Hooligan Survives Hit In Pattaya.

[Highwayman]

Andrew Drummond

Special to The Nation: 08.11.2004

One of Scotland's most infamous football thugs appears to have escaped an assassin's gun in Pattaya.

PATTAYA: -- James "Fat" McLeod, 35, underwent critical surgery at an international hospital in the resort. Doctors saved his life but he lost his left eye. The attempted murder took place at the new home McLeod bought in the beach resort, where he has taken a local girl named Nok as his wife.

The notorius Fat was washing the dishes when a hired gunman fired a shotgun through the kitchen window.

Although the incident was reported to Lothian and Borders Police in Scotland, police in Pattaya were either blissfully unaware of the attempted murder of another foreigner in the resort or looked the other way. McLeod said to hospital officials that he was the victim of a gas explosion and told them to keep "shtum". McLeod does not want Thai police to interfere in his personal affairs. This week he was keeping a low profile, although a hospital spokesman admitted that he came daily to have his dressings changed.

"The big guy doesn't want any trouble with the local police. He settles things his own way," said a local Scot, demanding anonymity. "The attack has got to be a revenge attack for something. It was carried out by a Thai but he didn't take any money like"

McLeod is understood to have made several enemies in the foreign and Thai communities in Pattaya and has reportedly insulted members of both. He rides a chopper motorcycle, is believed to have invested in property in Thailand. He once ran a clothing business called Original Casuals in South Clerk Street, Edinburgh.

In June 1998, after several years of skull cracking at football matches, McLeod, a leader of Hibernian Capital City Service football gang, planned to disrupt a World Cup game between Norway and Scotland and destroy the reputation of Scotland's usually well behaved Tartan Army. But the plot was wrecked in a joint operation between Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Service and French and Spanish police.

The following October, however, he was among 18 hooligans jailed by a month by a Dutch court for his actions during the "Battle of Eindhoven".

He was singled out by Dutch police as "one of the most vicious of the Rangers' group" - even though he is a Hibs fan. Glascow Rangers were playing PSV Eindhoven when the violence broke out. Rangers' fans charged after someone shouted at the Dutch fans: "come on, you know we are here for a fight." Police have also linked McLeod and a fellow hooligan Warren Bennett, to neo-nazi groups including the racist British National Party.

McLeod feels at home on Pattaya. His local bars are the International Bar in Soi Yamoto run by Scotsmen from Edinburgh, with connections to the Ulster Defence Army (UDA), and the famous Dogs <deleted>. The bosses at the Dogs <deleted> bar are ex-Chelsea "Headhunters". The bar was opened by Chelsea headhunters Chris "Chubby" Henderson, author of "Who Wants It?" and Steve "Hicky" Hickmont author of "Armed for the Match".

Chelsea Football Club fans are known to be connected with ultra-right wing groups and involved in the beatings of Africans, Indians, Pakistanis and Chinese.

But Fat, Chubby and Hickey appear to have almost been tamed by Thai wives, who are unlikely to fully understand their past and may not care while the cash is still flowing.

However, there have been several incidents involving the Chelsea Headhunters in Pattaya - mainly involving Japanese and Western journalists. Henderson was turned back by police in Japan during the last World Cup.

By all accounts McLeod has been celebrating his life in Pattaya by greeting arriving friends from the UK with dinners of haggis and turnips and a "half and a half" (whisky with a beer chaser or vice-versa)- traditional Scottish fare.

[Darknight]

to bad they didn't hit him a centimeter or two to the middle of his face

[mbkudu]

They let sh!ts like this live in Thailand but an English teacher mindng his own business has to leave every three months for a new visa. Money is #1.

[Nam Kao]

Surely we reap what we sew

[Pattayaguy1999]

They let sh!ts like this live in Thailand but an English teacher mindng his own business has to leave every three months for a new visa. Money is #1.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I suspect this yob and his mates do the 'border bounce' as well. Hopefully now that he and his fellow football hooligans are getting press coverage, Thai Imm. will blacklist them from the country. Pattaya has enough image problems without allowing known criminals to reside there.

[snoophound]

shame they missed!!!

Pattaya seems to be attracting more than its share of these pieces of excrement lately.

quote=Pattayaguy1999,2004-11-08 19:56:10]

They let sh!ts like this live in Thailand but an English teacher mindng his own business has to leave every three months for a new visa. Money is #1.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I suspect this yob and his mates do the 'border bounce' as well. Hopefully now that he and his fellow football hooligans are getting press coverage, Thai Imm. will blacklist them from the country. Pattaya has enough image problems without allowing known criminals to reside there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[dr_Pat_Pong]

shame they missed!!!

