Farang German Web Designer Shot On Koh Phangan

[ollylama]

Sigh...from a copy editor's standpoint, this article would never even make it into a high school paper. Does the Nation not have foreigners working there to edit the Thaiglish? Even the headline is wrong -- "to be shot at" means that the person in question was not hit.

Shockingly poor copy.

The article doesn't really give us much information Thaivisa members didn't already know. And why on earth didn't the reporter talk to the authorities?

shockingly poor? i disagree. a few mistakes, nothing out of the ordinary in the thai press. far from "thaiglish," as you call it.

the reporter got the info late yesterday and wanted to get the report out rapidly - only had time for a phone interview. presumably he's doing some follow-up work on a larger article.

i'm sure there will be more tomorrow. and the UK press should be on it soon.

[koheesti]

"Two masked men, about 20 years of age, entered my house at around 2am on Sunday night," said Ralf, who runs www.kohphangannews.org under the pseudonym Beckmann. "They woke me up and charged at me. I grabbed a baseball bat to defend myself. Then all of a sudden, one of them pulled out a gun and opened fire."

I didn't know Europeans played baseball or that they even sold those things around here.

It seems to me that since doing things the "farang way" of complaining to authorities and writing letters/editorials will put your life in danger here in Thailand then perhaps the way to go is to do things the Thai way? I won't elaborate but you guys are smart enough to figure it out. It's not like there aren't any unsavory farang around hiding from the authorities in their homeland. Now's their chance to give a little back to the community - so to speak.

[sbk]

Actually, the article is wrong. Astrid was not found dead near any party scene, there is no party where her body was found and her death was not associated with any party in any way.

[OnTheSnap]

The guy had been living on the island for 15+ years- unless he was living under a rock, he knew the (very real) potential consequences of his actions.

I'm sure the "freedom" from the rules and regulations of the West on Koh Phangan appealed to him to the point where he felt it was the right move to leave his home country and settle there- well, guess what? The bad guys are there because they enjoy that freedom as well.

Was he wrong in his opinions? No. Was he wrong in his actions? Morally, no- in reality, we was a fool- he'd been warned and threatened by people from whom you take warnings and threats SERIOUSLY, and he kept on with his crusade.

The world needs crusaders- there are situations in Asia and Africa where people are dying by the thousands- their cause is one that's worthy of taking risks, of laying down your life in the hopes of a resolution- being pissed off because the noise from parties is bothering you is not one of those situations- you deal with it or you move- you don't take on the "Big Boys" unless you have some muscle behind you (which apparently this guy didn't).

I feel badly for him, I can sympathize with his predicament, I hope he fully recovers- I also think he got what he asked for, and not a damned thing will change as a result of it (except a few more people learned to keep their mouths shut- I bet the next meeting- if there is one- is rather poorly attended).

Choose your battles carefully in these parts, people- make sure it's worth your life.

Edited April 1, 2009 by OnTheSnap

[sbk]

Actually, everyone is writing as if he was the sole crusader standing up for local Thai people. The people of that neighborhood are actively involved in this campaign and everyone I know is absolutely disgusted by this shooting.

[ollylama]

i don't think we need any more posts saying the same thing over and over again: that beckman may be brave but that he "got what he asked for."

i disagree that nothing will change. i think that beckman was instrumental in getting the mainland authorities to stand up and take notice much more than ever before. phangan can't remain above or outside the law just because there's so much money to be made. to flagrantly violate national law in the name of lucre is an untenable situation. the law is there for a reason, as are all laws - because no one should be able to put their own self interest above that of others.

i personally see beckman as brave rather than foolish, certainly far braver than i would have been in a similar situation.

[ollylama]

Actually, everyone is writing as if he was the sole crusader standing up for local Thai people. The people of that neighborhood are actively involved in this campaign and everyone I know is absolutely disgusted by this shooting.

he wasn't the sole crusader, but he was the sole english-language voice, something that tourist authorities are often more concerned with than with the voice of their own citizens. witness the huge flap over the aree house murder in chiang mai in 2000.

