French Man Injured In Alleged Self-immolation In Khon Kaen

[thewhites1212]

Wooops the slag off the nation mob are in the room

No "slagging off", merely stating facts.

If I wanted to slag it off, I could proffer that the journalism within is equivalent to a third-grade school publication, or that the lack of proof reading makes it more of a 'pidgin-English' language paper than a bona fide English Language paper, or that its annoying political bias makes it unworthy of reading and affects its credibility, but I wouldn't waste my time, as that much is obvious to even the thickest monoglot.

Class i like the humour

[Orac]

This is obviously a terrible situation with two people suffering a great deal.

The inital story in the Nation does have incorrect information in it as it seriously understates the injuries to the woman involved - my initial thoughts were sceptical as it seemed a very one sided report particularly since she received only burns to her arms after having petrol poured on her and on the floor. The clarification above from SBK makes the police conclusions far more reasonable considering they would not have been able to question the frenchman concerned.

[neverdie]

Well, if anyone is interested outside of making inane jokes or pointless comments about The Nation newspaper, according to the Thai newspapers, he is in a coma, and she is badly burned over her body and in pretty bad shape.

Thats sad sbk, & I hope she makes a speedy recovery, burn injuries are very nasty indeed. If someone wants to set themself on fire, thats fine, but how anyone can do that to another being is beyond me

[Junglejumbo]

I know a neighbor of this man. Apparently, he really believed that if he burnt himself and his girl friend is some particular way, he believed that he could change his body into flying atoms that could land in France within 10 minutes, like some kind of time machine. The guy had got too much into a book, and thought he'd found the way. He was trying to take himself and his gf on a holiday to France. In fact as the flames burnt he apparently shouted his arm would soon be somewhere near the Notre Damme.

I am sorry for both of them. The Thais can be overly tolerant to madness, and sadly to this poor lady's detriment. I hope she recovers fast and receives the best treatment available.

Edited March 21, 2009 by Junglejumbo

[neverdie]

^ How Bizzare!

[bannork]

According to Sunday's edition of the Daily News she had invited him to stay in her home town Chumpair, Khon Kaen and due to his mental illness he frequently hit her and beat her up, neighbours had to regularly intervene. They then went to Khon Kaen itself where they rented a room.

Unfortunately his illness worsened, he beat her up, slammed her head against the floor, went to his motorbike, emptied out the petrol, soaked himself with it, ran back into the house and set fire to himself with a lighter.

What with the crazy Aussie stealing the taxi, the German public telephone box arsonist, the Irishman threatening to jump off the roof garden with his 4 month old baby, many farangs seem to be losing the plot. No wonder we still have the 90 day report address duty, perhaps it needs to include a psychiatric report too.

[fred2007]

What was the fight all about I wonder?? TAG: Real French Fries in Khon Kaen. that was to easy, couldn't help myself.

Do wish him and the Thai Lady a speedy recovery and much better days in the future.

Funny and easy one, I do agree.

But real french fries do not exist!

The real, original, one and only "frite" is Belgian...

You are right, I am not Belgian but fries come from Belgium, the one's what come from

England is called chips and they are large and loaded with oil

[sbk]

I read it in Komchadleuk online yesterday, so perhaps its updated information regarding the girl, perhaps not. The link is no longer available I am afraid, they don't seem to have an accessible online archive that I can find anywhere.

[amarka]

Considering the gravity of this crime and the utter inhumanity of attempting to burn someone alive, I find the jokes and the pedantic insistence on insulting the Nation's english reporting to be, in the very least, in poor taste, and at worst, callous, insensitive and lacking in any kind of human compassion.

thank you.... the cruel and callous comments, lacking any compassion are a sad reflection on the members of this forum. Quite disgusting really

Land of smiles eh....

what kind of person could set fire to another person?

we are probably talking about an unemployed drug addict or alcoholic running low on cash and making visa runs every month and should not even be in thailand at all.

the police really need to crack down on all these illegal people who are ruining thailand and the reputation of the expats who work and pay taxes and respect the land and its people.

amarka

[Bagwan]

You are right, I am not Belgian but fries come from Belgium, the one's what come from

England is called chips and they are large and loaded with oil

Given the quality of your prose I guess that you are not English either.

