Bangkok At Night Turns Violent Inferno Now

[Lesley]

There are really so many vicious attacks against foriegners on the streets of Bangkok recently. One is that another foriegn student at Bangkok University International Division has been stabbed and beat to death on the street. It happened on last Saturday night at Ratchada and Rama 9 intersection. The victim and another foriegn student who was ridding a motorbike was stopping at the red light. All the sudden hords of motorbike kiddy gangs came from behind and stopped at the red light as well and some got off the started stabbing the victim for fun who was a passenger with machetes and knives and beat him with bats on the ground. The survivor who was ridding the bike suffered some injuries said the whole attack last only seconds and the gangs sped away.

The victim died in hospital. And survivor said he is so surprised that the Thai police did not contact him about the murder at all and show absolutely no interest in this case. He said he will try to make the case publicly somehow since police show no interest to solve this kind of motor bike random killing cases because a police told him they see this every night and used to it.

Another case happened right in front of my eyes. It happened in the back of Kao San Road last week or so. A place called Bangkok Bar. I was drinking with 2 friends next to the bar then suddenly saw all the securities were beating the ###### out of a foreign guy. He was covered with blood and lied unconscious on the street and these bar securities still no stop and continued to kick him on the face and his head. From what I saw the guy's face is disfigured by all the kicking. No one help and no police came for another 1 hour or so. And finally a rescue truck came and took the motionless body. I observed the police did not even do anything and did not even question these bar securities who involved in the street lynching that may have take his life or very close to it.

Later I asked a foriegn guy who was in the pub what happened. He told me this poor guy was so drunk and have no money in his pocket to pay for his bill. So one security guy started to hit his head and face and then all of them followed and hit and  kick this poor man's face and head for next 30 minutes as he lied motionless on the street without stopping. No police came during all that time.

I hope this poor guy survived but I really doubt he will survive as normal human being again. These Thai guys do not have much individual or independent consciousness or thinking ability, when one of their pals started to pound on one man, and rest of the hord will follow without knowing why. I have seen so many senseless viscious bar fights among Thai guys and all happen like this.

The other case is that a friend of my good friend. He just came to Thailand from Sweden on his second trip to Bangkok. He was taking out money at a ATM near On Nut about 8 PM. Suddenly some thugs smacked his head from behind. He dropped his withdrawn money and his ATM card but was able to run dizzily away to the street and got a taxi and ran away. He suffered massive blow to the head and went to hospital to get a scan. But luckily did not suffer internal bleeding. And rested in his hotel for almost all week before flying back to Stockholm.

Bangkok crime is getting more vicious recent years. Years ago most foriegners only involved in shopping scams or pick pockets, but recently the violent crimes againt foriegners have escalated to a viscious level and almost on a everyday basis. And police do not care at all for some beating of foreigners on the street or in a pub or even get killed randomly by motorcycle gangs on the major public street like Ratchada.

Because of the police and goverment inability and empathy, these street thugs including these low scum bar securities will strike again anywhere anytime against any foreigner.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Shocked, I knew such this happened but not with such impunity & apparant regularity.

[Guest endure]

I live in a mid size town in the middle of England and I can GUARANTEE you a fight every Saturday night if you walk through the middle of town. I've travelled round the world and have never felt safer than in Thailand.

[mbkudu]

I traveled to Phitsanulok, Sukothai,Hua Hin,Udon,Chiang Mai, Bangkok and a few other places in Thailand.  Bangkok had a different 'feel' to me than any of the other places.....if that makes any sense.  I never felt 'uneasy' anywhere except Bangkok although I felt like in Chiang Mai it was a pretty good idea to watch your back and not get careless.

I think it's a game of numbers.  BKK has over 10 million people......bound to be more thugs.  I'm going to give Thailand a try soon and live there full time.....but it won't be in BKK....not my cup of tea.  I'm thinking Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai as a start.

[mbkudu]

I'm going to give Thailand a try soon and live there full time.....but it won't be in BKK....not my cup of tea.  I'm thinking Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai as a start.

Pussy.

