Phuket: How Dangerous Is It?

[LivinLOS]

Well mate, you certainly have the contacts, even if the family dont participate they (the media) should investigate and publish the story. I provided plenty of info to the gazette Re the gun attack on 2 mates a week or two ago and a second shooting in the last month. Niether got any press on the basis that people didnt want to co-operate, I would have thought a bit of investigative journalism would have shown enough story to print in both cases.

The Gazette has been accused of being a bit of a tourist puff piece and real estate promo paper.. I dont think thats really the case myself but do think as the main english speaking local news they need to cover these issues. Even to include other witnesses if the main ones involved dont want to talk.

As to the crime, add that one to the growing list of violent stick up crime in the last 6 months.. If this is how high season is, I worry about low season coming.

[LivinginKata]

'investigative journalism' my a***. The Phuket Gazette is only looking for cosy 'good news' issues. They hardly even report tourist accident deaths or injuries these days. Violence against tourists goes mostly unreported. Didn't seem like that a few years ago. Wonder what happenned ??

And quick edit add-on.

Safari = late night/early morning venue = a lot of drunks (Farang & Thai) = not the place I want to be.

Edited February 28, 2008 by LivinginKata

[LivinLOS]

The gazette gets a lot of flack.. I dont think ALL of its justified but some is.. They do need to be aware to not be a puff piece rag IMO.. Resturant reviews and lame stuff..

Of course as a farang run public business they also have to be a bit careful, not upset certain powers that be.. But stuff liek this is not upsetting established powers, this is street crime that needs to go reported.

[Nirvana]

This is disturbing.

Friends of mine, a Swedish couple, was brutally robbed early Wednesday morning in Patong (Feb 27). They've been to Safari and went to a nearby ATM to take out some money. After the money was withdrawn, 2 Thai males approached them and asked them to hand over the cash. At first they refused, then another 5 Thai males joined in. One pulled up a shotgun and pointed it at the Swedish couple. Another guy pulled out a knife and held it close against the Swedish man's stomach.

The robbers got away with all the money, wallets and watches. Then they started to beat up the Swedish male. The couple panicked and started to run. Luckily they got away unharmed (other than a few bruises from the beating).

The Swedish couple called the Tourist Police (1155), but to no avail. Seemed liked the police did not understand the seriousness of the situation, or they simply did not understand English. The choice is yours.

This is the first time I ever heard of a stickup robbery in Patong after living in Phuket for 13 years. Except, of course, for a few katoeys ripping gold chains from each other and other minor stuff. I have pushed the couple to contact the media regarding this, I am not sure they want the hassle.

That just typifies how low its got and how often now this happens, its worse than wild west. Until they get control of these youths and guns, it will only get worse i fear as once they get away with it once tourists are seen as easy pickings for a gang like this. Plus of course there are plenty of Gangs.. and youths are impressed with such stories and will copy cat

[LivinginKata]

It will take a Farang to be shot & killed before we see any action from the police. Prodded on by the responsible embassy and the TAT (to protect tourist arrival numbers). Took the Norwegian guy to be killed before we saw any action on the motor bike attacks from Kata to Rawai.

[vanalli]

It will take a Farang to be shot & killed before we see any action from the police. Prodded on by the responsible embassy and the TAT (to protect tourist arrival numbers). Took the Norwegian guy to be killed before we saw any action on the motor bike attacks from Kata to Rawai.

I don't agree with this. Knudsen was stabbed to death and the case is nowhere near being solved and there are still attacks going on. The guy with Down syndrome who died: That case is also nowhere near being solved. And so on.

[LivinginKata]

Never said that Knudsen case was solved, only noted that at least there 'seem' to be regular police patrols along that road. My point was that this only started after the very serious case of a Farang was murdered and with intervention of national embassy, also other reported attacks with knife or gun on other tourists.

[stuandchris]

I apologise for my previous post that was a bit of a rant and rave but I believe this situation is really getting out of hand now.

Going back to my original post and updating, we live in a little soi of six houses, all are professional people with farang or long term thai wives except the one I was talking about and he isn't a party animal.