[OnTheSnap]

Actually, everyone is writing as if he was the sole crusader standing up for local Thai people. The people of that neighborhood are actively involved in this campaign and everyone I know is absolutely disgusted by this shooting.

He obviously sought to make himself the "face" of the issue- putting up a website (with captioned pictures identifying those he felt were "corrupt") wasn't exactly a brilliant move (though I'm not saying he wasn't right in his assessment).

OK- now he's the "poster child" and a cautionary tale- who wants to be next?

[ollylama]

to flagrantly violate national law in the name of lucre is an untenable situation. the law is there for a reason, as are all laws - because no one should be able to put their own self interest above that of others.

i realize, of course, that this principle doesn't really apply where the sex trade is concerned. but that's generally a victimless crime.

[OnTheSnap]

i don't think we need any more posts saying the same thing over and over again: that beckman may be brave but that he "got what he asked for."

i disagree that nothing will change. i think that beckman was instrumental in getting the mainland authorities to stand up and take notice much more than ever before. phangan can't remain above or outside the law just because there's so much money to be made. to flagrantly violate national law in the name of lucre is an untenable situation. the law is there for a reason, as are all laws - because no one should be able to put their own self interest above that of others.

i personally see beckman as brave rather than foolish, certainly far braver than i would have been in a similar situation.

I don't think we need any more posts glorifying the guy either.

I can't stand the late-night parties- it would drive me crazy if I were kept awake every night by them- however, I'm not going to take on the local mafia over them- I made the choice to live here, and I knew the deal going in.

If I were a local guy with "juice" I'd tell you to stick it if you (as a foreigner) tried to tell me what to do on "my" island- if you tried to push the issue and actually put my picture up with the word "corrupt" under it, well, that would be a bad move on your part.

[Boater]

i'm sure there will be more tomorrow. and the UK press should be on it soon.

i doubt the UK press will cover this ......

[futureexpat]

I was looking at his website and it doesn't look like the party people are the only ones he pissed off over the years. The home page has a story about local police involved in drug dealing, along with a description of one of the police officers and the location of his house.

I don't know how many similar reports he's posted over the years but if he's been doing it for a long time, I'm surprised it took so long before someone took action against him.

Updated: I hadn't read the last few posts before mine until after I made my post.

Edited April 1, 2009 by futureexpat

[OnTheSnap]

to flagrantly violate national law in the name of lucre is an untenable situation. the law is there for a reason, as are all laws - because no one should be able to put their own self interest above that of others.

i realize, of course, that this principle doesn't really apply where the sex trade is concerned. but that's generally a victimless crime.

Are you kidding??? How about the young girls that are sold from their homes, beaten, drugged, and raped repeatedly before being sent out to work in some sleazy "karaoke bar" servicing 5 guys per night?

It's not all some "part-timer" middle class office girl in Bangkok turning the occasional trick in a high-end bar to earn a few extra baht to shop in MBK on the weekend.

"Victimless..."

[ollylama]

i don't think we need any more posts saying the same thing over and over again: that beckman may be brave but that he "got what he asked for."

i disagree that nothing will change. i think that beckman was instrumental in getting the mainland authorities to stand up and take notice much more than ever before. phangan can't remain above or outside the law just because there's so much money to be made. to flagrantly violate national law in the name of lucre is an untenable situation. the law is there for a reason, as are all laws - because no one should be able to put their own self interest above that of others.

i personally see beckman as brave rather than foolish, certainly far braver than i would have been in a similar situation.

I don't think we need any more posts glorifying the guy either.

I can't stand the late-night parties- it would drive me crazy if I were kept awake every night by them- however, I'm not going to take on the local mafia over them- I made the choice to live here, and I knew the deal going in.

If I were a local guy with "juice" I'd tell you to stick it if you (as a foreigner) tried to tell me what to do on "my" island- if you tried to push the issue and actually put my picture up with the word "corrupt" under it, well, that would be a bad move on your part.

of course you would. but you'd also be a criminal and a reprehensible human being. presumably you're neither, so the point is moot.

no need to glorify beckman, i don't think he was after glory. i think we're all curious to see how this will play out. if anything comes of it, then things might get better. if nothing comes of it, things will probably get worse.

if nothing else, the story is interesting.