As any Brit (let's not forget the splendid Scots, Welsh or Ulstermen eh?) should know, fish and chips should be cooked in lard and NEVER, EVER vegetable oil. They should not be immersed until the lard has melted and blue smoke is given off, and then they should be introduced gradually so as to not lower the temperature of the molten lard. Aficionados of chips may even parboil them before immersion. Anybody eating chips without a liberal sprinkling of salt and malt vinegar is, IMO, a culinary Philistine.

[adjan jb]

due to his mental illness he frequently hit her and beat her up,

Unfortunately his illness worsened,

What was he doing in Thailand, 12 000 km from his home country if he is mentally ill?

Doesn't he have a family? Why did they let him go to Thailand?

I hope the girl will make a speedy recovery and that the guy will be sent asap to where he belongs: a psychiatric hospital.

Edited March 21, 2009 by adjan jb

[Patsycat]

Maybe Lawa could be translated into Laurent? Or Lawrence for the anglophiles? Sad - I hope she shall be ok.

[Scott]

A lot of people with mental issues end up here--where the problems are amplified. I doubt that his family could 'stop' him from coming--if he has family or friends. Once here, a strange culture often makes people even less balanced. Add to that any additional stresses and you can have a fairly serious psychiatric breakdown. Then, of course, there are those that self-medicate themselves with alcohol or locally available street drugs.

Foreign cultures are not an ideal place for people with mental issues or substance abuse problems.

Best of luck to both of them.

[sriracha john]

we are probably talking about an unemployed drug addict or alcoholic running low on cash and making visa runs every month and should not even be in thailand at all.

the police really need to crack down on all these illegal people who are ruining thailand and the reputation of the expats

What was he doing in Thailand, 12 000 km from his home country if he is mentally ill?

Doesn't he have a family? Why did they let him go to Thailand?

"Lawa François, 78, was a 22-year resident of Thailand after retiring here and staying on annual extensions," said Lt. Col. Sombat Wittalottastamps of the the Immigration Dept. said. His Dept. has responded to this crime by announcing a crackdown on foreign retirees and will now immediately scrutinize closely all retirement visas with an eye to curtailing their re-issuance.

Mr. François, who retired relatively early, at age 56 with a well-funded pension and a considerable nest-egg from the sale of his house in France, was a well-respected engineer. He has been independent of his France-based family, in a healthy and warm manner, ever since his retirement. This was until just a few months ago when apparently a serious mental illness developed rapidly with quite tragic results.

- Bangkok Herald-Examiner

Possible Contradictory Scenarios And Just As Equally Unsupported By Sketchy News From Other News Sources Department / 2009-03-21

*Disclaimer: The above news article is pure, unknown conjecture contradictorily-based upon other pure, unknown conjecture.*

Edited March 21, 2009 by sriracha john

[noahvail]

No "slagging off", merely stating facts.

If I wanted to slag it off, I could proffer that the journalism within is equivalent to a third-grade school publication, or that the lack of proof reading makes it more of a 'pidgin-English' language paper than a bona fide English Language paper, or that its annoying political bias makes it unworthy of reading and affects its credibility, but I wouldn't waste my time, as that much is obvious to even the thickest monoglot.

Wow, what a long sentence!

I love the rhetoric: "I could proffer...but I wouldn't waste my time." A lovely rhetorical trick, often used by Cicero a couple of thousand years ago, and still as useful today to make something seem not to be what it truly is.

Consider the 'dumbing-down' that all the newspapers have done over the past forty years. Twenty years ago newspapers in the United States were writing to the eigth-grade level. In twenty years it's more than possible that they've dropped down to the third grade level.

Even the New York Times, that bastion of editorial excellence, has fallen upon hard times, journalistically and scholastically. I think that its mission statement, 'All the News That's Fit to Print' should be changed to 'All the News That's Print to Fit.' Yes, the grammar is deliberate.

