Expat Scot Mugged In Thailand Losing Fight For Life

[harleyclarkey]

God love her. She came to enjoy her retirement in Thailand and ends up dead.

Sincere sympathies to he husband.

[mrtoad]

Terrible story, and condolences to the family and of course her husband. Such nice people, who didn't deserve this.

[Patsycat]

In response to some of the comments regarding my post:

1) I use the term "Special Forces" as most people have absolutely no idea of what Recon really is, or have even heard of it, especially in Thailand, but they do understand "S.F.".

2) When I called the police, I called one of the commissioned officers I teach, who does speak very good English.

3) My classes for self-defense are not taught in a school, but here in my "village", and are limited to 5 students per month, at 2,000 baht per student.

4) As for the "30 seconds". Take any man, or woman, who has been studying martial arts for over 30 years as I have, put 4 "assailants" (who have no idea of what they are up against) within "arms reach", and I can pretty much guarantee that it will take 30 seconds or less to be over with.

5) Me being a "novelist" merely means that in some cases I have the "writing skills" to express something in other than "basic English".

For those of you who wish to question, be skeptical, or not believe, that's your right.

End of subject.

Nobody cares about your CV - we all care about the lady in question, comprende?

[Patsycat]

RIP

Hope they get the scum that did this and hang em high....

[jimbeam1]

I would also like to offer my sincere sympathy to the family of this poor lady. May she rest in peace.

Lets hope the BIB do their job. But I feel a hopeless task

jb1

[tracer5050]

my heart felt symapthies to this family

[pattaya_girl]

Oh how sad - what a very sad story indeed. My sincere sympathy to the brokenhearted family.

Some youths snatched my Bag a few Years ago, and since then I always felt pretty safe with my Bag strapped onto my body, but after reading this story, I somehow don't feel safe anymore.

RIP.

[Pitbullman1]

What we have to remember here folks is that the BIB are only on a 10 - 12 k per month salary and have to purchase all of their uniforms, radios, guns bullets, helmets and caps etc. It is only this year that we are seeing new Police provided vehicles in use on our streets of Khon Kaen. Their technology is so poor that they haven't a chance of arresting and prosecuting a criminal unless that is that the criminal has been infomed on, by a Police Informant who will then act upon that infomation.

But then I have seen Police vehicles being used by off-duty Police Officers either taking their family on an evening to dinner at a restaurant or attending a party in full uniform (although they are off duty) getting hammered on alcohol and then riding the Police motorcycle into the dust.

It is much easier for them to sit underneath their shaded large Police Helmets at traffic light controlled junctions in either pairs or trios and collect bribes from the unsuspecting motorists. Highway patrol Officers waiting to stop you at police check points on the A2 and accuse you of speeding and demanding that you give them 200 Baht rather than they do some criminal investigations..

[Dakhar]

First, I want to offer my heartfelt condolences to the family. This is a tragedy that never should have happened. Unfortunately, as has been pointed out by others, these types of crimes seem to increase as the economy worsens, and there really is very little the police can do about it.

Second, about 6 months ago an American expat was buying a new gold necklace for his wife at the Tesco/Lotus on the way to Hang Dong. This individual is not an imposing figure at 172 cm tall and 66k, with a slender, athletic build, even at the age of 60. As he was closing out the sale he noticed two young Thai boys who seemed to be taking an interest in him. He pretended to not to notice, while keeping an eye on them. As he left the store and headed to his motorbike, out of the corner of his eye he saw the two young men from the store come out and motion to two other men about their ages who were straddling motorbikes. The man went to his own bike, which happens to be a new CBR 150, and pulled out of the parking area wearing his full helmet as if nothing in the world was wrong. As soon as he pulled out onto the highway he saw the 2 motorbikes following him. He gradually increased his speed until he reached the intersection of the highway which would take him home. He gunned the bike around the curve, went about 200 meters and then stopped and got off the bike, removing his helmet, and waited for them.

Sure enough, they came around the corner, and when they saw him standing there they just laughed and stopped their own bikes and got off, thinking they had easy pickings. It took less than 30 seconds to be over with. The police were then called and soon arrived, and then the ambulances, which took the 4 young men to the hospital.