[Mark Wolfe]

ollylama:

shockingly poor? i disagree. a few mistakes, nothing out of the ordinary in the thai press. far from "thaiglish," as you call it.

Sorry, but you'll have to trust me on this. The copy is execrable.

I particularly enjoyed the squashing together of two words: fullmoon, anticorruption, partyorganisers, latenight, moonthemed, allnight and halfnaked.

This is a national newspaper and not even a spell-check was run.

Oh, and regarding the defense of:

the reporter got the info late yesterday and wanted to get the report out rapidly - only had time for a phone interview.

Right, I guess calling the authorities was out of the question...making two phone calls was just not possible within that tight deadline...

Nation:

Then Ralf and other residents filed a complaint with a government anticorruption bureau in Bangkok, which is currently checking to see why local authorities have been allowing this nonstop partying.

Since the paper is actually printed and put together in Bangkok, why wasn't a reaction reported from this unnamed bureau? (And I am not sure what an anti-corruption bureau has to do with noise pollution.)

Anyway, this is offtopic and hopefully wewill getmore information onthis moonthemed attack against the shindig protester.

Girlx:

he is brave, but it is also a predictable response in KPG. he probably didn't take the threats as seriously as he should have.

By this you mean what? He should have stopped his appeals to the authorities? Or he should have obtained and carried a pistol? Or both?

"The sheer variety of moonthemed shindigs (similar to a hoedown) on Phangan is amazing, each one touted by loud psychedelic flyers posted all over the island.

NOT LOUD, PSYCHEDELIC FLYERS! HOW HORRIBLE!

There's the Half Moon, the Black Moon and the Shiva Moon parties among others, and each is a bacchanal (a word often crossing my lips) of allnight techno music and halfnaked foreigners unabashedly indulging in drugs and alcohol."

HALF-NAKED? GOOD GOD! WHICH HALF? I AM SHOCKED! AND DRUGS AND ALCOHOL? YOU MEAN THE PEOPLE AREN'T STUDYING BIBLE SCRIPTURE? I'M DOUBLY SHOCKED!

[ollylama]

to flagrantly violate national law in the name of lucre is an untenable situation. the law is there for a reason, as are all laws - because no one should be able to put their own self interest above that of others.

i realize, of course, that this principle doesn't really apply where the sex trade is concerned. but that's generally a victimless crime.

Are you kidding??? How about the young girls that are sold from their homes, beaten, drugged, and raped repeatedly before being sent out to work in some sleazy "karaoke bar" servicing 5 guys per night?

It's not all some "part-timer" middle class office girl in Bangkok turning the occasional trick in a high-end bar to earn a few extra baht to shop in MBK on the weekend.

"Victimless..."

correct. that's exactly what happens when prostitution is unregulated.

raping and beating someone and forcing them to have sex against their will is not prostitution. it's raping and beating someone and forcing them to have sex against their will.

but that's off topic. if you wish, start a new post about it. only i'm sure there are millions on thaivisa already.

[OnTheSnap]

The point is hardly "moot"- the point is, don't poke the gorilla with a stick, because he won't listen to reason or heed your pleas for mercy- he's a gorilla, and you can't expect anything less from him that what his nature will allow.

The point is this- don't be surprised or shocked when the gorilla rips your arm off and beats you over the head with it after you poke him.

[ollylama]

The point is hardly "moot"- the point is, don't poke the gorilla with a stick, because he won't listen to reason or heed your pleas for mercy- he's a gorilla, and you can't expect anything less from him that what his nature will allow.

The point is this- don't be surprised or shocked when the gorilla rips your arm off and beats you over the head with it after you poke him.

i hear you. but if the gorillas are running things it's understandable that a few charlton hestons might object and try to fight back and get the planet back for those more humane.

[highdiver]

We live in a country where justice is measured in baht(even for thais but especially for farangs)We live in a country where there is no law that will go on the side of a farang.We live in a country where everything is about saving "face" whether such and such a person is morally right does not enter the equation.To go to such lenghts as this man did might be honorable but foolish if you value your life.