[animatic]

we are probably talking about an unemployed drug addict or alcoholic running low on cash and making visa runs every month and should not even be in thailand at all.

the police really need to crack down on all these illegal people who are ruining thailand and the reputation of the expats

What was he doing in Thailand, 12 000 km from his home country if he is mentally ill?

Doesn't he have a family? Why did they let him go to Thailand?

"Lawa François, 78, was a 22-year resident of Thailand after retiring here and staying on annual extensions," said Lt. Col. Sombat Wittalottastamps of the the Immigration Dept. said. His Dept. has responded to this crime by announcing a crackdown on foreign retirees and will now immediately scrutinize closely all retirement visas with an eye to curtailing their re-issuance.

Mr. François, who retired relatively early, at age 56 with a well-funded pension and a considerable nest-egg from the sale of his house in France, was a well-respected engineer. He has been independent of his France-based family, in a healthy and warm manner, ever since his retirement. This was until just a few months ago when apparently a serious mental illness developed rapidly with quite tragic results.

- Bangkok Herald-Examiner

Possible Contradictory Scenarios And Just As Equally Unsupported By Sketchy News From Other News Sources Department / 2009-03-21

*Disclaimer: The above news article is pure, unknown conjecture contradictorily-based upon other pure, unknown conjecture.*

What a classic and pathetic immigration weenie's slag on all retirees.

When the preponderance of evidence shows that most retirees,

live quiet and decent lives, and a rather small percentage in their dotage

get Alzheimer's and senility as ANY THAI of the age might.

One can hope that Lt. Col. Sombat Wittalottastamps quickly forgets this 'brilliant idea' of his,

now that his bosses have seen him APPEAR to take action.

Yes, we farangs after retirement all try to burn ourselves up and fly atomically to France,

since this is a chronicled daily occurrence in the Obits Columns here.

Edited March 21, 2009 by animatic

[malcy]

Oh come on where are the usual TV conspiracie theorists ( spelt wrong dont care ) . this woman obviously set fire to her boyfriend and then in her haste to get away slipped and knocked herself out . That is why she only had burns on her arms . Grisholm from CSI would have solved this in minutes .

[neverdie]

Moderators

Please do something

It is enough insults

The last one from katasyd in not welcome at all

Respect this poor man and the French members of this site

Regards

ajp

which poor man? the one that set the poor innocent woman on fire You are joking right?

[Scott]

I think one of the things that people are missing is that there may very likely be a physical cause for this breakdown. Since this guy was quite elderly, he may have had some mini-strokes or other phsycial problems that affected his ability to think rationally. He also may be suffering from dementia. People who make into their 70's in this country without a serious meltdown aren't really all that prone to such a sudden and violent reaction.

[adjan jb]

Respect this poor man and the French members of this site

Regards

ajp

You want TV members to respect a guy who used to beat his gf on a regular basis and eventually tried to set her on fire but you don’t have a single word for the poor girl. Moreover you ask for respect in the name of all the French members of this site. Well, since your post was so insensitive to the victim, I forbid you to speak in my name.

Regards.

[bannork]

The Daily News, Monday.

Khon Kaen General Hospital announced on March 21 that the Frenchman aged 52 who had set fire to himself and his wife, aged 42, had succumbed to his injuries.

Here's another story from the same edition.

The naked body of Miss Praeow Dangkaesee, aged 23, an ex- bar worker, was found in a bedroom of a townhouse in Chiang Mai. She had been hit on the head with a bottle and suffocated with a pillow. Police suspected Thomas Paschell, aged 45, her German boyfriend.

In interviews with close relatives of the deceased, police learned that before living together Mr Paschell had been paying Miss Praeow 15,000 baht a month but later due to problems Miss Praeow started seeing a Swiss man before fleeing to stay with a relative. Mr Paschell begged her to come back to him which she did, however they quarreled constantly due to his jealousy and his fear she was still secretly seeing the Swiss man.

Police surmised that after making love they had again argued before Mr Paschell lost control and murdered her. He then fled to Germany before surrendering to police in his hometown.

The Thai police will start proceedings to extradite him to stand trial in Thailand.