The update is I was in the house watching TV and the boss was on the patio whwn she comes running in scared saying there are three Thai's walking the soi with guns in their hands!

So back to the rant, what can we do? I would suggest that this forum start an e petition to be given to all the major consulates in Phuket and embassies in BKK registering our disquiet about the lack of protection and general lawlessness that has creeped in here.

I wil write to the local rags and get the old lame excuses, not enough police, plame it on immigrant workers etc but it is only sustained pressure that will get results.

Our embassies are here to protect us lets get them doing some work for a change.

How about it Thai visa can we do this through this forum?

[seonai]

And it's going to get more dangerous on Phuket now that the war on drugs has started again - see related threads in @Phuket' on Nightclubs and Drugs

[loubrockbank]

hi all, myself and my partner are moving to thailand in dec this year from uk- not decided between chiang mai and phuket yet as we have family in both locations.... reading this post is actually making me very nervous but also is making me realize I will have to just be carefull (as i would of course in every country)

so erm thanks for the head up...i spose

[huggybear]

Safari = late night/early morning venue = a lot of drunks (Farang & Thai) = not the place I want to be.

and going to an ATM.......................not a good idea.

Once in a different thread someone bagged on Rawai as "a quiet retirement area". Well, I'll take my retirement area over Patong, that's for sure !

[stuandchris]

So how about it Thai visa, are you here for for us or are you now part of corporate Thailand.

Can we organizse an e petition through this forum or not.

The silence is deafening so far.

[LivinginKata]

So how about it Thai visa, are you here for for us or are you now part of corporate Thailand.

Can we organizse an e petition through this forum or not.

The silence is deafening so far.

You seem to forget that we non-Thias are guests in Thailand, and we have no constitutional rights such as signing petitions or voting. Yes, I agree that we should have the protection of 'law & order'. But sticking one head up and being counted could lead to problems with immigration/police, so I for one would not sign a petition. Best way to 'vote' is with your legs, and that's what I would do if I considered MY situation out of control. Which might very well happen in the next few years.

[choppychugger]

I beleive it is getting worse in Phuket ( well the south ) - I have lived here for a good few years.

I also knew the guy and his wife, who was drugged and held at gunpoint over a land issue and all the crazy sh*t that followed.

2007 was quite shocking, I know of 3 people that were attacked/mugged. One was an elderly man minding his own business at a reasonable hour. He was kicked off his bike and beaten by two thai youths, who only eased up when a local thai woman intervened - They made of with about 2,000thb.

The victims of these muggings/beatings were not drunk or disordely, acting like a charlie big bananas, or looking for trouble. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and were easy targets, either female or elderly.

What can be done ?

• I think that the obvious one would be harsher sentences for the little sh*tbags when they're caught.
  
• More police patrols.
  
• A car park style barrier at either end of the Kata - Nai Harn view point road. With a Hired security gaurd at each end. After say 9pm the barriers come down and each vehcile, motorbike or car must have the registration and number of passengers and time logged before taking the route. Security gaurds are cheap enough, if only they could stay awake all night
  

Ther is a lot of money being pumped into the infastructure of this beautifull island, especialy on the south side where homes seem to be averaging around the 15million baht range, and the longer term expat community is growing by the day.

We need to nip this in the bud before it gets totally out of control in the next low season. The war on drugs wont help matters, street crimes will undoubtedly go up.

Choppy

Edited March 1, 2008 by choppychugger

[Felt 35]

When people overdue their way of living it usually end with going downhill. When a society overdue its way of living it’s usually goes the same way. In both cases help is needed from other people. i.e. regulations, laws etc, When a small pleasant island gets filled with garbage and its roots dragged up to make room for a increased and long overdue population and property construction it will soon not be so pleasant. Regulations is needed, the scary thing is that Nature usually corrects itself.