Pattaya seems to be attracting more than its share of these pieces of excrement lately.

quote=Pattayaguy1999,2004-11-08 19:56:10]

They let sh!ts like this live in Thailand but an English teacher mindng his own business has to leave every three months for a new visa. Money is #1.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I suspect this yob and his mates do the 'border bounce' as well. Hopefully now that he and his fellow football hooligans are getting press coverage, Thai Imm. will blacklist them from the country. Pattaya has enough image problems without allowing known criminals to reside there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bloody toffy place is Pattaya.

[Doctor John]

Chris "Chubby" Henderson is a nice guy actually.

Don't believe all you read in the papers.

[English Noodles]

Chris "Chubby" Henderson is a nice guy actually.

Don't believe all you read in the papers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes and you know how he started his bar in Pattaya dont you?

Anyway that was a long time ago and yes he is an OK guy.

[astral]

Don't believe all you read in the papers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe not, but it does make you wonder?

Especially give then past history quoted in the article?

[Darknight]

Chris "Chubby" Henderson is a nice guy actually.

Don't believe all you read in the papers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

sure he is if you play for the right football team

I remember this Batlle of eindhoven. This guy needs to be behind bars.

[chonabot]

I know people that know him , he's not as bad as they say , people change....

[HarryHacker]

I have no idea of the truth of this story BUT bear in mind that the writer "Andrew Drummond" has a LESS than honest reputation. Stories that appear in newspapers back in the UK like the Screws Of The World often come from him. He has been caught lying quite a few times!

[Doctor John]

I know people that know him , he's not as bad as they say , people change....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Chon , I first met Chris over 13 years ago in Pattaya, before he ever got 'The Dogs &lt;deleted&gt;', he ain't a bad lad at all.

Not so Chubby now either.

I am a Charlton Athletic supporter, Nobody really hates Charlton.

[thaiflyer1]

When i first came here (Pattaya) i stayed for a year in the Rising Sun directly opposite the Dogs &lt;deleted&gt;....i stayed on the first floor looking straight into the D.B.....can honestly say i never saw that much trouble in there, that said the place aint my cup of tea.

[withnail]

I've met them both as well and they were nice enough to me. That story has got British tabloid written all over it. From what I know there's never any trouble in their bar although I didn't think that "Hicky" was involved anymore. He certainly hasn't been tamed by a Thai wife because he isn't married.

Since I've been here I've seen teachers that were deported for overstaying visas, suspected kiddie fidlers and general useless p*ssheads.

So what if you enjoyed a fight after a game of football 20 years ago. They own businesses over here, pay tax and put a lot of money into the country.

[QUOTE]

I know people that know him , he's not as bad as they say , people change....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Chon , I first met Chris over 13 years ago in Pattaya, before he ever got 'The Dogs &lt;deleted&gt;', he ain't a bad lad at all.

Not so Chubby now either.

I am a Charlton Athletic supporter, Nobody really hates Charlton.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes thats true, nobody hates a Charlton supporter as they are not really considered a football team

Well it seems the Dr and thaiflyer and myself all lived within 100meters of each other although over differant time periods.

[mbkudu]

I've met them both as well and they were nice enough to me. That story has got British tabloid written all over it. From what I know there's never any trouble in their bar although I didn't think that "Hicky" was involved anymore. He certainly hasn't been tamed by a Thai wife because he isn't married.

Since I've been here I've seen teachers that were deported for overstaying visas, suspected kiddie fidlers and general useless p*ssheads.

So what if you enjoyed a fight after a game of football 20 years ago. They own businesses over here, pay tax and put a lot of money into the country.

I don't know any of these gentlemen; just reading the tabloid, but somebody shot him in the eyeball. Nobody gets shot in the eyeball for something they did 20 years ago.

[davethailand]

I agree with Withnail, its got typical english taboid crap wriitten all over it.

I've only lived here 3 years and have never heard of problems with any of these guys, Alot of guy's here have a past and they are not all from the UK.

[withnail]

Don't know the Scottish bloke wasn't talking about him specifically

[withnail]

And I'm sure if a Thai bloke shoots you in the head you probably did do something wrong somewhere along the line I'm just bored of hearing about what makes a good or bad tourist/expat/teacher in Thailand.

