Swedish Expat Murdered At Luxury Villa In Phuket

[hellodolly]

This illustrates just how helpful Thai's are not in these situations.

how do you blame to Thai's for not helping? I'm guessing the fact it was a luxury villa in Phuket would indicate most of the guests observing the incident would be foreign, so how exactly can you pick fault with Thais?!

and what exactly, would you have Thai's do in that situation? It sounds like anyone that had tried to intervene would have met the same fate as the poor Swede. Would you die for a stranger?

why do so many people have a go at Thai people all the time?

next you'll be telling me that no-one in England ever gets stabbed, and no-one in the US ever gets shot...

Excellent post.

There are some people on TV who never miss a chance to put Thai's down. In all likely hood it probably stems from the need to feel better than some one. This feeling arising from a sense of personal inadequacy.

[random]

Since when does an expat have to "piss a local off", or "annoy someone" to get robbed, beaten, and murdered here.

More than likely, " they" needed to pay for a drug habit.

Another brick in the wall.

12 men lie in wait in a specific place, by pass security, tie a man up, then leave his apple laptop and credit card behind ?

That doesn't sound like a random mugging to me to pay for a bit of yabba or smack. Why not just rob a random tourist for his wallet to pay for a hit ? Less clues and instant cash.

can people stop dragging me into this

[JAFO]

I have to laugh at all the posters in this thread who are either shocked that no one helped, That no one saw anything and that Thais are psychopaths.....Poolllleassse!!!!!!!!!!! Just stop. This happens in every country all the time 24/7. I am not shocked by this at all. Saddened indeed but not shocked.

The fact that people have no regard for human life is the real sadness no matter race, color or creed.

[kamluan]

i am against any violence and dont break any lawys ......but my friend glock 17 is waiting for scum like these guys.....this is a shame for Thailand and a shame for the Police to let gangs driving armed and dangerous around.

Protect yourself and buy a gun!!!!...legal...and if not posible ,buy it the other way..maybey stupid,but i could not come up whit a better idea.

[Tigerfish99]

"Under interrogation it was established that the suspects were four Norwegians, Mr.Espen Forberg (41), Mr.Sebastian Gjertsen (21), Mr.Martin Gisvold Garathun (21), Mrs.Ida Marie Juhl Falchenberg (20), the other 3 being Swedish, Mr.Ulf Carl Johan Hellbacken (36), Mr.Anders Erik Engzell (30) and Mr.Tommy Viktor Soderlund (26). They were charged with doing business in the kingdom without work permits, which all deny."

These people are involved in fraudulent activites, just a simple google search would reveal this:

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2011/02/23/call-centre-gang-apprehended/

[arthurwait]

Well, what can I say. I always know that Thai are the beasts. This case just proved again it's good idea to left this country.

With that kind of slur against Thai people perhaps it is a god idea that you have left this country.

Hopefully someone will be held accountable, but we all know how the corridors of justice work.

The vast majority of Thai people are gentle and kind.

A tragic situation for the Swedish man, R.I.P. , but what were the reasons he was so grievously assaulted?

Thais are no more vicious than a gang of English high street thugs, or any other nationality for that matter.

The reason why I said you has been many times on Thaivisa already - assulting and muredering foreigners. An police just don't do any movement because they are Thai but we are nobody and nothing here.

Do you know statistic of insurance companies - the most number of foreigners asking for medical help exactly in Thailand. Guess why?

And.. Do you really think that Thai people will be gentl to you if they need something from you - you money or your property or you life?

Food poisoning ?

Drunk motorbike crashes ?

Drunk fights ?

Drunk accidents ?

[orosee]

Now if it turns out, that "the other newspaper" is correct, and this poor man was in fact killed by one or two westerners,

how many of these "bash the Thai's" commenters will come back and apologize ?

None is my guess.

So after we have seen this other story - why dont we start bashing the Swedes too ?