[cobra]

Most of this shi .. happens at night, late night, usually with a healthy dose of alcohol, drugs or plain ignorance involved.

The average Joe Blow is never going to have a problem in Bkk, better chance of getting in a plane crash,

Now if your just clinically ignorant, staggering around at night, mouthing off, flashing cash, well nature will take it's course, in Bkk or any other city.

[Lesley]

Are there any official figures provided by the Police authorites showing the extent of crime carried out on Western foreigners?

[phuketsiam]

No

[jrincon17]

I traveled to Phitsanulok, Sukothai,Hua Hin,Udon,Chiang Mai, Bangkok and a few other places in Thailand.  Bangkok had a different 'feel' to me than any of the other places.....if that makes any sense.  I never felt 'uneasy' anywhere except Bangkok although I felt like in Chiang Mai it was a pretty good idea to watch your back and not get careless.

I think it's a game of numbers.  BKK has over 10 million people......bound to be more thugs.  I'm going to give Thailand a try soon and live there full time.....but it won't be in BKK....not my cup of tea.  I'm thinking Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai as a start.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I felt the same way in Bkk , had to blow out of there and get to the beaches . Then I felt at home

[Silent Tiger]

ive been travelling to bkk & Thailand since 1989 !!!

ive seen farangs with a chip on there shoulder & Thais are only human & get p****d of also !!!

99% of the time theres no smoke without fire ive lived in Bangkapi which can be naughty but be humble & polite usualy no problems !!!

the 1% of when it can be unprovoked attack from a Thai its usualy from the old Yabba

As for bkk bar i know 2 guys who work there they are from a local boxing camp & say many farang drink with no money well in my eyes there problem i bet they dont forget there wallett again

Viva Siam

[Diablo Bob]

This would be an interesting set of statistics, but most likely skewed.

It would seem that in us Westerners point of view, I would want to see what percentage of these attacks are on Western residents vs. tourist's, what percentage were carried out in the entertainment venues vs. the housing/suburbs. Was the motives for the attacks robbery, revenge etc.

In addition, what other groups (Japanese, Arab, Indian's etc.) have had attacks on their groups.....

At the end of the day you will most likely find that Bangkok is actually an incredibly safe city.

When a Westerner gets attacked it makes front page news....... not so with the Indian or normally the Japanese etc.

When you consider the hundred's of thousands of tourist the come to Thailand on a yearly basis your chances of being one of the "FEW" is rather remote, Assuming 250 attacks/yr (High Side) and only 200,000 Westerners (Low figure) you are looking at around 0.13% or 99.9% chance that everything will go without a hitch.

Before everybody starts elevating Bangkok into the East LA, Jamaica, Lebanon etc. status, lets slow down and really look at the numbers....... This is a non-issue.

[Judge]

I live in a mid size town in the middle of England and I can GUARANTEE you a fight every Saturday night if you walk through the middle of town. I've travelled round the world and have never felt safer than in Thailand.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I mostly agree with you, but visit Japan sometime to feel really safe.

[Brew]

not bangkok but khon kaen (and not foreigner related):

people robbed at a busy market, "friend" executed, hearing stories of thai people where a special group of officials killed somebody, last week 2 of my collegues had some serious problems (think they have been totally drunk at 6:00 am), one of them with a cut throat. last year the brother of my assistant had problems because of a girl, no nothing serious, he just ended up for a longer time at an ICU.

not really astonishing that even thai people say they prefer not to go out with their family in the evening anymore

[Lesley]

No

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why not? Would they scare of the tourist trade?

[Guest endure]

I live in a mid size town in the middle of England and I can GUARANTEE you a fight every Saturday night if you walk through the middle of town. I've travelled round the world and have never felt safer than in Thailand.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I mostly agree with you, but visit Japan sometime to feel really safe.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've only ever been to one small town in Japan (Mitsushima) so I don't really have a basis for comparison. I have been to Colombia. That was REALLY scary

[johna]

To the wannahavagun group, you don't need a gun, you need to get a bloody grip

To the rest whom have level heads, enjoy life, Thailand's tops imho.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Excellent post, puts it into perspective. Also, in the UK - not a place where I feel scared or want to wander about like Wild Bill Hickock - there are around 750 homicides per year, or about 15 per week. How many are there in LOS? Do farang murders get more press than Thai murders?