[sukatoro]

i'm somewhat surprised that a particular threat has not been mentioned considering how much mention of Patong has come up in this particular thread, but as a resident for the last six years there is a new threat that i have Bern string more and more of every night along both Rat-u-thit and Beach rd, especially for any farang male walking alone but not limited to... its the bogus taxibike guys who are trying to push drugs up and down the streets.

especially since last November, i could not count the times i have had these guys pull up next to me on the road w/ their "hey man, marijuana, cocaine" routine? at first i just waved them along, until a visiting mate of mine was alone walking back from Bangla and fell for the scam... he ended up following one into a soi next to the family mart across from the hyberbaric chamber i believe, and once the money changed hands he took a look at his newly-acquired "ganja" only to find it was a bundle of pipe tobacco, and became somewhat irate. now, not to get into the issue of "well, pots illegal here so som-nam-nar" as that isnt really the point, when my friend demanded his money back and placed himself in front of the touts motorbike he next found himself on the ground stabbed in the gut w/ something along the lines of a screwdriver... great experience for a first-timer in Patong ending up in the hospital, regardless of the circumstance.

now when these scumbags pull up next to me along Rat-u-thit w/ their offers i start screaming at them to take their filthy drugs (even though i know they likely have none) and shove them in their asses. they usually cruise fast when called on their scam but i actually got into a physical altercation w/ one a week ago in front of the 7 down from Mercure where he got hostile and started to get off his bike to approach me and my wife... i kicked his f*cking bike over on him and gave him a couple good ones to the head before stepping on his hands... i'm a dam_n resident here and these guys are a new and unwelcome element as far as i'm concerned. i'm sure many here would think i'm nuts for engaging these scumbags but i have dam_n children here, and anything i can do to discourage this new (to me at least) modus operandi i will have no qualms about kicking these sh*tbags down.

take it for what you will, but you will find these guys peppering the streets every night now targetting farangs, i have seen more and more as the months have progressed..

[stevenl]

great experience for a first-timer in Patong ending up in the hospital, regardless of the circumstance.

Somebody engages in illegal activities, tries to pick a fight with the perpetrators, and you're surprised he ends up in hospital? name me one place on earth where he would walk away with his money back.

[LivinLOS]

I too would have to say anyone engaging in a street buy like that is just asking for trouble..

But I too am amazed by the front of those MB guys.. One actually shouted 'weed coke' at me in a full on shout as I was riding past on a scooter.. Just yelling at the top of his lungs at the nearest passing motorbike !!!

The police have 0 interest in solving any crime at all unless they are getting some direct payment for it, basically a crime is not a crime unless they are being paid to fix it. They are also the towns worst motorbike thieves. I know of 3 or 4 occasions where a missing bike, or a recovered bike vanished from the police compound and it took a Thai with some clout to negotiate its return from the custody of the police who were happily riding around on a new bike assuming it was their latest score. One of them actually refused to hand it back over until he was paid (a few 1000 also not a couple hundred finders fee) even though it was clearly the bike of the person with papers and all clean and 100%. Just "I have it, you want it, pay me"..

[phuketrex]

take it for what you will, but you will find these guys peppering the streets every night now targetting farangs, i have seen more and more as the months have progressed..

You can add the annoying touts on Bangla Road to your list. They've tried to sell me more than pingpong shows and 300baht beers.

[zorro1]

You can be unlucky anywhere but if you aren't showing off, being a tosser or being some where when you shouldn't be, you won't have any dramas

Well dissagree strongly..

2 mates armed robbery and gunfire last week.. Another mate armed robbery about 6 months ago.

A year or two back close mates wife abducted at gunpoint, kidnapped and drugged, nakhon hitmen hired on the mate.. All to steal land / houses as he was doing ok and was then a target to be taken down. Police reaction ?? Shes Mia farang, why bother ??

Another mate knife attack and then the whole crowd joined in (when he disarmed and disabled the attacker) ending in a wallbrick to the face and a nose flat in line with his cheekbones.

This is in a circle of close mates not just stories and bar gossip.. All of these unprovoked and for no known or obvious reasons. None were 'being a tosser'..

sounds to me with those odds your next. GTF OUT while you can