Road Rage Shooting Wounds Thai International Airways Pilot

[gemini81]

Morally bankrupt society decaying even further.

You think Thailand is the only country where road rage could happen? Wake up...

Never stated in my post that it was the only country this happens in.

You must be American.

In Australia, this would be headline news and police would be all out to apprehend the perpetrator and they would face stern justice and a long jail sentence.

In Thailand, it will probably be a off duty cop or a local mafia that shot at the pilot and everything will get swept under the rug due to his connections or payments.

That is a morally bankrupt society.

Didn't know Oz was near Utopia! But thanks for the generalizations....

[Heng]

Haven't seen the news this evening, but some of my employees have mentioned the shell casings found were army issue. Not sure how they can tell as I thought a plain jane .45 casing was a .45 casing.

[webfact]

Road-rage suspect a Petchaburi native: police

By The Nation

The driver of an SUV suspected to be involved in a shootandrun road rage with a Thai Airways pilot last week is a Phetchaburi native, who is hotheaded and pettish, a police commander quoted his wife as saying.

Pol Colonel Anat Kledmanee did not identify the man by name, but said he was a 26 yearold living in Ban Lat district who is not unemployed and "certainly not a person in uniform". The officer claims to have interviewed his wife, Pinyajinda Rujiphanont, which is not the man's surname, who said she did not witness the shooting.

Evidence is being gathered to obtain an arrest warrant for the suspect, and more details in case should be revealed within three days, the officer said, while calling on witnesses to the incident to come forward. A police source said initially the suspect would be charged with attempted murder once he was arrested, or turned himself in.

The woman said she was asleep during the incident with her onemonthold baby, and said it was instead the pilot, Phoolwit Ruengdej, who first beamed his BMW's headlight at the family white Toyota Fortuner she was travelling in contrary to what Phoolwit said to police and the media, that the road rage started with the SUV beaming headlights at him first.

The SUV belongs to Pinyajinda's relative and is lent to the suspect, the officer said, adding that he did not think the suspect earned his wealth through any illegal business despite being unemployed, but rather because Pinyajinda was from a wealthy family.

Police have earlier seized a white Toyota Fortuner with redtyped Nor Nane4208 BKK license plate parked at a Chachoengsao home and been checking whether it is the one involved in the incident with Phoolwit's BMW.

In a police inspection of a motorway section to look for evidence, police used a steetsweeper truck to suction debris for a sixkm stretch, from 6th KM to 12th KM markers, and found two cartridges of 9mm Glock rounds with RTA Royal Thai Army initials engraved on their discs. The cartridges will be verified whether they matched a bullet removed from Phoolwit's shoulder.

A police source said people with permission or sport shooters could possess 9mm commercial RTAissued munitions.

Phoolwit said he was a slow driver and did not regularly beam his headlights at anyone, but cited his "compassion" for other motorists blinded by the SUV's beam for beaming his BMW's headlights back at it prior to the road rage and eventual shooting. "I now forgive the shooter and do not feel anger towards him. I call on motorists to drive carefully and stay coolheaded when driving," he added.

-- The Nation 2011-01-17

[neverdie]

You just failed the officer's leadership exam and failed as a manager.

I don't think so geriatrickid, you see I was happy as a NCO & never felt the burning desire to join the incompetent cake eaters at the upper ranks but rather remained at the coal face level making the real decisions & getting the real job done. I was often humoured by the morons from the upper levels who would also constantly approach me & seek guidance about the basics, seemingly they had been to busy to pick up on those as they were busy grooming their various job applications over the years. Suprisingly they all were still able to put their hands out for the higher wage each fortnight, somehow without their hand shaking .