At the end of the day we're all only Farang.

[spike]

They let sh!ts like this live in Thailand but an English teacher mindng his own business has to leave every three months for a new visa. Money is #1.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can see a newbie stopping in there bar on Soi Yamato looking for directions, lucky to get out alive.

mbkudu,

Confucius also said... Man with tight pants, like cheap hotel...No ballroom.

[thaiflyer1]

Quote.........i was there 10/98 to 02/2000. Happy days!

[bmw]

KING OF CASUALS SHOT BY HITMAN Nov 7 2004

Thai gunman strikes at thugีs beach hut

By Russell Findlay And Andrew Drummond In Pattaya

THE self-styled king of Scottish football casuals James าFatsำ McLeod has been shot in the face in a seedy Thai sex resort. Fascist Hibs hooligan McLeod, 35, lost his left eye after he was hit by a bullet from a hitmanีs gun as he washed dishes in his beach hut home. He needed emergency surgery but surgeons were unable to save his eye. McLeod refused to report the incident to police and told doctors at the Bangkok- Pattaya International hospital that his injuries were the result of a gas explosion. A spokesman for the hospital said they were seeing him on a daily basis as an out-patient to change dressings. Front McLeod has been running a clothing stall in Pattaya but police believe it is a front for าcriminal activitiesำ. He has been seeing a local girl called Nok ะ which means bird ะ but the whereabouts of Scots wife Tracy is unclear. His local is the International Bar in Soi Yamoto, run by Scots from Edinburgh but which flies the Union Jack and the Red Hand flag. His neighbours directly next door at the Dogsี &lt;deleted&gt; Bar are members of notorious hooligans the Chelsea Headhunters. The bar was opened by headhunter Chris าChubbyำ Henderson, author of Who Wants It? ะ one of hundreds of cash-in books written by former casuals. Another Chelsea casual Steve Hickmott helps him run the bar. One source said: าThere are a few boys who have come out here to make a fresh start but old habits die hard. าThere have been a few rows about football and other things.ำ A friend of McLeod ะ who asked not to be named ะ said: าThe big guy doesnีt want any trouble with the local law. He settles things his own way. าThe attack was a revenge attack for something. It was carried out by a Thai but no money was taken or anything.ำ Notorious thug McLeod was one of the leaders of the Hibsี gang, the Capital City Service. They split in the mid-90s after McLeod sided with Fascist and Loyalist yobs from other teams such as Rangers and Hearts. He co-owned the Original Casuals clothes shop in Edinburgh and lived in upmarket Eildon Street with Tracy. And he helped plan a farcical attempt to sneak into France in 1998 with a busload of Scottish casuals. The 58-strong group first travelled to Spain to avoid police scrutiny. They then took a bus to France unaware that their plan was known to police who were tracking every move. Just a few miles from their destination, French police pulled over the coach. Battle On board were leading members of Rangersี Inter City Firm, Hearts casuals and McLeodีs breakaway Hibs group. The yobs were sent home in the full glare of the media. The following year McLeod was among 17 hooligans jailed for a month after a pitched battle with Dutch thugs in Eindhoven. Scotlandีs football hooligan scene is dominated by so-called supporters of Rangers, Aberdeen and Hibs. Many of them have าgraduatedำ from mindless soccer violence to dabble in drugs and other crime. Most Scottish clubs have some form of casual element attached to them but the gangs usually prefer to roam in packs rather than risk ruining their designer clothes by fighting.

[Darknight]

If you like to fight and kill people over a game of football you're not an ok guy , but a brainless insect needed to be squashed.

Probably deserves what he get's and will get in the future.

Suprisingly these Bozo's always come from the uk ????

I don't know any of these gentlemen; just reading the tabloid, but somebody shot him in the eyeball. Nobody gets shot in the eyeball for something they did 20 years ago. 

Indeed mbkudu, normal people don't get shot at in their homes, even in pattaya.

[Doctor John]

Suprisingly these Bozo's always come from the uk ????

Why the surprise?

[HarryHacker]

Suprisingly these Bozo's always come from the uk ????

Why the surprise?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

But none from Charlton!

[JemJem]

Ultra-nationalists/fascists/racists (whichever country they might be from) hardly ever get my sympathy

Jem

[Nurse Nana]

this might be of interest to some.

[wrksysact]

Makes me ashamed to be British.

Can't someone get Somchai Wisetsingh to do another drive on shooting?..neither Thailand nor the UK need scum like this.