirate patrols in the marinas.

[siampinays]

A good title for this story to me is "Pirates of The Andaman or Pirates of the Damned Man . The woman seemed so knowledgable in what to do in case of emergency. The initial report the woman was not named then she appeared to be the leading lady bug named Porntip. In the other report how very generous of the yatch owner to allow the rubber ducky dressed pirate to have a drink and inspect his yatch. Well, in my opinion what happend to him serves him right because he's having a nice time out there while his wife and 2 young children were left on their own. Am not a man hater but this story is kinda laughable. Sorry for the wife and kids. and for the leading lady bug of the story que cera cera.

[mikethevigoman]

A good title for this story to me is "Pirates of The Andaman or Pirates of the Damned Man . The woman seemed so knowledgable in what to do in case of emergency. The initial report the woman was not named then she appeared to be the leading lady bug named Porntip. In the other report how very generous of the yatch owner to allow the rubber ducky dressed pirate to have a drink and inspect his yatch. Well, in my opinion what happend to him serves him right because he's having a nice time out there while his wife and 2 young children were left on their own. Am not a man hater but this story is kinda laughable. Sorry for the wife and kids. and for the leading lady bug of the story que cera cera.

What about Katoey Ahoy !...

[geriatrickid]

The reported cause of death doesn't make sense. Although I haven't seen the corpse, I'd like to know if there was any blunt force trauma to his head, i.e. knocked out. As well, an examination of eyes and lungs would indicate if the subject was deceased or otherwise incapacitated before he hit the water. He is reported to have washed up on the shore? Usually a body sinks unless its fitted with flotation material. The body rises after the built up gases inflate the corpse and that takes time.

A wrist wound that causes serious blood loss leading to death is plausible since the salt water would inhibit clotting. However, if the subject was still alive I'd expect an effort to stop the bleeding. The usual blood chemistry tests and a good old fashioned stomach contents exam would let one know just what the deceased had been doing prior to the events (i.e. was he drunk, eating etc.) The deceased is reported to have been wearing a black scuba type outfit. Usually these are tight fitting garments that can be used to apply pressure at critical points sufficient to prevent death. You bleed but can usually stay alive. Was the wetsuit ripped all the way up the arm? This must have been one heck of a laceration severing all major arteries. The wound will reveal alot specifically as to whether or not the subject was injured by a thrown hook as claimed or slashed at close range. It'd be nice if there was an actual autopsy and not supposition from some hack kicking the body to make sure it really is dead.

Throw in the young lady and a deceased of unknown origins (no reports of missing persons yet?) and the first assumption of a terrorist because of a weapon that looks like a 12 year old made it, and it gets curiouser and curiouser.

Just do me one favour, before all the normal peaceful folk flee, I hope someone lets me know, cuz the crimes are just getting wackier and wackier and it's like we have the Keystone Cops under the command of Boss Hogg protecting us.

[Smithson]

Usually a body sinks unless its fitted with flotation material. The body rises after the built up gases inflate the corpse and that takes time.

A wrist wound that causes serious blood loss leading to death is plausible since the salt water would inhibit clotting.

The wetsuit would help keep him afloat. Being tight around the body it may also restrict blood flow.

Also, didn't the pics show 2 guns? One looked like it had was made by a 12yr old with an interest in Sci Fi and the other one was an old fashion type favored by pirates.

[grantbkk]

For the sake of a cartoon or blockbuster movie why would anyone, anywhere mention terrorism in this case. A white guy with a wet suit and a man bag (purse) is floating by a yacht and is invited on board for a beer. We can forget the fact that most terrorist don't drink and if he is on a Jihad he would more than likely forgo a mid-mission beer. In the purse he has an advanced weapons system (cool looking gun) from the mountains of Afghanistan or from the Advanced Weapons Development Center near the Thai-Malaysian border and is not reticent to use it. Being highly trained, this secret agent from who knows where bids the rich older guy and the 22 year old bar girl ado presumably to continue his Jihad. The agent must realize at this point that they might have seen his face while they were partying for an hour and began to take steps necessary to prevent his identity from being know to the world. We'll call him "Michael" for now as that was his undercover name during his contact with the civilians during his beer break from his secret mission.

Michael then brings his cool looking gun out and starts to clean up the mess he made when he decided to take a break from the Jihad. It is at this point the cool looking gun fails to deter the bar girl and old guy from passing a secret signal and attacking the "terrorist" with fishhooks, etc., overpowering him and finally killing Michael thus saving the world from mass destruction.

I'm leaning toward the cartoon but for big money I'll write the movie screenplay.

[capt_canada42]

For the sake of a cartoon or blockbuster movie...

You can't wriet a story remember your out on strike so go have another beer

[NBT TV Phuket]

We would like to ask Sir Burr or moderator to retract his early statement that this was "TV Channel 11's usual shoddy reporting the news" as we believe we did get it right this time: the boat was at Kata, not Chalong; we did not say anything about drinking for an hour to keep the report brief on TV, and the police informed our Thai reporter that the robber was shot as well as injured by objects.

We have always tried our best to to report the news with correct facts before we broadcast, and we respect people's right to privacy, for example the woman involved in this instance. The police asked the public to help identify the robber, so we showed his face, and put this item on this forum ASAP after broadcast.

We feel it is an insult to call our reporting shoddy, unless you back it up with true evidence.

We hope others support us in what is a difficult job. We have been reporting local Andaman News since March 2004 and receive very few criticisms but also little support. We hope Thai Visa appreciates our contributions.

Other news reports are saying that the yacht in question was moored at Chalong Pier, not anchored off Kata Beach.That the robber spent an hour drinking with the owner before the incident and that he died from knife wounds and not a gunshot wound.

TV Channel 11's usual shoddy job of reporting the news, or, have they got it right this time?

Edited January 12, 2008 by TV Channel 11