Anyway boy out of the Sergeants mess & back to you gate post duties & please remember the basics before storming back in here next time

I remember the story about a new probationary policeman, in his first week on the streets he is put in a riot situation, stood in a line of police men getting petrol bombed and bricked. anyway his bottle goes and he turns and runs, he finds a doorway and sits down trying to get himself together, another policeman walks up and says "pull yourself together". "sorry sarge" says the young police man "my bottle went". The other policeman replied "don't call me sarge, I am a Chief Superintendent", "sorry sir" said the young policeman, "I didn't realise I has run that far"

Yes, an oldie but a goodie. Ahhh theres nothing like cake eaters, although I acknowledge theres those that actually asprie to be such

[neverdie]

The driver of an SUV suspected to be involved in a shootandrun road rage with a Thai Airways pilot last week is a Phetchaburi native, who is hotheaded and pettish, a police commander quoted his wife as saying.

hotheaded & pettish.

seems to be rampant these days in the land on 'mai pben rai'

[jackr]

The woman said she was asleep during the incident with her onemonthold baby, and said it was instead the pilot, Phoolwit Ruengdej, who first beamed his BMW's headlight at the family white Toyota Fortuner she was travelling in contrary to what Phoolwit said to police and the media, that the road rage started with the SUV beaming headlights at him first.

Well how the **** does she know if the Beamer beamed first if she was asleep? In any case, the beaming's immaterial duck, your husband shot someone!!

20-30 years without parole and crush the car.

[brahmburgers]

Good to hear they have a suspect. Hopefully, there'll be a professional investigation and the perpetrator will be put away for a long time. Even if the pilot forgives the shooter (as mentioned in the article), that should be no reason to let the guy off. He's still a very dangerous person to have out in public. Attempted murder charge, for sure!

....and the woman (accompanying the shooter?) saying she was asleep - not believable at all, particularly as she claims it was the pilot who first flashed his lights. How could she see that if she was asleep, and unless she then fell asleep within seconds after seeing that, she was awake at the time of the crime.

Flashing auto lights is not a crime, last time I checked.

[Heng]

Funny watching TV'ers divide resentment between BMW owners and Army brats who are beyond the law.

Analysis to this point: Sounds like more people are leaning towards driving a crap car (with a % of those folks still making car payments) than feeling threatened by Army folks operating outside the bounds of the justice system.

Edited January 17, 2011 by Heng

[Payboy]

Strange how in these recent car incidents it turns out that the car was borrowed from someone else.

[phutoie2]

If this story is correct from the Nation then I think some congrats are due for the heavily criticized Thai Police.

Earlier reports suggested it would be difficult to trace the white Fortuner due to 'red plates'

Book em Dano

[powderpuff]

pettish? So now the Nation Newsrag is in the business of inventing words in the English language?

Peckish probably - but you don't learn that in the 3rd grade.

[powderpuff]

Moral of the story? Retaliation = esclation = a trip to the ER.

If someone flashes you get out of their way & let them past.

In Germany woe betide you if you don't get over on the autobahn

[Heng]

Good thing this wasn't a shootout between a '97 Vigo with a family from Korat crammed in the back and a practical Vios runabout (because I can have it in my name!) or it'd be a TV stalemate.

[webfact]

UPDATE

Police obtain arrest warrant against road-rage suspect

Police Monday obtained an arrest warrant against a man suspected of shooting a Thai Airways pilot following a road rage last week.

Police said Nanthapong Huayhongthong, 26, would face two counts of charges - attempted murder and carrying a firearm in public place without license.

Nanthapong was suspected to drive a Toyota Fortuner raced against a BMW of the pilot, Phoolwit Ruengdej during a road, which ended up the pilot be shot at.

-- The Nation 2011-01-17

[MaiChai]

Firstly I am glad justice is being done.

In Thailand of the past most of the organised crime was run either by the Army or Police so it doesn't surprise me about the bullets origins.

Flashing headlights at someone does not warrent being shot at!

In Thailand if someone 'might' be important, why is the name witheld? Are rich/important people not equal to poor people in the eyes of the law?

[Chunky1]

You left out one factor in your bookmaking Heng, the BMW driver is a Thai Airways pilot, this guy is getting paid to fly all over the world living in five star hotels and entertaining nubile stewardesses ("Everyone climb in the minibus to the Hilton now!", "Knock, knock. Are you awake? My TV isn't working".

For these guys to take his side the Fortuner driver would have had to been in the Forbes Thailand Top Ten List.

[Heng]

Even odds though that he could then be written off as a guy who doesn't play for Liverpool, Manchester United,... but you know, the 'other' team. Feeling better already.

Noi, where are my car payment coupons?

