Krabi - Richie Collins

[Erawan]

I think too many people are disguising opinions and otherwise bullshit in the form of facts and statements without being able to back them up at all. It's not useful, constructive or helpful and just causes more damage than it does good. If people would just take a second to reflect on what they're about to post, I think it would be in the best interests of everybody.

[griser]

You know , this recent killing of a foreigner has led me to believe that thailand is no longer safe for EXpats to live in.

The recent kiling of the two backpacker by the Thai policemen apparently send a strong signal to the native population that its OK to kill foreigners if your angry at them or lose face.

Get angry at a foreigner....NO problem...kill him and get off scott free!

If I was a brit I'd contact my embassy and push to have a warning posted for thailand.

greg

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK, if Thailand is so "bad" ; why don't you lot (the falangs) just pack up and leave

LOS ?

The only people who'll miss your money - not you- are the ladies of the night and possibly some lady boys.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds like someone didn't get some last night eh?

[Backpack_thailand]

The perception, however erroneous, that foreigners are being targeted for acts of violence and that the perpetrators of those acts can also evade punishment with the apparent sanction of the authorities, will do little to encourage tourism or foreign investment in the country.

It's not that foreigners are being "targeted", it's just that when a foreigner does get killed it's a case of "Mai pen rai" to the Thai authorities!

That's what p*sses people off, the fact that we can get shot and forgotten within a few weeks and our killers walk away scott free and some kind of local hero!

[PvtDick]

Oh, quit your whining. Who has killed a foreigner and gotten off "scott free"? The Kanchanaburi case hasn't even been heard by the court yet!

[RDN]

Several posts deleted from this topic - try to keep it rational, people!

[Backpack_thailand]

Oh, quit your whining. Who has killed a foreigner and gotten off "scott free"? The Kanchanaburi case hasn't even been heard by the court yet!

Name your price...I'll take any bet!

I GUARANTEE this guy doesn't get sent down for murder!

[camerata]

A couple dozen out of 8 million a year get killed, and it's "complete disregard"?  I bet more foreigners visiting the US, UK and Australia lose their lives each year due to violence.

As a comparison, here are the foreigner deaths in Goa a year ago, supposedly a result of "drugs and crime" but many of the deaths remain a mystery:

Deaths of foreign tourists in Goa

October 2003 : 01

November 2003 : 05

December 2003 : 14

January-February 2004 : 18

(Source: Goa Police, Foreigners' Branch)

Edited March 11, 2005 by camerata

[RDN]

‘Jealous’ man admits murdering Brit

KRABI: The taxi driver who allegedly stabbed Briton Richard Mark Collins to death in a jealous rage on the evening of March 8 has confessed to the crime, but claims he acted in self-defense.

The suspect, 29-year-old Uthane Douangnoi, is being held in the Krabi Provincial Court jail while he awaits a court appearance on a charge of murder.

According to a statement given to police by the suspect’s former common-law wife, 26-year-old Sunisa Sirirod, Uthane acted out of jealousy after he mistakenly thought the Briton was romantically involved with her.

Sunisa, who operates a tour agency and employed her ex-husband as a driver, told the Gazette that she had been friends with Collins, a native of Hereford, England, for about three years.

She described her relationship with Collins as “platonic”. She said that Collins had visited the province several times previously, but had never before met her ex-husband.

Sunisa said she had agreed to pick up Collins and his girlfriend, Panida Meedi, 24, from Krabi Airport at 11 am on the morning of March 8. The couple were on holiday from Bangkok, where Collins was employed on the Suvarnabhumi Airport project.

Together with her roommate Somjai Srikate, Sunisa picked the couple up from the airport and took them to their room at the Greenery Hotel in Krabi Town. The four made arrangements to meet later on at the hotel and then have dinner at a restaurant in Ao Nang at 7:30.

“I picked up them up at the hotel and I let Mr Collins drive while I sat next to him in the front seat, with Somjai and Panida in the back. My ex-husband Uthane may have seen us together because we passed his taxi in Krabi Town. This may have made him jealous,” she said.

“Coming back from dinner, we continued to drink in a b ar downtown. Ten minutes later, Uthane called me and asked me why I was out partying with Collins … I told him we were just friends and that Collins was here with his girlfriend. But he said that he needed to talk to Collins and asked me to bring him to his house,” she said.

