Knife Wielding Mad Man

[OxfordWill]

A friend and I were sitting outside a popular bangkok pub (which I won't name as I don't want to harm their rep or be blamed of trolling) on Saturday night quite late and were the last two customers there. It was around 12:30. Apart from us, in this particular soi, there was a parking attendant and three members of pub staff (two girls one guy).

Engrossed in our conversation I noticed something which barely registered in my peripheral vision- a thai man walking towards the pub without a shirt on. There is nothing odd about this so it barely registered. As he came closer however I noticed he was wearing a piece of rope done up in a noose around his neck and holding a long (10-12 inch) kitchen knife.

He was walking with purpose right for the pub but seemed to be out of it- perhaps mentally ill, perhaps high on yaba, who knows. The next thing we know he is having a conversation with the pot plants which are outside the entrance. This is about 2 metres from where my friend and I were sitting. The problem was that he was between us and the door, but had not yet seemed to notice us. Not wanting to attract his attention, we decided to sit still and wait for him to wander off, hoping he continued to ignore us.

The potted plant offended his father, or perhaps mother, causing him to go into a violent rage and attack it. After demolishing the plant and pronouncing that it fully deserved what it got, he wandered over to a nearby parked car. Seeing our opportunity, my friend and I went inside the pub, locking the door behind us and asking the staff to turn down the lights. Almost immediately the garbage bags sitting next to the now destroyed pot plant decided they had not quite spoken their mind yet and upon hearing their protestations the man returned to stamp on each garbage bag, stabbing them with his knife and giving them a piece of his (utterly deranged) mind. The staff had been trying to call the police by this point, but said no one was picking up.

Using my phone I called 191 - assuming the problem was with their phone- but alas nobody was picking up at Thai emergency police HQ. It rang, and rang. Same story from my friend's phone. Nevermind, I thought. We'll try the Thai tourist police. 1155 - answered immediately. A thai women in good English:

Me: [calm voice, talking slowly and carefully] Hello. We are on Soi XX at pub YY. There is a man with a large knife acting violently in the soi and several people are locked inside this pub, unable to leave. Please can you send the police?

Her: Is there any Thai people there? You have to get them to call the police.

Me: Yes, they have tried already but there is nobody picking up at 191.

Her: It is a 24 hour line.

Me: Is it.. yes, but nobody is picking up there.

[the man starts to examine the pub door as if meeting a door for the first time in his life, his knife hand and left eye twitching]

Her: You have to ask Thai people to call the police.

Me: Yes, I believe you said that just now. The problem is we have tried to call the police from 3 different phones and the police are not picking up.

Her: It is a 24 hour service.

[knife man goes back to loudly berating the pot plant for it's attitude; why had it said what it had said, and why wasnt it being more generous toward his feelings.]

Me: [switching into Thai] 'Nobody is picking up the phone at 191. Thai people and foreigners have tried to call 191 but nobody is answering. Will you help us please?'

Her: Since you are Thai you should know to call 191.

At this point I hung up and called 191 again. It rang but nobody answered.

Giving up, while the Thai staff had to be continually advised not to press their noses against the glass lest they attract his attention again, and the group in general agreeing that Thai police really were less than useless, we barricaded ourselves as best we could and waited it out. Eventually the man spotted a particularly offensive car park divider and ran off in pursuit down the soi.

The Thai staff asked us to stick around as they were scared.

Obviously, we were a little shaken up by the experience.

Once the man was apparently not returning, we walked to sukhumvit to get a taxi. Two policemen drove up on a motorbike- my faith was instantly restored! The woman at Tourist police had not let us down after all! I waved them toward us, a large smile on my face...

.. to which the policeman on the back of the motorbike waved back, as they continued along the road at great speed, oblivious.

Edited January 10, 2011 by OxfordWill

[IanForbes]

Great story that ends well. Thanks. Scary while it was going on though. It can happen anywhere and in any country. In Canada we let those kind of guys wander around in every community. Politicians don''t really want to be bothered. They would rather close more hospitals and raise their own salaries with the savings..

[chiang mai]

The extent to which pot plants and garbage bags can be thoroughly bad mannered should not be underestimated so let's not judge the Thai man too harshly!

[aridion]

Funny story. The noose around his neck is strange. Ya get all sorts.

[sbk]

yabaa, there is a reason its called that, mainly because prolonged extensive use sends people psychotic. You paint an amusing tale but it must have been very frightening and you were right to lock yourselves inside. I still remember the story of that poor girl who had her throat cut by a knife wielding man on yabaa a few years ago.