I thought the number of murders in the UK were around 1500 per annum and this number has remained pretty constant. A knife in the stomach 20 years ago might have resulted in death not any longer

The reason being advances in medicine save more lives.

[cwilliam]

I'm speechless!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Obviously not...!

totster

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Watch out anywhere,I have been here 14 yrs Bangkok is safer than most large cities.If your drunk your stupid and a target anywhere.

[tettyan]

Of course things are getting worse in BKK but then again it's all over the world. Time changes everything and ATM we are seeing a worldwide increase in violent crime.

Not necessarily. Crime has actually been going down on average in American cities. New York City is a much safer place today than it was 15 years ago. And even in Japan, which had been witnessing a spurt in crime because of the prolonged economic slump, crime has been going back down.

On the other hand, I don't see things getting better at all in BKK.

[terdsak_12]

This old gem again.

[somchai jones]

Hackney, Peckham and even Brixton can be pretty hairy late at night. Having said that, even most provincial towns in UK have their token collection of town centre idiots who can't hold their drink making pricks of themselves.

This is a much visited subject but I can only call it how I see it; in all the years I've spent in Thailand I've always felt safe. That's not to say violence is non existant.

10 years ago I was on a bus (of the strap hanging variety) when a Thai guy, being pursued by others, jumped on with a gun. Fortunately he soon jumped off.

Also, over the years I've had a few police friends, mostly high ranking. Some very sensible, others very scary when drunk, gun in hand!

The rules off Muay Thai, are not exactly Queensbury rules. Thailand is not Eastbourne, thank god!

It's a chaotic, vibrant, sometimes unruly enigma. That's why lots of us love it.

As far as feeling safe goes, I can only speak from my own experience. I repeat, I feel far safer in this country than I do in certain situations in England, my home country. e.g. travelling on a night bus in London - not an experience to be relished!

The fact that Thailand is a developing country and as such there is still that huge gap between rich and poor and there are so many people here that are truly poor, i.e. they don't have a pot to piss in, makes it all the more surprising that there aren't more attacks on foreigners!

As for changes that are taking place, what catches my attention most is the increase in violence by visiting youths from overseas, those same idiots that have trouble holding their drink in there own countries. A slap from a bouncer might help to put some manners on them.

Oh well, I've been in Auckland since Sunday on business. I'm bored shitless and very much looking forward to getting back to Bangkok on Thursday. I'll remember to wear a suit of armour though and keep my head down, Christ I might even stay indoors after dark..........ho hum and in the words of BT, any further comment would be superfluous.

Edited May 16, 2006 by somchai jones

[jdinasia]

this is spill over from the Girls tight uniform thread .... he had to revive a 6 month + out of date thread ... based on wild speculation <no stories attached>

but BKK IS safe don't be an idiot and according to Colpyat don't move to Samut Prakharn

[cobra]

He looked French, so I assumed there would be a language barrier

A good slap upside the head CAN be educational.

[JimsKnight]

Remember the we've-never-been-conquered-by-foreigners nonsense they love to throw at you?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This has always interested me. What, then happened when the Burmese conquered and burned Ayuthaya, or when the Japanese landed at Chompon in WWII?

In the latter case, some local Thai police put up brave resistance, but it wasn't long before the country became allied with the Japanese. Is that surrender with a face-saving Asian twist?

What they should say, and often do, is never have been colonized by Western powers, while all of their neighbors were...

Heres a bit about the burmese thing. Its O/T but heres my 2 pence.

Was in the bookazine on suk. bkk and a good book was published by an author recently about the Burmese invasions. namely the one in the 1700s resulting in the sack of Ayuthya.

I had a skim through it, I was suprised to discover that the only organised resistance from the thais came from a single walled northern town (I forget the name but it wasn't chang mai) whose inhabitants gave a good account of themselves before eventually being overwhelmed.