[najman]

Maybe the girl was my ex-gf. And the guy found out she is sleeping around and doesnt really love him and "have him alone" and maybe he finally found out that she only wants to marry a farang to make her mum happy and then devorce soon after. And maybe he found out about me and that she lied having a farang bf before...

...Just maybe. She made me so crazy i might have done something like that if i found out when I was in thailand instead of at home. LOL could be anyway I always wondered what happened to her... I dont have sympathy for either. She should be careful what kind of guy she's living with... and he's obviously just a looney...

[uberman]

Considering the gravity of this crime and the utter inhumanity of attempting to burn someone alive, I find the jokes and the pedantic insistence on insulting the Nation's english reporting to be, in the very least, in poor taste, and at worst, callous, insensitive and lacking in any kind of human compassion.

I so utterly agree with you! A little joking here and there is ok but in the end lets try to be a bit more objective and read into the lessons of life.

[uberman]

The Daily News, Monday.

Khon Kaen General Hospital announced on March 21 that the Frenchman aged 52 who had set fire to himself and his wife, aged 42, had succumbed to his injuries.

Here's another story from the same edition.

The naked body of Miss Praeow Dangkaesee, aged 23, an ex- bar worker, was found in a bedroom of a townhouse in Chiang Mai. She had been hit on the head with a bottle and suffocated with a pillow. Police suspected Thomas Paschell, aged 45, her German boyfriend.

In interviews with close relatives of the deceased, police learned that before living together Mr Paschell had been paying Miss Praeow 15,000 baht a month but later due to problems Miss Praeow started seeing a Swiss man before fleeing to stay with a relative. Mr Paschell begged her to come back to him which she did, however they quarreled constantly due to his jealousy and his fear she was still secretly seeing the Swiss man.

Police surmised that after making love they had again argued before Mr Paschell lost control and murdered her. He then fled to Germany before surrendering to police in his hometown.

The Thai police will start proceedings to extradite him to stand trial in Thailand.

"sigh" another sad case of human desire and weakness. I can't stop but wonder if a relationship like said (between a night-worker and former customer) could ever becoming anything lasting. These type stories: boy meets bar girl, boy jealous of bargirl, boy kills bargirl are so commonplace in Thailand that its becoming just another TIT (This is Thailand)

[sbk]

Jokes in poor taste have been deleted.

[yumidesign]

Jokes in poor taste have been deleted.

its a wonder that there are any posts left

[john b good]

'What do you expect from a culture and a nation that exerted more of its national will fighting against Disney World and Big Macs than the Nazis?'

[john b good]

The Daily News, Monday.

Khon Kaen General Hospital announced on March 21 that the Frenchman aged 52 who had set fire to himself and his wife, aged 42, had succumbed to his injuries.

Here's another story from the same edition.

The naked body of Miss Praeow Dangkaesee, aged 23, an ex- bar worker, was found in a bedroom of a townhouse in Chiang Mai. She had been hit on the head with a bottle and suffocated with a pillow. Police suspected Thomas Paschell, aged 45, her German boyfriend.

In interviews with close relatives of the deceased, police learned that before living together Mr Paschell had been paying Miss Praeow 15,000 baht a month but later due to problems Miss Praeow started seeing a Swiss man before fleeing to stay with a relative. Mr Paschell begged her to come back to him which she did, however they quarreled constantly due to his jealousy and his fear she was still secretly seeing the Swiss man.

Police surmised that after making love they had again argued before Mr Paschell lost control and murdered her. He then fled to Germany before surrendering to police in his hometown.

The Thai police will start proceedings to extradite him to stand trial in Thailand.

"sigh" another sad case of human desire and weakness. I can't stop but wonder if a relationship like said (between a night-worker and former customer) could ever becoming anything lasting. These type stories: boy meets bar girl, boy jealous of bargirl, boy kills bargirl are so commonplace in Thailand that its becoming just another TIT (This is Thailand)

IMHO, I believe that a relationship (between a farang male and a bar girl) have almost as much chance of succeeding as any other mix.

It all depends on the honesty (not all bar girls are dishonest) and integrity of the individuals.

There are many Thai woman "not all by a long shot" (and not necessarily bar girls) who have absolutely not integrity whatsoever