Air Hostess Shot Riding In Bangkok City Taxi

[george]

Update: Air hostess shot riding in Bangkok city taxi

Air hostess shot riding in city taxi

BANGKOK: A Japanese woman was shot in the stomach after catching a taxi and then dumped on the side of a city road on Wednesday night.

Doctors said Yoshimi Noguchi, a Japan Airlines stewardess, had lost a kidney as a result of the attack.

Police yesterday released a sketch of her assailant and said he was a slightly built man in his 30s.

Ms Noguchi caught the taxi near Mahboonkrong shopping centre and was left bleeding roadside in Ratchathewi.

Pornchai Chumkhamnoi, 41, a taxi driver who was fixing his car on the other side of the road, noticed her plight.

He hailed another cab and rushed her to Decha hospital. ``I saw a taxi stop and move away. Then there was a woman waving, so I went to see what she wanted. She cried `Police! Police!' and I saw the blood,'' he said.

Police said none of the victim's money or valuables was missing.

The assailant was believed to have been driving a Mazda sedan. Police said there were only about 1,000 Mazda taxis in the city which should make tracing

Source: Agents/Bangkok Post

[steffi]

Has Mr Thaksin commented on this incident yet? Normally when anything happens that casts a shadow over Thailand tourism image he's the first to come out and speak.

My sympathy's for the JAL employee I truely enjoy flying with your employer and I hope you are able to make a full recovery.

[Dove]

Something should be done about the legislation of firearms in Thailand to make it safe for everyone onthe street.

Maybe a death sentence for illegal possesion of firearms and for using guns for criminal purposes.

[surin]

From what I read in the post, there was no apparent motive for the assault....This will damage travel by Japanese tourist to LOS. A strong statement must be forthcoming from Thaksin!

[george]

Update:

Police close in on driver wanted for taxi shooting

BANGKOK: Investigators believe the taxi driver who shot and seriously wounded a Japanese flight attendant in Bangkok last week is among 10 drivers on their narrowing list of suspects.

Police are monitoring the suspects and expect to make an arrest as soon as they have enough evidence to acquire a court warrant, police spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen said yesterday.

Yoshimi Noguchi, 36, a flight attendant on Japan Airlines, was found by another taxi driver on Wednesday night beside an isolated road near the Makkasan swamp in Ratchathewi district. She suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach, and underwent surgery to remove a kidney damaged in the shooting.

“All the suspects [on the list] are taxi drivers and police believe one of them is the assailant,” Pongsapat said.

“We will definitely arrest the culprit but it may take some time to collect the evidence,” he said.

The spokesman said that the investigators had discovered some “satisfactory information” about the taxi and pistol used in the shooting.

Pongsapat said Noguchi’s

doctors advised against returning to Japan immediately, saying she needed more time for recovery.

Noguchi’s relatives yesterday afternoon had her moved from Deja Hospital, where she had been treated after the shoot-

ing, to Bangkok General Hospital, which has a health-insurance contract with the Japan Airlines.

Dr Sarawut Anantasethakul, Noguchi’s doctor at Deja Hospital, said yesterday that the patient was recovering and was in a satisfactory condition.

--The Nation

[george]

Update:

Police test three taxis for flight attendant’s blood

BANGKOK: Police yesterday checked three taxis for bloodstains and ballistic traces in their hunt for the driver who shot and seriously wounded a Japanese flight attendant in Bangkok.

The three taxis were sent to the Scientific Crime Detection Division for tests. Pol Maj Gen Chuan Worwanit, commander of the division, said the work could take three days.

Initial checks yesterday did not produce traces of blood, he said.

Police had started the manhunt on November 26 after Japanese Airlines flight attendant Yoshimi Noguchi, 36, was shot in the stomach by the driver of a taxi she took from Mah Boon Krong shopping centre.

Police were testing a Mazda 323 belonging to Komin Sriduam; a Toyota Altis belonging to Sakda Sakhon; and a Nissan Bluebird whose owner remained unknown.

Pol Col Thamrong Wongpaen, commander of Metropolitan Police Bureau’s Division 1, said police were working on a facial sketch based on the description given by he victim.

Police were also reviewing videotapes from closedcircuit TV cameras outside the shopping mall to assist them with the investigation.

Thamrong said police had come up with about 10 suspects following the study of the videotape.

--The Nation

[george]

Update:

No suspects

Police are still in the dark as to who attacked a Japan Airlines air hostess.

Nogushi Yoshimi was shot and severely wounded by a yellow-green cab driver in Bangkok on the night of Nov 26.

She was helped to a hospital by another taxi driver.

--Bangkok Post 2003-12-06

[george]

Update:

JAL stewardess expected to leave today

BANGKOK: A Japanese flight attendant who was shot and seriously injured by a taxi driver is expected to return to her homeland today.

Police spokesman Maj-General Pongsaphat Pongcharoen said Yoshimi Noguchi, 36, was scheduled to leave Thailand for Japan today.

Pongsaphat said doctors at Bangkok General Hospital told Noguchi she was free to leave the hospital yesterday but she chose to stay.

The spokesman said the flight attendant had not yet confirmed with the Immigration Bureau as to when she would leave the country, but police expected that she would leave the hospital and catch a plane back to her country today.

Police are still in the dark about Noguchi's attacker. On November 26, she was shot in the stomach by the driver of a taxi she took from the Mah Boonkrong shopping centre.

The spokesman said Noguchi had provided full support to police in trying to locate her attacker but so far police had failed to find him.

--The Nation 2003-12-08