When the Burmese reached Ayuthya the great battle never happened! The army sent out to do battle panicked and fled back to the city (The reason given in the book is poor leadership) to suffer a lengthy siege.

During the siege a curious event unfolded, the burmese had set up several forts along the winding river leading into the city. Moored inside was a Manowar commanded by a rogue English Pirate. According to the thai historians he weighed anchor and sailed south meaning to leave the city to its fate and staged a successful escape.

The English pirate told a wholly different story...

He realised that the Burmese for all their numbers had no way of taking on an English Manowar and took the battle to the Enemy, his plan was to give the Thais hope by attacking the Burmese with his cannon. With any luck, he reasoned that the defenders may sally forth and launch a counter attack. At first all went well, he engaged the Gun Forts along the river and following a gunnery duel he destroying a chain of forts suffering no casualties to himself or crew. The suriving Burmese troops withdrew in disorder panicking those garrisoned around the city nearby as the strange ship made short work of their inferior forts.

He turned the manowar about and returned to the city eager to re-arm and completely pound the unprotected Burmese army into submission. To his horror the thais refused him entry! The Privateer pleaded with them to open the gates to drive off the Burmese but they claimed that having seen his cannon in action that they could not trust him to have such powerful weapons inside Ayuthya. Finally, disgusted and utterly perplexed by the thais xenophobia (suprise suprise!) and apathy the unlikely defender of Ayuthya sailed south left to consider what might have been...

The city fell soon after. Many thais later lamented that if the city had fought half as well as the nameless walled town of the north (which had far fewer troops) then it could all of been so different. I'm inclined to think that, as well along with letting the manowar back in for some more ammo might of been a good idea!

I never bought the book but wish I had now as its interested what it tells of thailand in the olden days.

Edited May 17, 2006 by JimsKnight

[tettyan]

this is spill over from the Girls tight uniform thread .... he had to revive a 6 month + out of date thread ... based on wild speculation <no stories attached>

but BKK IS safe don't be an idiot and according to Colpyat don't move to Samut Prakharn

It's not just wild speculation. If you find time to talk to ordinary people, or just read the headlines on the Thai-language newspapers, everyone agrees the situation is getting worse. My gf's soi, which I felt somewhat safe walking down a year ago, is no longer so. Several people in her building had their purses snatched by motorcyclists just in the past month! The landlord says she's never seen it so bad. It's only going get worse as the transient migrant labor population (many who come from neighboring countries) and have few roots and little stake in the community. And the stagnant economy doesn't help.

It's one thing if you're male. First, we don't carry hangbags/purses. Second, rowdy Thai men arn't interested in raping us. Also, if anything happens to a farang, you can be sure that the police will come under heavy pressure from higher-ups to follow up, as the country's image is at stake - and crooks know that. It's very different if the victim is some local - much easier for the case to just slip through the cracks. If you don't believe this last part at least, you don't know how the Thai police works.

[clarissa]

If my hometown of Leith, Edinburgh had thousands of rich Asians coming and doing what farangs do here, they would be beaten hourly, not daily.

Really? Sounds like you live in a terrible, intolerant place. What are we doing here that a "rich Asian" (or any other ethnicity) would get beaten for in Scotland, that a native Scot wouldn't?

Like having our own drinking areas where locals can not get in, where we can oogle naked local women and sh@g them at our will, and treat the local guys like second class citizens. And when some of them have had enough and decide to beat up one of us, complain that their society/race/nation is violent, and that where we come from things are so much better....

Bangkok is still much safer than any western city, IMO.

I used to wander the backstreets at all hours all over Bangkok for years and only got mugged a couple of times through my own stupidity.

Kind of discounts the idea that BKK is a safe place, doesn't it?

Can you name one city on this planet with more than 10 million citizens, anywhere in the world where you would be totally safe walking around in the middle of the night?

Pyongyang excluded, of course........

singapore's safe to walk around at any hours, anywhere!