Apparently thats the nationality of the man most sought after, if we can believe "the other newspaper"

Or let us all refrain from bashing people, nationalities, and each other ( here in the forums at least ) ?

What possible joy is there, to make a comment about someone's English skills ?

A man was murdered.

By persons yet unknown.

Even the nationality of murderer(s) is still in question.

So wait for facts, before being so judgemental please.

Edit : corrected few spelling issues to avoid being flamed for that ( yes I still may have missed some )

Well said. Also to add: the number of assailants in the first article is completely unknown, yet most "posters" (moralizers) seem to assume it was 12, exactly 12. Given the unrealiable nature of eyewitness accounts, "12" or "a dozen" could equally mean 6 or 20.

TV should hold back "Breaking News" until it has been corroborated by at least one more, independent source. What a waste of time, writing and reading almost 4 pages.

By the way on off-topic, while I agree that English proficiency should be ignored on an international forum, I strongly believe that posters who form plurals by apostrophe-s (as in 1 Thai - 2 Thai's) instead of how it is taught in all languages that use the Latin alphabet (1 Thai - 2 Thais) should have their posting rights revoked for a week. See how silly that looks - posting right's revoked for 7 day's. It seems to happen only on Thai Visa, it doesn't make sense, yet somehow these people seem to be sure that this is the right way to make plural's. See how silly this looks again?

[crusader79]

This is the last straw, I'm not prepared to risk my life for a little extra sunshine, I'm selling my Stockholm condo and moving to Finland.

[thequietman]

Edited August 2, 2011 by thequietman

[Samuian]

wow ; viscious

wonder how / who he pissed off

certain circles it doesn't take much - a broken promise..

[kamluan]

i am against any violence and dont break any lawys ......but my friend glock 17 is waiting for scum like these guys.....this is a shame for Thailand and a shame for the Police to let gangs driving armed and dangerous around.

Protect yourself and buy a gun!!!!...legal...and if not posible ,buy it the other way..maybey stupid,but i could not come up whit a better idea.

[F1fanatic]

Now if it turns out, that "the other newspaper" is correct, and this poor man was in fact killed by one or two westerners,

how many of these "bash the Thai's" commenters will come back and apologize ?

None is my guess.

So after we have seen this other story - why dont we start bashing the Swedes too ?

Apparently thats the nationality of the man most sought after, if we can believe "the other newspaper"

Or let us all refrain from bashing people, nationalities, and each other ( here in the forums at least ) ?

What possible joy is there, to make a comment about someone's English skills ?

A man was murdered.

By persons yet unknown.

Even the nationality of murderer(s) is still in question.

So wait for facts, before being so judgemental please.

Edit : corrected few spelling issues to avoid being flamed for that ( yes I still may have missed some )

Well said. Also to add: the number of assailants in the first article is completely unknown, yet most "posters" (moralizers) seem to assume it was 12, exactly 12. Given the unrealiable nature of eyewitness accounts, "12" or "a dozen" could equally mean 6 or 20.

TV should hold back "Breaking News" until it has been corroborated by at least one more, independent source. What a waste of time, writing and reading almost 4 pages.

By the way on off-topic, while I agree that English proficiency should be ignored on an international forum, I strongly believe that posters who form plurals by apostrophe-s (as in 1 Thai - 2 Thai's) instead of how it is taught in all languages that use the Latin alphabet (1 Thai - 2 Thais) should have their posting rights revoked for a week. See how silly that looks - posting right's revoked for 7 day's. It seems to happen only on Thai Visa, it doesn't make sense, yet somehow these people seem to be sure that this is the right way to make plural's. See how silly this looks again?

Yes, punctuation and grammar are vitally important in an expat forum open to all nationalities ....

[midas]

Let's see, just yesterday we read about the 2 Dutch boys getting the crap beat out of them by a gang of minibus drivers in Phuket. And today we have a Swedish national, only 25, being murdered in broad daylight, and in plain sight, in Pattaya. Really good for the tourism image.