Although they were no longer husband and wife, Uthane lived just two doors away from Sunisa at 289/12 Uttrarakit Rd, one in a row of townhouses in Tambon Paknum, Muang District.

“I decided to return home with K. Somjai. When I got there, Uthane came over asking where Mr Collins was. He said that if I didn’t bring Mr Collins to talk to him, then he would go confront him in the bar where he had stayed on drinking with his girlfriend.

“So I called Mr Collins on the phone and told him my ex-husband wanted to speak to him,” she said, adding that Uthane was already drunk from having had two small bottles of Singha beer.

“So I asked my friend Somjai to pick up Mr Collins by motorcycle, take his girlfriend back to the hotel, and return to my home with Mr Collins so that he could speak to Uthane to clear up the misunderstanding,” she said.

Sensing trouble, she called the emergency 191 number after Somjai had left to pick up Mr Collins.

Somjai soon returned to Sunisa’s home with Mr Collins, leaving Panida in the bar. They then went to see Uthane.

“Uthane first told Mr Collins to wait. He then came back with a photo album showing our wedding pictures [to get the point across that Sunisa and he had been married]. He had a small knife tucked away in his trousers, in the small of his back. He threatened to kill all three of us if we couldn’t [solve] the matter by talking

“I tried to protect Mr Collins by standing in front of him, but soon after that they started exchanging heavy blows and both of them fell to the floor . Uthane got up and drew his knife, but Mr Collins was able to grab his wrist and prevent Uthane from stabbing him with it. Then Mr Collins ran out of the house, with Uthane chasing him.

“When I got outside, I saw Mr Collins had wrestled Uthane to the ground. But from below, Uthane had stabbed him twice, once in the stomach and once near the heart,” she said.

Before Uthane had a chance to flee, police arrived with members of the Poh Tek Tung Rescue Foundation. The police took Uthane into custody and Mr Collins was rushed to Krabi Hospital.

“It was only five minutes from my house to the hospital. I rode in the rescue vehicle with Mr Collins, desperately trying to keep him from losing consciousness. He later died at the hospital,” she said.

“I am still in shock and I haven’t had a chance to say anything to Mr Collins’s girlfriend. It was all a misunderstanding,”she said.

Before Uthane’s confession, Pol Lt Col Charkra Saowakol of Krabi’s Muang District Police told the Gazette that Uthane would be charged with premeditated murder.

If found guilty he would be subject to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The sentence could be reduced if he confessed to the charges, he said.

Physical evidence from the crime scene, including the bloody knife, has already been sent for analysis to the Police Forensic Science Office in Bangkok, he added.

Brought to you by: The Phuket Gazette

15:07 local time (GMT +7)

11 March 2005

[The_Eye_Of_Sauron]

It was all a misunderstanding

Wonder how much of that entire statement is true !

[Trev]

It is a real tragedy that someone has died an unnecessary death. I think that it is fair to say that no one deserves to die in this situation regardless of how inappropriate his actions.

Now that I have expressed my view on the murder, my purpose in posting on this thread has nothing more to do with the tragic result of yet another domestic disagreement. It does have to do with a related yet unique line of discourse that seems to have developed here.

I am continuously disheartened by the behaviour of some farang when they are overseas and more specifically here in Thailand. Certainly this harmful behaviour is not representative of all farang but is unfortunately that of the boisterous and highly visible minority. Examples are the actions of farangs that support their beliefs that foreigners are there to satiate our need for entertainment, diatribes about all Thai girls being on the make and looking for the next farang to bilk out of their life savings so why not use them as we wish, Thais being a homogenously shallow race, and all men being entirely sexually driven and justified in exercising their wanton desires.

The conduct in question may well be what led to the disagreement in Krabi or it may not be, we will never know for sure. What is certain is that it is evident in many places that you find farangs in Thailand and even more immediately on this and other threads.

Arrogance and disregard towards local people is something that should never be tolerated even if the ill-conceived conviction that foreigners are treated poorly by all the locals were true. Remember, you are always free to leave or never come at all. Those who believe they have every right to behave however they wish regardless of where they are do everyone a great disservice. It is one thing to be a disrespectful lout in ones home country but altogether a different thing to do so abroad. It is while abroad that your actions reflect more than you yourself.

I do not condemn British citizens solely in this regard as there is enough evidence on this thread alone that people of many nationalities share this intolerable trait. Brits are one of the largest groups of foreigners in Thailand and this is part of the reason they are more noticeable. However, as with many other nations, they do suffer from some of their own national identities.