[bkkjosh]

If my hometown of Leith, Edinburgh had thousands of rich Asians coming and doing what farangs do here, they would be beaten hourly, not daily.

Really? Sounds like you live in a terrible, intolerant place. What are we doing here that a "rich Asian" (or any other ethnicity) would get beaten for in Scotland, that a native Scot wouldn't?

Like having our own drinking areas where locals can not get in, where we can oogle naked local women and sh@g them at our will, and treat the local guys like second class citizens. And when some of them have had enough and decide to beat up one of us, complain that their society/race/nation is violent, and that where we come from things are so much better....

Bangkok is still much safer than any western city, IMO.

I used to wander the backstreets at all hours all over Bangkok for years and only got mugged a couple of times through my own stupidity.

Kind of discounts the idea that BKK is a safe place, doesn't it?

Can you name one city on this planet with more than 10 million citizens, anywhere in the world where you would be totally safe walking around in the middle of the night?

Pyongyang excluded, of course........

singapore's safe to walk around at any hours, anywhere!

How can you compare Singapore to Thailand? Its tiny! (Less then 700sq km actually). With 4.3 million people and censorship on just about everything that happens, I don't think its in any way comparable.

[bkkjosh]

If my hometown of Leith, Edinburgh had thousands of rich Asians coming and doing what farangs do here, they would be beaten hourly, not daily.

Really? Sounds like you live in a terrible, intolerant place. What are we doing here that a "rich Asian" (or any other ethnicity) would get beaten for in Scotland, that a native Scot wouldn't?

Like having our own drinking areas where locals can not get in, where we can oogle naked local women and sh@g them at our will, and treat the local guys like second class citizens. And when some of them have had enough and decide to beat up one of us, complain that their society/race/nation is violent, and that where we come from things are so much better....

Bangkok is still much safer than any western city, IMO.

I used to wander the backstreets at all hours all over Bangkok for years and only got mugged a couple of times through my own stupidity.

Kind of discounts the idea that BKK is a safe place, doesn't it?

Can you name one city on this planet with more than 10 million citizens, anywhere in the world where you would be totally safe walking around in the middle of the night?

Pyongyang excluded, of course........

singapore's safe to walk around at any hours, anywhere!

How can you compare Singapore to Thailand? Its tiny! (Less then 700sq km actually). With 4.3 million people and censorship on just about everything that happens, I don't think its in any way comparable.

Before someone says I havn't got my facts straight I'll provide a link I got the information from, its a singaporean government website.

http://www.singstat.gov.sg/keystats/annual/indicators.html

[retirednavyman]

How does Pattaya fare in all this as far as the escalating violence against foreigners goes? Or Phuket for that matter?

retirednavyman

[britmaveric]

How does Pattaya fare in all this as far as the escalating violence against foreigners goes? Or Phuket for that matter?

retirednavyman

this topic is about nasty crime infested Bangkok.

Edited May 18, 2006 by britmaveric

[Diablo Bob]

Maybe it was the dangerous drugs I consumed 30 years ago, but I just had a flashback to my Grandparents moaning about how things had changed in their town.

Not just this revived thread from the distant past, but it seems ANY News story or General story, someone figures out how to point to the crime statistics of Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiangmai etc. as the root cause of the problem. The Never Ending Story...................

Look around, enjoy what you have today, because folks it's going to keep on changing. No matter how much you moan and groan, it's going to change..........

[tettyan]

Can you name one city on this planet with more than 10 million citizens, anywhere in the world where you would be totally safe walking around in the middle of the night?

Pyongyang excluded, of course........

singapore's safe to walk around at any hours, anywhere!

How can you compare Singapore to Thailand? Its tiny! (Less then 700sq km actually). With 4.3 million people and censorship on just about everything that happens, I don't think its in any way comparable.

Tokyo's got 12 million people, and I find it safe to walk around just about anywhere at anytime of day or night. Even at 2am, when the subway isn't running, you could wind your way through narrow sois for oven an hour making your way from Ikebukuro to Nippori, and you'll be just fine. I'd just like to hear of someone trying that from Chatuchak to Pratunam.