Edited January 17, 2011 by Heng

[gemini81]

recent news: they found the guy was on pills, yaba, according to the thai news text I got on my phone, as well as the thai news on TV....we'll see if that's vaild or not as time passes.

Guess the boy thought he wanted to show he was tough, or was a spoiled brat with an anger problem like that son of miss thailand who murdered a woman and injured others with his car (that bastard is off the hook, since his mommy paid his way out of it.)

This must be the son of another high roller to be sportin' an SUV like that with red plates, carryin' a gun, and buying drugs.

[ScubaBuddha]

Morally bankrupt society decaying even further.

You think Thailand is the only country where road rage could happen? Wake up...

Never stated in my post that it was the only country this happens in.

You must be American.

Left field just called. They want their comment back.

[webfact]

Police name suspect in pilot's road rage shooting

By The Nation

Prawet police yesterday obtained a warrant for the arrest of a suspect in a road rage case in which a Thai Airways pilot was shot on a Bangkok motorway last Wednesday.

Police are also investigating whether to charge the suspect, who is reportedly involved in five drug cases, with attempted murder and carrying a gun in a public place without permission.

Prawet superintendent Pol Col Thienchai Khamapaso said yesterday police received the arrest warrant from Phra Khanong Court for 26-year-old Nattapong Huaihongthong, who allegedly drove a Toyota Fortuner SUV and shot at pilot Phoolwit Ruengdej, 53, in his BMW. Phoolwit's wife and child were with him.

Police held discussions with the suspect's lawyer all day on Sunday, but the suspect so far hasn't turned himself in and police are looking for him.

Following a meeting yesterday with the case investigators at the Prawet police station, Pol Maj General Suthee Nanekantee, commander of the Metropolitan Police Bureau's division 4, said police had leads from witnesses and had invited Nattapong's wife to give information.

The woman told police that Nattapong, who ran a shrimp farm and ornamental fish business in Chachoengsao, was hot-tempered. She said she was sleeping in the SUV when the incident occurred and woke up after it was over. The couple then went on an errand before returning home.

They learned about the news on television next morning and Nattapong, saying he couldn't stay any longer, rushed out of the house, she said. The woman said Nattapong carried an automatic white-coloured gun all the time for self-protection over shrimp farm conflicts.

Suthee also said checks of criminal records found that Nattapong was a suspect in five drug cases in Chon Buri.

Phoolwit, who was shot at several times and wounded in the shoulder while driving to Suvarnabhumi Airport last Wednesday, said had he was recovering well.

Phoolwit said he was kept posted about the case's progress and was confident police would apprehend the suspect soon. Hearing that the suspect was only 26, he said he felt sorry for him because he was very young and could be his child's age. He held no grudge against him.

-- The Nation 2011-01-18

[F4UCorsair]

In Thailand if someone 'might' be important, why is the name witheld? Are rich/important people not equal to poor people in the eyes of the law?

No! Not anywhere, unfortunately.

Edited January 18, 2011 by F4UCorsair

[NanLaew]

At the end of the day your more likely to be killed by someone driving into you whilst they are.... playing with their gf's p*ssy than you are of being shot by an ars*h*le in an SUV.

You saw that???!!!

(must get darker tint on the windows!)

[EyesWideOpen]

I was driving my motorcycle on one of the main highways. There was a long line of slow trucks, so I was passing them at a pretty good clip in the fast lane. Next thing I know there a car trying to pass me in my lane, missing me by inches as he almost ran me off the road. I then thought to myself that some moron had almost killed me to get to Bangkok 5 seconds faster.

Yes , now time for moron lessons..... I followed him for a bit, until there was a stoplight where he was trapped front and back. I zoomed up on my bike on the shoulder, parked it, and came up to his car. I was trying to break in his window with my elbow, but due to the padding in my riding jacket could not get the window to break. His face showed some real fear, as a two meter tall farang is trying to break his window to drag him out. Finally the light turned green, and he drove away like a scared rabbit.

Lesson learned .... guess I am lucky he was not the useless son of some high-so. Probably should not be so hot tempered, but it sure felt like the right thing to do. And I slept like a baby that night, with no teeth gashing thinking about what I should have done. 