As guests we owe it to each other to behave in a reverential manner and even more so we owe it to our hosts. Tarring all 60 million Thais with the same brush of iniquity (as is far too common from some members on this site) is not only unfair but irresponsible. It most likely has as much to do with the depraved activities, lifestyles and existence of those in question. When all you know is negativity then all you can espouse is negativity.

It would be a much better LOS if those ceaselessly pessimistic people would either choose to leave Thailand or keep their reprehensible attitudes to themselves.

[The_Eye_Of_Sauron]

As guests we owe it to each other to behave in a reverential manner and even more so we owe it to our hosts.

A sweet speech, 'Trev from Canada'- ........but a Pollyanna-ish assessment.

This is a rough old place sometimes, and its hard to be 'reverential' to a Policeman who is trying to run you over with his Panda Car in Kanchanaburi......then after he squishes you..... shoots you 3 times at point blank range and says "she got in the way of my bullets".

..or 'reverential' to Government seismologists who don't mention that a bloddy big wave might possibly be coming, just in case you stop spending tourist Dollar for a whole morning.

Thailand should not be taken lightly. People are right to be cynical in matters of self-preservation.

Edited March 12, 2005 by The_Eye_Of_Sauron

[kat]

Have to agree with Sauron. "Reverential" is not really seeing people as they are, or treating them like human beings. You are simply pandering to your own objectification of differences, albeit reverentially rather than disdainfully. Either way, you are not trully connecting with people as individuals, or with a complex and unique culture. You are just doing what you think the "others" want without really understanding anything.

[RDN]

...This is a rough old place sometimes...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, like Dodge City

[Diggerbasher]

I cannot believe we have another guy murdered by a jealous boyfriend.very sad.

[Trev]

I fear that my point was misunderstood and quite possibly unclear. I, in no way, would suggest that we need to pay respect towards any evil-doer in the LOS. I certainly have a healthy amount of skepticism when it comes to the government not to mention others in positions which are susceptable to corruption. What I was suggesting was that we act reverentially (that is respectfully) towards the majority of good citizens of this country.

[The_Eye_Of_Sauron]

What I was suggesting was that we act reverentially (that is respectfully) towards the majority of good citizens of this country.

Well, we are Trev.

We can return smiles in the street, kick a football with street kids, go and applaud the motorcade of Thai Olympic medallists.

But it doesn't make for very interesting topics, so we don't write about it.

...we could, but there's more value in a Cautionary Tale about innocently flirting with a Thai lad's chick, and the possibility (albeit remote) of him knifing you.

...which tends to interfere with one's soccer career with cheerful Dickensian urchins..

[Trev]

I don't have any doubts about you, Eye, but there are others that I'm not so sure about. Your posts and hence your views and I suspect your actions are regularly thoughtful and informed which unfortunately cannot be said for a few others on this site (and many other sites I might add) as well as on the streets of Thailand.

[sriracha john]

What I was suggesting was that we act respectfully towards the majority of good citizens of this country.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

can't argue with that... it's shame more people don't practice it.

[sriracha john]

I don't have any doubts about you, Eye, but there are others that I'm not so sure about.  Your posts and hence your views and I suspect your actions are regularly thoughtful and informed which unfortunately cannot be said for a few others on this site (and many other sites I might add) as well as on the streets of Thailand.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Precisely. I've seen it all over Thailand, whether it was the German buffoon loudly and bitterly complaining to the wait staff in a restaurant on Koh Phi Phi about how the "veiner schtiznel" (my apology for probable misspelling) on the island was worse then dog food (travel 10,000KM to a tropical island to eat that?) to the Australian girls parading around topless on the beach on Koh Chang in front of Thai families (when every guidebook tells them not to and why), to the American old git slobbering on a Pattaya BG's chest until he passes out in a public bar. Bad examples of foreigner behavior abound in Thailand. Bringing some fundamental respect to a host country is, unfortunately, not a requirement, and would go a long way to improving relations if followed.

