Farangs Who've Passed

[jomama]

In another thread, Jopha posted this:

"Not the first Farang bar owner to die of over-consumption on your block although British Peter survived for many inebriated years depite all the odds and the encouragement of his Thai boyfriend to drink himself to death."

I too knew Peter and it got me to thinking about some of the stories. A number of people who're posting lately have asserted that violence is on the rise, etc. There a couple "historical" ones I know about, one true, the others perhaps not.

The one that first got my attention when I first arrived in Chiang Mai was a persistent one that U.S. DEA agents had beaten someone to death in a bar along Moon Muang and it was later covered up. Does that ring a bell at all, Jopha?

One I know well about was an upper-class Brit who liked male company. Two "friends" showed up at his condo near CMU and after a bit of partying, hit him over the head with a blunt object, etc., took his money and car (this is back when cars were very expensive) and fled.

This story has a hero -- and that is the Thai policeman who investigated the case. He had no real budget and had to pay for gasoline, etc. out of his own pocket (which was later reimbursed by the victim's family). Anway, some villagers reported an wrecked, abandoned car off the road near Mae Sariang. The info made its way through the system and eventually back to Chiang Mai. It was the victim's car, so the policeman went there. A couple of young Thai guys were seen checking into a motel in town. The cop checked it, found that they used the telephone to call Chiang Mai. He traced the calls to a dorm near CMU, but it was a public phone. Investigation at the dorm turned up two residents who had gone missing. He put out a notice on them and eventually they were tracked to a wat in Issan, where they had become temporary monks. They were found with some of the victim's possessions and after a court case, were sentenced to life in prison. (Another farang, a friend of mine, was the translator for the victim's family in this so I know the details).

This year there was a fellow (David?) who died in the moat in front of "Spicy" -- which is a bar I assume. Police said it was a motorcycle accident while others said he had been beaten up after a period of drunken, violent behavior around town. He was pulled from the moat and had expired.

Why do I post this? I have an interest in local history no matter where I live ... and also to put things in perspective that so-called new "trends" may not be new at all.

[Fast Eddie]

I was a friend of Dave's, who died in the moat outside Spicy. It was two years ago last April. Two girls accidentally drove their motorbike into the moat and Dave, who was stood nearby, dived in to help them get out and then retrieved their bike for them. Being drunk, he decided to continue to swim around in the water. The next thing any of his friends who were there knew, he was being dragged out and he had died. The official cause of death was that he had drowned.

[LoveDaBlues]

jomama - did you know Clayton from the Boom Bim?

[jomama]

jomama - did you know Clayton from the Boom Bim?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, I did not. I was domesticated a number of years ago and don't get out much. As you can probably tell from my posts, most of my knowledge is from "the old days."

[Johpa]

The one that first got my attention when I first arrived in Chiang Mai was a persistent one that U.S. DEA agents had beaten someone to death in a bar along Moon Muang and it was later covered up. Does that ring a bell at all, Jopha?

Can't remember any story like that so perhaps, if it occured, it happened well after I got married and moved up into the hills. I just can't imagine a DEA agent, living under deep cover, bothering to show up at a bar on Moon Muang. Although having been friends with a DIA man in Chiang Mai, to the best of my knowledge, I was never in contact with DEA folks despite being an acquaintance of Laota.

The first disappearance I can remember was an American whose name I no longer remember but back in time when there were very few Americans around. I think, and my memory of such rumors is a bit hazy here, he had some sort of dispute with Phii Khao at The Cottage. I know that he suffered a beating and then later simply disappeared.

Another bar owner who met an early demise, and again I don't even remember his name, was the guy at the Oasis married to the Dragon Lady. The Oasis was never my regular watering hole so I never knew him well.

[lamphun]

In another thread, Jopha posted this:

The one that first got my attention when I first arrived in Chiang Mai was a persistent one that U.S. DEA agents had beaten someone to death in a bar along Moon Muang and it was later covered up. Does that ring a bell at all, Jopha?

I think this is actually the one about the DEA agents getting their asses kicked by the Thai Police after they disrupted the boxing show in the Bar Beer centre behind the Domino Bar. Guns were pulled on both sides so I heard. Happened about 15 years ago.