Someone needs to start collecting all these stories about Phuket & Pattaya and then email them to every travel agency they can find. Maybe then the agencies will actually start discouraging people from going there. This isn't 15-20 years ago when things like this could be covered up or kept quiet. Today things get emailed, Tweeted, Twittered and Facebooked, quick, fast and in a hurry! Maybe in a few years when these two places have actually become a "no travel zone" to tourists, and there's no more money to fleece, things will start to change. But I doubt I'll see it in my lifetime.

actually it happened in Phuket not Pattaya.

I have to say considering it's only a relatively small island there seem to me to be a lot of murders in Phuket -more than Pattaya.

Look at this one from just a few days ago and the victim was the same nationality Swedish

[12DrinkMore]

I am amazed at the number of posters who seem to read the first post and then immediately respond with ill-considered and inconsiderate knee jerk posts. . And then there is ALWAYS the flood of "Me Too" posters, referring to other unrelated incidents.

Take a minute and read a bit further and you will find that the suspects are now TWO Swedes NOT TWELVE Thais. And even if this more recent report is inaccurate, all the bullshit coming out of the TV woodwork should stay in the woodwork.

But I suppose this post will also be ignored by the jerks, who will have vented their keyboards and moved on.

A few apologies and retractions are due from certain posters above, but they won't come either.

Edited August 2, 2011 by 12DrinkMore

[spidermike007]

Well, what can I say. I always know that Thai are the beasts. This case just proved again it's good idea to left this country.

Why don't you consider going back to school, and learning english?

[arthurwait]

Now if it turns out, that "the other newspaper" is correct, and this poor man was in fact killed by one or two westerners,

how many of these "bash the Thai's" commenters will come back and apologize ?

None is my guess.

So after we have seen this other story - why dont we start bashing the Swedes too ?

Apparently thats the nationality of the man most sought after, if we can believe "the other newspaper"

Or let us all refrain from bashing people, nationalities, and each other ( here in the forums at least ) ?

What possible joy is there, to make a comment about someone's English skills ?

A man was murdered.

By persons yet unknown.

Even the nationality of murderer(s) is still in question.

So wait for facts, before being so judgemental please.

Edit : corrected few spelling issues to avoid being flamed for that ( yes I still may have missed some )

Good post.

[unclekleef]

With 12 men, they can blame each other, and in the end, nobody will go to jail. The Men in Brown will probably find that the foreigner stole the knife from one of the 12 and slashed himself.

I really wonder at some of these post where everything Thai is denegrated. Stop acting so superior, if you don't loke Thai people or Thailand - go home! I am sure that everything is great there - almost Nirvanna!

[hehehoho]

wonder how / who he pissed off

Probably politely declined the offer of a tuk-tuk home.

[rich54321]

wow ; viscious

wonder how / who he pissed off

Did he piss anyone off - or is this a trend starting - to KILL foreigners in Thailand whether by Thais or foreigners - the place is really getting a bad name - shame there is some beautiful parts to the country and some great people

About time Phuket was taken off all holiday destinations and people were banned from traveling to it - there appears to be NO control from the last couple of posts -WITH NO END IN SIGHT the authorities have no control - the next thing they will be making a bit of a press conference with a couple of hand me down assailants in custody posing with their hands in front of them how they tied this victim - what a load of <deleted>!!!!!!!!!

edited some spelling also

SHOCKING news again

Edited August 2, 2011 by rich54321

[Barin]

............

The criminal cancer is eating away at Thailand's historically peaceful social fabric and no ones seems to worry, providing they get their share of the spoils. It makes you wonder what Thailand for all its charms will be like in ten, twenty years time? Paradise lost perhaps?

........

Bravo, well said! Are you a journalist?

[unclekleef]

Well, what can I say. I always know that Thai are the beasts. This case just proved again it's good idea to left this country.

Why don't you consider going back to school, and learning english?

Can we escort you to the airport - tomorrow?