[Humphrey Bear]

I don't have any doubts about you, Eye, but there are others that I'm not so sure about.  Your posts and hence your views and I suspect your actions are regularly thoughtful and informed which unfortunately cannot be said for a few others on this site (and many other sites I might add) as well as on the streets of Thailand.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Precisely. I've seen it all over Thailand, whether it was the German buffoon loudly and bitterly complaining to the wait staff in a restaurant on Koh Phi Phi about how the "veiner schtiznel" (my apology for probable misspelling) on the island was worse then dog food (travel 10,000KM to a tropical island to eat that?) to the Australian girls parading around topless on the beach on Koh Chang in front of Thai families (when every guidebook tells them not to and why), to the American old git slobbering on a Pattaya BG's chest until he passes out in a public bar. Bad examples of foreigner behavior abound in Thailand. Bringing some fundamental respect to a host country is, unfortunately, not a requirement, and would go a long way to improving relations if followed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you sure it was a German tourist, not Austrian? Wiener Schnitzel is named after Vienna, national dish (like curry and chips for Brits) and a poor schnitzel is a bit of an insult - but why come all the way to Thailand to eat a poor WS, when you can stay home and have a marvellous one?

And on Ko Phi Phi, where the seafood can be great.

But back to topic - I have now read the Phuket Gazette version and would like to believe it in it's entirety. However I cannot see Richie getting up from a bar to go to meet someone he knows is going to cause him grief.

There must be a little more to it - but broadly I think it is a fairly accurate report of what the reporter was told. No bias from the reporter.

[sriracha john]

I don't have any doubts about you, Eye, but there are others that I'm not so sure about.  Your posts and hence your views and I suspect your actions are regularly thoughtful and informed which unfortunately cannot be said for a few others on this site (and many other sites I might add) as well as on the streets of Thailand.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Precisely. I've seen it all over Thailand, whether it was the German buffoon loudly and bitterly complaining to the wait staff in a restaurant on Koh Phi Phi about how the "veiner schtiznel" (my apology for probable misspelling) on the island was worse then dog food (travel 10,000KM to a tropical island to eat that?) to the Australian girls parading around topless on the beach on Koh Chang in front of Thai families (when every guidebook tells them not to and why), to the American old git slobbering on a Pattaya BG's chest until he passes out in a public bar. Bad examples of foreigner behavior abound in Thailand. Bringing some fundamental respect to a host country is, unfortunately, not a requirement, and would go a long way to improving relations if followed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you sure it was a German tourist, not Austrian? Wiener Schnitzel is named after Vienna, national dish (like curry and chips for Brits) and a poor schnitzel is a bit of an insult - but why come all the way to Thailand to eat a poor WS, when you can stay home and have a marvellous one?

And on Ko Phi Phi, where the seafood can be great.

But back to topic - I have now read the Phuket Gazette version and would like to believe it in it's entirety. However I cannot see Richie getting up from a bar to go to meet someone he knows is going to cause him grief.

There must be a little more to it - but broadly I think it is a fairly accurate report of what the reporter was told. No bias from the reporter.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I probably stand corrected, Humphrey. They were speaking German amongst themselves and then spoke (as rudely as I've ever heard someone speak to a waiter) in English with a German accent. To my ear, anyway. Is there a tell-tale difference between German and Austrian accents when they speak English?

The bigger issue was indeed, why on EARTH travel so far, go on a long boat ride to a very small, isolated, and not all that developed (in Jan. 2000) tropical island , to eat something they can have in their own neighborhood back home??? Not to mention expecting others half-way around the world would not the subtle techniques to cooking WS. The extent of their audacity and pompish, borish behavior was remarkable.

and yes, the seafoood was very good. Not as good as Sriracha and certainly much more expensive, but still.... quite good.

I also found that very strange that someone would go meet someone's ex-BF like that.

I too would tend to believe the other events as reported. It's certainly plausible anyway.

[figaro]

I am continuously disheartened by the behaviour of some farang when they are overseas and more specifically here in Thailand.  Certainly this harmful behaviour is not representative of all farang but is unfortunately that of the boisterous and highly visible minority.  Examples are the actions of farangs that support their beliefs that foreigners are there to satiate our need for entertainment, diatribes about all Thai girls being on the make and looking for the next farang to bilk out of their life savings so why not use them as we wish, Thais being a homogenously shallow race, and all men being entirely sexually driven and justified in exercising their wanton desires.

Arrogance and disregard towards local people is something that should never be tolerated even if the ill-conceived conviction that foreigners are treated poorly by all the locals were true.  Remember, you are always free to leave or never come at all.  Those who believe they have every right to behave however they wish regardless of where they are do everyone a great disservice.  It is one thing to be a disrespectful lout in ones home country but altogether a different thing to do so abroad.  It is while abroad that your actions reflect more than you yourself.

