Thai Paramilitary Open Fire On Cambodian Migrant Workers

[sriracha john]

Thai police open fire on migrant workers

A Cambodian worker is in serious condition after being shot in the head by Thai paramilitary troops in Thailand's Aranyaprathet district, as he was waiting for a car to take him to a nearby farm Monday.

Sun Savuth, deputy police chief of O'Chrov district in Banteay Meanchey province, said that the victim, Say Tong Khay, 16, was waiting in the road with his father and four other workers when a Thai paramilitary truck patrolling in the area approached. He said the workers ran away, fearing arrest, after which a Thai soldier opened fire on them from the truck.

Say Tong Khay was taken to Siem Reap Wednesday, where he remains in serious condition.

- Phnom Penh Post / 2008-10-31

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Mods: Could a helpful mod please re-title the thread to the more grammatically correct:

Thai police open fire on Cambodian migrant workers

Thank you.

Edited October 31, 2008 by sriracha john

[bkkjames]

Thai police open fire on migrant workers

A Cambodian worker is in serious condition after being shot in the head by Thai paramilitary troops in Thailand's Aranyaprathet district, as he was waiting for a car to take him to a nearby farm Monday.

Sun Savuth, deputy police chief of O'Chrov district in Banteay Meanchey province, said that the victim, Say Tong Khay, 16, was waiting in the road with his father and four other workers when a Thai paramilitary truck patrolling in the area approached. He said the workers ran away, fearing arrest, after which a Thai soldier opened fire on them from the truck.

Say Tong Khay was taken to Siem Reap Wednesday, where he remains in serious condition.

- Phnom Penh Post / 2008-10-31

Police or Military? Quality journalism in not only limited to Bangkok I see.

[MKAsok]

Police or Military? Quality journalism in not only limited to Bangkok I see.

'Paramilitary' forces can include Police forces. Don't know if that's the case here...

[sbk]

topic title edited to show the report states paramilitary.

[h90]

Thai police open fire on migrant workers

A Cambodian worker is in serious condition after being shot in the head by Thai paramilitary troops in Thailand's Aranyaprathet district, as he was waiting for a car to take him to a nearby farm Monday.

Sun Savuth, deputy police chief of O'Chrov district in Banteay Meanchey province, said that the victim, Say Tong Khay, 16, was waiting in the road with his father and four other workers when a Thai paramilitary truck patrolling in the area approached. He said the workers ran away, fearing arrest, after which a Thai soldier opened fire on them from the truck.

Say Tong Khay was taken to Siem Reap Wednesday, where he remains in serious condition.

- Phnom Penh Post / 2008-10-31

Police or Military? Quality journalism in not only limited to Bangkok I see.

These I have seen in the south (so complete different area) are neither.

They are more like, you and me and some friends with whatever can spit out bullets dressed in more or less similar clothes believing we are Rambo saving the nation.

[Gravelrash]

It must be a great life in the military or police gunning down unarmed civilians. Poor bugger. Can understand why the South wouldn't be so popular, hel_l, they shoot back down there.

[AlKing]

Revenge. Next, Thailand will take Ankor Wat by force?

[Scott]

Seems like the situation between Cambodia and Thailand isn't quite as rosy as the gov't would like to have us believe.

I hope the kid--and that's what they shot, a kid--makes a full recovery.

[Artisi]

Maybe they (police) will use the same excuse as used in Bkk after the tear gas fiasco - well he was carry a (gun in this case) and shot himself in the head.

Cause it certainly wasn't their fault - just ask them.

[sriracha john]

Irony abounds...

IDF mistakenly shoots Thai migrant worker on northern border

Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Saturday shot and wounded a Thai migrant worker near Kibbutz Manara not far from the Lebanese border. The victim was moderately wounded.

The incident occurred at around 1:00 P.M. as IDF troops were acting on a tip that an individual had made contact with the border fence. After the soldiers spotted four people standing near the fence, they screamed for the individuals to surrender to custody and be placed under arrest. After not receiving a response, the soldiers opened fire.

The soldiers soon realized that the four men were Thai migrants who did not understand the instructions which the soldiers issued.

One of the migrant workers, a 25-year-old male, was shot in the back. He was transported to Ziv Hospital in Safed in moderate condition. The IDF said the northern command will investigate the incident

- Haaretz (Israel) / 2008-11-08

[plachon]

Irony abounds...

IDF mistakenly shoots Thai migrant worker on northern border

Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Saturday shot and wounded a Thai migrant worker near Kibbutz Manara not far from the Lebanese border. The victim was moderately wounded.

The incident occurred at around 1:00 P.M. as IDF troops were acting on a tip that an individual had made contact with the border fence. After the soldiers spotted four people standing near the fence, they screamed for the individuals to surrender to custody and be placed under arrest. After not receiving a response, the soldiers opened fire.

The soldiers soon realized that the four men were Thai migrants who did not understand the instructions which the soldiers issued.

One of the migrant workers, a 25-year-old male, was shot in the back. He was transported to Ziv Hospital in Safed in moderate condition. The IDF said the northern command will investigate the incident

- Haaretz (Israel) / 2008-11-08

Bloody IDF trigger happy tools.