Back home in the west where there is more equality with regards to "the law" i could see the point in standing up for ones principles,but here in thailand "morals and rightness of ones actions" account for very little and will usually end in violence or death.

For westerners taking a stand like this is honorable but pointless if it turns out you are just going to be shot for your trouble.I hope the man recovers,and realises he is one lucky person to have survived.

i think you may be unaware or reluctant to believe but in the west in most western countries it is the same.

the frustration form this violent act that i so strongly appose is taken by some poster (as you have as well )to be a :Thai thing" or as a unique to Thailand. in my opinion it is not.

in every country you have those who avoid the law.. in every country the legal system is manipulated. some countries cover this up better then Thailand but they are still rotten legally just as the next country.

we may debate this issue for ever and give examples on both sides of the debate but at the end of the day Thailand legal system is not less nor more "equlity" then other countries.

in most countries that i have been to the night life business and specially parties are very lucrative and usually involve a large turn over in cash.. these business are controlled and owned by people who are very intolerable when it comes to anyone affecting or objecting to them... and this is not limited to Thailand.

in my opinion the lesson to be learn here is that when you set out for a public crusade that has effects on someone's income that person may retaliate in a violent manor.

it is unfortunate that this happened, as this person was doing something he believed in for a purpose he believed in.. i wish this guy a speedy recovery and hope that he will be well..

[BIC]

anyone have the link that was there this morning showing the story link to the newspaper?

****Boater is asking for a link, the article is already posted on the first page so there is no need to reproduce it again in its entirety. Post edited. --sbk***

[sbk]

bic, this article has already been posted on the first page. Please do not keep reposting

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=2632577

[ollylama]

New article:

http://nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/04/nat...al_30099632.php

Edited April 4, 2009 by ollylama

[angiud]

Funny how some straight facts can be completely rearranged for the use of somebody...

[on-on]

New article:

http://nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/04/nat...al_30099632.php

The officer said he thought the attackers did not mean to kill Ralf, but possibly wanted to merely threaten him. "I learnt that the attackers knocked on Ralf's house with a baseball bat, but were attacked first by Ralf. So the attackers fired some warning shots," he added.

"Anyway, police will take action to locate the attackers," he said.

Haha, Jesus. It's like a caricature of a Hollywood movie portraying corrupt Asian policework.

[PoorSucker]

Better not comment the statement from Pol Colonel Jaroon Uchupharb,

Maybe I can be "uncooperative".

[ollylama]

Beckman sets the record straight. And also shows off his injured ass.

http://kohphangannews.org/modules.php?op=m...cle&sid=263

Edited April 4, 2009 by ollylama

[ParadiseLost]

Better not comment the statement from Pol Colonel Jaroon Uchupharb,

Maybe I can be "uncooperative".

I would at the very least expect the (fairly recently appointed) police chief to condemn such acts of violence and promise to apprehend the crims - NOT make excuses for the armed scum knocking on doors in the dead of night... Jungle law seems to prevail?

[smartiemarty]

Chief of Police is probably hauling his most junior officers over the coals right now..... Fancy sending out your newest "armed scum", oops, i mean recruits, and they botch their first assignment!!! Doh! no supplemental tea for them this month.... and to boot, i expect that there will be more road blocks out in the coming month so that the BiB can replace the monthly "donations" they won't be getting from the party organizers.....

On a good note: Glad to see that Beckmann is ok, and judging from his post on his website this story is far from over!!

LaterZZzZzZzzz

Smartie

[ClaudeFeller]

A very brave guy!

[Mark Wolfe]

It never fails to amaze me how the police seem to always turn the victim into a suspect here.

The police chief says: "I learnt that the attackers knocked on Ralf's house with a baseball bat, but were attacked first by Ralf. So the attackers fired some warning shots."

How do attackers fire warning shots? What utter BS!

Of course the way the victim writes, he seems a bit out there:

All you need is a strong and clear connection to the spirits and everything will be fine!

Uh, ok. Hopefully the mothership will get the transporter working one of these days....