It turns out that the "little old farang" they targeted had spent 20 years in Special Forces, and now unofficially works as a self-defense martial arts instructor for a local police unit. Naturally he had to go to the station to file a report as to what happened, but was not arrested or charged with anything, while the 4 boys were charged with assault and attempted theft. As one officer put it: "They picked the wrong farang to f _ _ k with!"

This story never made the news, but I can vouch for it because that farang was me.

What a complete load of cr*p. Lucky we have another member of the elite special forces retired to Thailand.

As for the injured Scot - sad story.

Jason Bourne rides a scooter and is married to a Thai?

[LennyW]

According to this story relatives have been told by Bangkok police that someone has been arrested in connection with her death.

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1396179

Condolences to the family from a fellow Scot.

[jayjayjayjay]

This "trick" of bag-snatching from the back of a motorbike has been injuring tourists and Thais alike for years!

~snip~

I'm aware of at least 5 Thai females from work who have suffered similar thefts over the last 2 years. BIB's have got to start focusing on this method of crime asap.

[Daewoo]

Firstly, my condolences to the family... Truly a tragedy...

Secondly, without wanting to defend the BiB, who I have always found to be obnoxious and useless... This sort of crime is a problem the world over...

I chased a bag snatcher in Sydney CBD, and retrieved an old Chinese lady's handbag... saw the woman yell and a small Indonesian looking guy running, and knew I could catch him... caught him and he pointed out he too was chasing a guy running further ahead, so I set of in pursuit of him... caught him when he wasn't expecting anything and grabbed the bag back... and received a punch on the chin before another much bigger guy came along and he fled... (I am most definitely a runner rather than a fighter)...

When I reported it to the police station the next morning (didn't think to do it at the time), they said there are 4 bag snatches EVERY DAY in that one small CBD block... (For those who know Sydney, this is World Square, George St, Pitt St, Goulburn and Liverpool St)... (This is what the cop on desk duty told me)...

4 Every Day, in the centre of a city where the cops are paid almost double the average wage... They don't really bother with 'undercover stings' even though it is 4 per day in a very small area, because it is so hard to be in the right spot at the right time...

Bag snatching and similar crimes are is a very hard crime to stop, and does occur all over the world... In Sydney there have been a number of cases of old ladies killed and injured by drive-by snatches... The best way to protect yourself is to make yourself an unattractive target... hold you bag in front of you and way from traffic... walk on the footpath away from the road... being cautious when you make expensive purchases and withdraw cash...

Again, I don't want to be seen to be supporting the lazy BiBs, but this is one area where personal security comes down to you...

and again, my heart really goes out to the family... and all of the other families who have gone through similar pain, Thai and Farrang, that we never hear about...

Cheers,

Daewoo

[Ulysses G.]

Does Force Recon refer to themselves as "Special Forces" As a former Marine myself i was under the impression that Army was used the term "Special Forces"

Recon was recently forced into calling themselves Special Forces because they were not getting thse types of missions despite their excellent reputation in the SF world.

The Marine Corps considers every Marine to be an elite soldier as all are trained for combat (Every Marine a rifleman), so they prefer not to specify one kind of Marine as more "elite" than another. However, most Marines look up to the Recon Rangers as the best of the best.

[john b good]

These snatchers need to be laid out on the concrete with a failed attempt.

Agreed !! They should be laid out never ever to rise.

I'm too old but I would love to see a few teams of young rugby players descend on the realm (maybe to play in a tournament) and route these dogs like the living scum that they are.

Do a real Andy McNab on these gutless cowards.

Thailand is going down the gurgler and the fools cannot see why

[Bagwan]

Do a real Andy McNab on these gutless cowards.

The real Andy McNab may not be the one who you might have read about. A lady who comes to this board and was attached to the SAS for a few years has told me that much of what he wrote is BS and that amongst the lads at Hereford is about as popular as a pork chop in a synagogue.

[MrHammer]

RIP. These things are horrible but not to uncommon I would guess.

Guys, remember to offer ladies in Thailand, farang or thai, to walk them home/get them a taxi. Single females will always be seen as a mark by scum around the world, so do the right thing!