Not unlike their Thai counterparts, but probably more accurate with a rifle.

I can just imagine them screaming in Hebrew at the hapless Thais who would not understand a word no doubt and be programmed to run in such a situation.

I do wonder what they were doing out there and the thought crossed my mind that they may have been out on a hunting foray to supplement the meagre meat diet avalailbale in the kibbutz/moshav. Some Thai migrant workers once cleared out most of the animals in an Isaeli zoo a few years ago, until they got caught red handed. I can't imagine they were walking along that dangerous fenceline for a pleasant afternoon ramble in the fresh air.

Intriguing story - perhaps Bina can fill us in with some more details?

[bina]

most likely hunting; probably also w/o visas also... actually, i missed the news i only check front page headlines on the net; we only get a paper on fridays (cheaper for me)... and i dont read the english version of the papers, only the hebrew version...

will back up and check it out... we were up by manara over the holidays to fish (ha ha) and almost had a similar scene with anon going fishing in middle of the night as i stated in the issaan thread somewhere (placentas)... trigger happy maybe but usually very nervous 19 year old soldiers told to check out anything suspicious and if they dont answer back, to shoot... lots of porcupines, and wild boars shot that way also...

bina

israel

[plachon]

most likely hunting; probably also w/o visas also... actually, i missed the news i only check front page headlines on the net; we only get a paper on fridays (cheaper for me)... and i dont read the english version of the papers, only the hebrew version...

will back up and check it out... we were up by manara over the holidays to fish (ha ha) and almost had a similar scene with anon going fishing in middle of the night as i stated in the issaan thread somewhere (placentas)... trigger happy maybe but usually very nervous 19 year old soldiers told to check out anything suspicious and if they dont answer back, to shoot... lots of porcupines, and wild boars shot that way also...

bina

israel

Thanks for the input Bina - as I suspected. Is that kibbutz on the edge of the Golan Heights on headwaters of Jordan then? See why you called it a "trickle" then. Sounds like with the porcupines and boars, there's quite an incentive to go off with a slingshot or snare, and hope you don't run into a nervous, teenage IDF squaddie who's been watching too many computer games and couldn't spot Thailand on a map of the world, much less care where the guy in his sights originates from.

Shabbath shalom.

[Johpa]

Thanks for the input Bina - as I suspected. Is that kibbutz on the edge of the Golan Heights on headwaters of Jordan then? See why you called it a "trickle" then. Sounds like with the porcupines and boars, there's quite an incentive to go off with a slingshot or snare, and hope you don't run into a nervous, teenage IDF squaddie who's been watching too many computer games and couldn't spot Thailand on a map of the world, much less care where the guy in his sights originates from.

Having once strolled along the south side of that border on both sides of the equation in question, there is no excuse whatsoever for the soldier to have opened fire in the middle of the day simply because someone did not respond correctly to a verbal order. I believe the correct term here is fashla.

[animatic]

Or meshugana

[geriatrickid]

Irony abounds...

IDF mistakenly shoots Thai migrant worker on northern border

Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Saturday shot and wounded a Thai migrant worker near Kibbutz Manara not far from the Lebanese border. The victim was moderately wounded.

The incident occurred at around 1:00 P.M. as IDF troops were acting on a tip that an individual had made contact with the border fence. After the soldiers spotted four people standing near the fence, they screamed for the individuals to surrender to custody and be placed under arrest. After not receiving a response, the soldiers opened fire.

The soldiers soon realized that the four men were Thai migrants who did not understand the instructions which the soldiers issued.

One of the migrant workers, a 25-year-old male, was shot in the back. He was transported to Ziv Hospital in Safed in moderate condition. The IDF said the northern command will investigate the incident

- Haaretz (Israel) / 2008-11-08

Bloody IDF trigger happy tools.

Not unlike their Thai counterparts, but probably more accurate with a rifle.

I can just imagine them screaming in Hebrew at the hapless Thais who would not

Jeez the 4 other versions of the event indicated that;

-It is in a border area with Lebanon where there have been Hizbollah infiltrators.

- "Screaming at a hapless Thai in Hebrew" is probably inaccurate, because commands are given in Hebrew and Arabic in these situations. The preferred method is to capture such people so that they can be used for prisoner/hostage swaps and intelligence gathering.

Reuters and AP have been carrying this version

At around noon, IDF look-outs identified a number of suspicious figures moving along the Israeli side of the northern border fence, next to the orchards belonging to the northern Galilee kibbutz. A local patrol was deployed to the area to investigate. Upon arriving, they noticed a figure with a handkerchief across his face and called upon him to identify himself. When he did not, they shot at him. Shortly after, it became clear that the man was a Thai worker, helping with the harvest along with a number of other foreign workers. He was treated by a local Magen David Adom team for a bullet wound in the shoulder and then transferred to a hospital in Safed.

I doubt the Thai was scrounging food, was without papers or doing anything illegal as it would have been reported as such. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the patrol seems to have followed protocol, particularly since that's a flashpoint. On the other hand, his supervisors at the kibbutz are responsible for putting him in the area without advising the border security and for not being there to ensure such a misunderstanding did not occur. Negligence on the kibbutz's part for this near tragedy.