Barbaric Students: Police To Take Action

[george]

Police urged to take action against barbaric students

Passengers must feel safe, says bus driver

BANGKOK: Vivat Suphan-angthong, driver of passenger bus 147 on the Dao Khanong-Western ring road route, had been on the job only a few days when a group of vocational students attacked his bus.

It was the most frightening thing he has experienced. Although he had been warned about brawling students, no one had told him what he should do, much less trained him how to react under such circumstances.

A 14-year-old girl, Kanchana Imphan, suffered serious head injuries in the Dec 13 attack. Kanchana was on the bus when students started throwing bricks at it after the driver failed to stop for them in Bangkok's Bang Khunthien district.

The students were from Ratchasitharam Technical College.

Mr Vivat, 36, said he picked up the girl and her friends in front of Bang Khae market, and about 10 vocational students from a bus stop in front of The Mall Bang Khae branch.

Close to the Ekkachai-Bang Bon intersection, he heard something like glass breaking and saw another group of students head towards the bus.

``I was scared as I have never experienced such an incident before. I closed the doors and sped up. A few seconds later I heard glass breaking again and passengers screaming.

``At the time, I didn't know what was happening. I knew only that I must leave the place as soon as possible,'' said Mr Vivat.

After getting to the next bus stop, he heard someone crying in pain from a back seat. He found the girl crying, and bleeding from her head.

He asked passengers to leave and took her to Rama II hospital. She was accompanied by her four friends. The girl suffered a broken skull and may lose her eyesight.

``At the moment, I thought only of helping the injured passenger. The girl moved to sit near a window shortly before the students started throwing bricks at the bus,'' he said.

Mr Vivat said drivers had told him to close the doors if he came across male students. However, sometimes it was hard to tell they were students if they were not standing in a group.

Sant Suksri, 55, supervisor of No 147 buses, said the Dao Khanong-Western ring road route was used by vocational students from almost 10 colleges in Bangkok and nearby Samut Songkhram.

Brawls were common, particularly after school hours and weekends when rock concerts were held.

Student brawls normally took place on bus No 68 on the Bang Lamphu-Samaedam route, bus No 101 from Wat Muang market to Phor Thong market route and bus No 147 in the Thon Buri area.

``Many drivers and fare collectors in Thon Buri have experienced student brawls. In one incident, a fare collector was shot in the leg during a brawl between students from rival schools.

``Students throw bricks if a bus refuses to pick them up. Some buses have been forced off their routes. Drivers who refused to toe the line are intimidated,'' he said.

He urged police to take action against brawling students. Barbaric actions by those students injured innocent passengers.

``Sometimes 40-50 students get on, and they refuse to pay. The collector dare not ask for the fare for fear of being assaulted,'' said Mr Sant

Sopha Khamniam, 48, a fare collector on No 147, said she had seen many student brawls in her eight years on the bus.

A few years ago, she saw a student slash another teenager with a knife. The victim sustained a long knife wound from shoulder to wrist.

A driver on bus No 113 on the Min Buri-Hua Lamphong railway station route, said a fare collector was hit in the head when a group of teenagers threw a brick last week. He received 20 stitches while the attackers managed to flee. So far, none of the attackers has been caught.

--Bangkok Post 2003-12-22

[dazdaz]

This is awful, but worth reminding people that this is *very* common in the Western world.

I hope she regains her eyesight, I wonder if we could do something for her ?

Regards

[frenchFARANGbkk]

yes, it sounds like Paris...

But maybe it's normal, Bangkok is a capital city as well.

[Sing_Sling]

dazdaz - "that this is *very* common in the Western world."

Your contribution is supposed to be . . . what, exactly?

Please tell me where so that I will never venture into this barbarous Western world. These things never happen in Indonesia, Philippines, India . . .

What a load of crap, there are incidents like this everywhere. Instead of spouting such garbage, why don't you suggest soemthing, like frenchfarang.

Can a trust be set up for this girl - at least to make sure she has decent medical care?

[tracer0]

1. she is likely under mr T's 30 baht scheme

2. she can complain to him and get armed guards on students busses with orders to kill on sight...

Sorry, these things happen everywhere and as far as I am concerned I am not the milkcow for Thais if I can avoid it.

I am trying...

This is Thai hitting Thai, and that means to me after 17 years here, they sort it out. THT. TRT whats the difference...

[Jimmy boy]

The amount of times I went on a bus with smashed windows is uncountable but I've only seen 1 person get injured from something going through the window but if you think of the amount of people they cram on to the Thai buses you can can see that it's obviously much more dangerous.

Thought Thai's were meant to be passive?

[Dove]

Acts by young vandals like this should not go unpunished. The leaders should be caught and punished. They are the future of the Thai Kingdom and such acts should not be tolerated.

[ThaiAdventure]

Brawls were common, particularly after school hours and weekends when rock concerts were held.

So I guess Toxin will be banning weekends now. Only Monday to Friday will exist!