[Boksida]

Funny story. The noose around his neck is strange. Ya get all sorts.

Many initiates become unnerved at Masonic rituals.

[SteeleJoe]

Brilliant post. Just one of those classic stories of odd nights one sometimes has in BKK but so very well told.

[Andyf]

Great post< very well told

[aridion]

Funny story. The noose around his neck is strange. Ya get all sorts.

Many initiates become unnerved at Masonic rituals.

Don't quite catch you there BS. Initiate into what exactly? Come on tell me.

[Moonrakers]

The extent to which pot plants and garbage bags can be thoroughly bad mannered should not be underestimated so let's not judge the Thai man too harshly!

I agree.

Their remarks can be so cutting whilst they show little respect to the feelings of those they attack. I know I stand to get shot down for this discriminatory remark, but I have yet to find a considerate pot plant. And they always seem to get away with it.

[SteeleJoe]

Their remarks can be so cutting whilst they show little respect to the feelings of those they attack. I know I stand to get shot down for this discriminatory remark, but I have yet to find a considerate pot plant. And they always seem to get away with it.

95% of Thai pot plants are Buddhist and simply wouldn't behave in the manner you describe; besides these things happen everywhere and in fact American pot plants are far worse.

[Moonrakers]

Their remarks can be so cutting whilst they show little respect to the feelings of those they attack. I know I stand to get shot down for this discriminatory remark, but I have yet to find a considerate pot plant. And they always seem to get away with it.

95% of Thai pot plants are Buddhist and simply wouldn't behave in the manner you describe; besides these things happen everywhere and in fact American pot plants are far worse.

Worse even than the French?

[SteeleJoe]

OK, now I suspect you aren't even being serious.

Edited January 17, 2011 by SteeleJoe

[Boksida]

Funny story. The noose around his neck is strange. Ya get all sorts.

Many initiates become unnerved at Masonic rituals.

Don't quite catch you there BS. Initiate into what exactly? Come on tell me.

[aridion]

Yeah? and? I know that already.

This is what I didn't get - "Many initiates become unnerved at Masonic rituals"- why the comment?

Anyway not a big deal BS. Great story by OP though. Definately seems Yaabaa induced.

Edited January 18, 2011 by aridion

[MaiChai]

Interesting story; glad no one was hurt.

On a more serious note, you know the Thais don't regard mental illness as a medical condition. This means instead of people with mental illness being treated they are left in the community. Hence why you see these homeless mentally ill people.

[OxfordWill]

Thanks All.

Aridion- he meant because of the noose hanging around the crazy guys neck, perhaps it had been a masonic initiation (as in the picture) which had set his fragile mind askew.. Got me chuckling.

[lannarebirth]

yabaa, there is a reason its called that, mainly because prolonged extensive use sends people psychotic. You paint an amusing tale but it must have been very frightening and you were right to lock yourselves inside. I still remember the story of that poor girl who had her throat cut by a knife wielding man on yabaa a few years ago.

I was thinking schizophrenia, but you may be right. Thankfully I've never seen the affects of Ya Ba up close. So what we have here is either drug addiction or mental illness and no effective mechanism in place to help the afflicted. Additionally an incompetent, callous and apathetic police force. They say they are corrupt and incompetent because of low wages. IMO they are vastly overpaid already.

Happy to hear you got away intact Will.

Edited January 26, 2011 by lannarebirth

[OxfordWill]

That's actually not the first time I have had a bad experience with calling for help here. I was sat in a bar on a quiet soi one day 6 months or so ago, and a russian or eastern eu lady was out of it, with a very scared toddler. She was trying to get on a motorbike to go somewhere but couldnt hold the child well enough and kept falling off. I went out to intervene (I dont go looking for trouble but it was a farang child and thais werent doing anything) and tried to talk to the lady and get a phone number of friend etc. She was very hostile and aggressive. I called the tourist police and they just couldnt be bothered. Barely paid the call lip service. Eventually she and the kid got in a taxi and I paid the guy some extra to ensure she got somewhere safe. She didnt know where she was going but we possibly managed to work out a hotel from the description. To this day I can't shake the look on that kids face, utter fear. Point being you just can't rely on them. I would have thought on sukhumvit within shouting distance of 5 star hotels they would at least try to keep up appearances by sending a car. But no.