I have live here 11 years, and think the biggest crock of shit is the Thais telling farangs they should be jai yen, as this concept is an important of Thai culture. Then I actually look around, and am thinking Thais are the hottest tempered people I have ever seen. They keep all this crap inside , and when they finally respond they let go ALL the way..

[NanLaew]

Enforces the point: you should avoid confrontation in Thailand. Better to loose a little face to the other party and let it go rather than get shot.

...or have some unlicensed 16 year-old wannabe hi-so clip your arse and send you spinning into the barrier.

[NanLaew]

Did you miss something in the translation here Lancelot? The BMW driver (Thai Airways Pilot) was the recipient and then returned the favour thus the road rage compounded - Thai Vs Thai Thai style. So they are both equally to blame but one had the upper hand by having a weapon. Yes the shooter is the bad guy but the pilot was the buffalo for being allowed to be drawn into it! Then was responsible when it compounded further. He may not deserve what he got but he got it anyway. Bet he won't do it again!!! And I hope I am not in the same plane as him 'cos he may decide to buzz another plane that is flying too close to him! Tit for Tat.

Although I disagree with any suggestion that a pilot unable to disregard another bad driver and getting 'drawn in' to a pissing contest is therefore psychologically unsound and shouldn't be allowed to fly, I do believe that precedent has already been set.

I recall a Thai Airways Company (TAC) 737 crashing at Phuket in August 1987. This was before the international and domestic entities merged to form the current Thai International. Anyway, there was poor weather and an inbound Dragon Air 737 in the scenario. Phuket ATC had allegedly given the Dragon Air flight permission to land first as he was closer. On the cockpit voice recorder, the TAC pilot was heard to say something along the lines of 'we will see about that' and proceeded to come in harder and faster from above and behind the other plane. Then he asked to land first and the panicked ATC basically said 'up to you'. The Thai plane never came out of the fast and steep approach and crashed in the sea, killing all onboard. The subsequent enquiry was somewhat obscure and finger pointing stopped when the ATC involved was killed in a somewhat mysterious road accident. However, the opinion that it was pilot error was upheld, see here

Just goes to show that pilots are really just glorified bus drivers. And before anyone lamps onto me about Thai pilots, I don't think any Thai pilots have been nabbed for trying to fly while drunk but they seem to stop a few in the US on a regular basis.

[housepainter]

1. What happened to Thai jai yen?

2. What happened to Thai mai pen rai?

3. What happened to Thai ' tam jai'?

4. This guy flys a plane: 30,000 feet, 500 passengers, and loads of stress to handle.

5. He was on his way to work. What was his frame of mind that caused him to get involved with this?

6. Driving, this kind of thing happens all the time with Thais; speed up behind, sit on the bumper, flash lights. You simply get out of the idiot's way.

Maybe, and it is just maybe, it is actually better that he is grounded. I'm glad I don't and won't fly Thai.

If lights flashing gets this response what's turbulence going to do to him?

I read that as 'toe jam'.

Well I can not help you and you can not help me. In fact I can do nothing about it.

Enjoy your toe jam and try to get out more. Maybe a trip to the opthalmic opticians unless you too feel you can do nothing about it.

[webfact]

Man arrested for allegedly shooting THAI pilot in road rage

Phang Nga - The man who allegedly shot a Thai Airways International pilot was arrested in Phang Nga Friday afternoon.

Prisorn Huayhongthong was arrested at Sriwara Hotel in Phang Nga.

He will be flown from the Phuket Airport to Bangkok Friday night.

Prisorn was accused of shooting at THAI pilot Phoolwit Ruengdej on January 12.

-- The Nation 2011-01-21

[Siripon]

Man arrested for allegedly shooting THAI pilot in road rage

Phang Nga - The man who allegedly shot a Thai Airways International pilot was arrested in Phang Nga Friday afternoon.

Prisorn Huayhongthong was arrested at Sriwara Hotel in Phang Nga.

He will be flown from the Phuket Airport to Bangkok Friday night.

Prisorn was accused of shooting at THAI pilot Phoolwit Ruengdej on January 12.

-- The Nation 2011-01-21

Prisorn chose the wrong target there, apparently the THAI pilot is a personal friend of the head of the Thai army, General Prayut.