As guests we owe it to each other to behave in a reverential manner and even more so we owe it to our hosts.  Tarring all 60 million Thais with the same brush of iniquity (as is far too common from some members on this site) is not only unfair but irresponsible.  It most likely has as much to do with the depraved activities, lifestyles and existence of those in question.  When all you know is negativity then all you can espouse is negativity.

It would be a much better LOS if those ceaselessly pessimistic people would either choose to leave Thailand or keep their reprehensible attitudes to themselves.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very true, but, it's not the "ceaselessly pessimistic " people, but the depraved and loutish farangs; British and other, who should leave Thailand and never return.

Thailand would be a very, very, much better place if the happenings that

occur at places such as Nana Entertainment Plaza, soi Cowboy and at Pattaya, are eliminated for good.

Remember that Nana Entertainment Plaza, soi Cowboy and Pattaya, happen to be

typical farang hangouts.

[kat]

I don't have any doubts about you, Eye, but there are others that I'm not so sure about.  Your posts and hence your views and I suspect your actions are regularly thoughtful and informed which unfortunately cannot be said for a few others on this site (and many other sites I might add) as well as on the streets of Thailand.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Precisely. I've seen it all over Thailand, whether it was the German buffoon loudly and bitterly complaining to the wait staff in a restaurant on Koh Phi Phi about how the "veiner schtiznel" (my apology for probable misspelling) on the island was worse then dog food (travel 10,000KM to a tropical island to eat that?) to the Australian girls parading around topless on the beach on Koh Chang in front of Thai families (when every guidebook tells them not to and why), to the American old git slobbering on a Pattaya BG's chest until he passes out in a public bar. Bad examples of foreigner behavior abound in Thailand. Bringing some fundamental respect to a host country is, unfortunately, not a requirement, and would go a long way to improving relations if followed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I absolutely agree with this post. I find this kind of behaviour disgusting, and sometimes even say something to people when I see them flaunting such disrespect. However, I do not think this behaviour is analogous to having an honest and open discussion about Thailand on a forum.

[sriracha john]

true.... except when people with the same mentality/attitudes voice them repeatedly on a forum.

[kat]

What should you do in this case - censor or ban people from speaking? If they are censored, then their points or behaviour will never be challenged or countered.

I seriously doubt that most tourists read this site, and the examples you cite above are mostly tourists. What are your examples of bad expat behaviour?

[Trev]

What should you do in this case - censor or ban people from speaking?  If they are censored, then their points or behaviour will never be challenged or countered. 

I seriously doubt that most tourists read this site, and the examples you cite above are mostly tourists.  What are your examples of bad expat behaviour?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I absolutely would never wish to ban anyone from speaking or censor what they have to say. It is my intent to challenge their thinking however futile an exercise it often is. Unfortunately, the internet is, more often than not, used by people to find opinions that jive with their own. There are many theories that can be floated for this self-fulfilling behaviour but that might be a topic for another thread.

I agree that many examples of poor conduct come from the two-week tourists but there is evidence on several threads of ex-pats with some extremely warped opinions. Unless these people are acting as devil's advocate then the only other possible motive is that they actually believe the trash they spew. If this is the case then there are doubtless actions that follow the line of thought.

If you need evidence, check out the thread about the American who was caught red-handed with the 16 year old. There are plenty of examples there of troubling ex-pat thinking.

[kat]

Trust me Trev, I'm well aware of the "troubling" reasoning of many expats in Thailand. I posted on the thread you mentioned before it was closed. There are also a number of expats that become more ultra-nationalist and totalitarian than the some of the worst thought police. In some respects, both behaviours are linked in my view. But that's another story.

[Trev]

Kat, I totally understand what you are saying and hope that my comments didn't give the impression that I endorsed the idea of thought police. I think that would, in some regards, be worse than supporting said troubling reasoning. And you're right that that is probably another story.

[kat]

No, you didn't Trev. I'm just commenting in general.

Sorry if this thread was hijacked. Please keep the expat community informed of the outcome for the person who murdered Richie Collins.

[sriracha john]

sex foot massage shops

huh??? 

Where does the fault lay? The Thai Government.

It's a shared responsibility and fault.... People are also responsible for their actions.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>