[fractrain]

THE ORIGINAL POST SHOULD BE CHANGED!!! People are responding as if it's true and it's total BS reporting.... it's not even reporting, it's fiction.

Mods - the op is completely wrong.... it reflects really poorly on this place to leave it as is.

Whoever initially wrote this should be fired for passing of fiction as news and for inciting hatred.

[hehehoho]

............

The criminal cancer is eating away at Thailand's historically peaceful social fabric

lol.

When was that, when the Khmer ruled before the Tai moved south?

[hehehoho]

THE ORIGINAL POST SHOULD BE CHANGED!!! People are responding as if it's true and it's total BS reporting.... it's not even reporting, it's fiction.

Mods - the op is completely wrong.... it reflects really poorly on this place to leave it as is.

Whoever initially wrote this should be fired for passing of fiction as news and for inciting hatred.

There were you?

Perhaps he stole a barmat like Annice Smoel .

[Boater]

THE ORIGINAL POST SHOULD BE CHANGED!!! People are responding as if it's true and it's total BS reporting.... it's not even reporting, it's fiction.

Mods - the op is completely wrong.... it reflects really poorly on this place to leave it as is.

Whoever initially wrote this should be fired for passing of fiction as news and for inciting hatred.

Agree, they should be using PW report, which ACTUALLY had a reporter at the scene 25 mins after it happened , although they also reported 12 thai men, they have retracted the statment to show the two swedes

[F1fanatic]

THE ORIGINAL POST SHOULD BE CHANGED!!! People are responding as if it's true and it's total BS reporting.... it's not even reporting, it's fiction.

Mods - the op is completely wrong.... it reflects really poorly on this place to leave it as is.

Whoever initially wrote this should be fired for passing of fiction as news and for inciting hatred.

Agree, they should be using PW report, which ACTUALLY had a reporter at the scene 25 mins after it happened , although they also reported 12 thai men, they have retracted the statment to show the two swedes

Who or what is PW? How did a reporter manage to get to the scene 25 mins after the murder? Where did the original report of 12 Thai men come from? How do the police know it was 2 Swedish men?

At the moment, more questions than answers.

[somtampet]

This was no random attack. Sounds like gang/mafia stuff with so many attackers. they left his apple computer so a hit, not mugging. this person was wanted by someone. 25yrs old with a luxury villa, so wealthy for such a young person.we'll see what he was up to as the investigation unfolds (may be). has obvoiusly upset someone with connections.

RIP young man & dont piss people off again!

I agree with u,something isnt quite right here.Time will tell but RIP anyway,a brutal death

[AussieSilverFox]

This is so obviously a "Hit". 25 years of age living in a luxury villa, could simply be independantly wealthy but he wasn't killed for his possessions. You NEVER get a gang of phycopaths working together like this. They are individuals and I have met a few in my time.

This smacks more of a lesson to someone and until we know more, which we may never know, we are just guessing. If he had simply upset someone, a serious beating usually suffices. The attacker likes to see the result of their handiwork limping around.

To me, this seems like a lesson to a number of other people.

People get killed who are involved in drug deals that go wrong. Hopefully this isn't the case here BUT, there are lots of very young, and very old, drug dealers.

If, as recent news is arriving that two Swedes are being looked for (maybe with the help of some locals) it cuts down the amount of suspects the police have to interview.

I don't live in Thailand but I visit, with my wife, for two months every year.

I am an ex London copper and have worked in and travelled to, some very hairy places. To me, Thailand and the Thais are no where near as scary as the U.K., the USA, Mexico or Spain. Oh, and certain parts of Australia :-)

[thaiedward]

With 12 men, they can blame each other, and in the end, nobody will go to jail. The Men in Brown will probably find that the foreigner stole the knife from one of the 12 and slashed himself.

Wow!

TV certainly attracts more than its fair share of insightful, intelligent comments.

No insult intended but is sarcasm the weapon of the weak?

[Heng]

Clash of cultures at its worst. You might get this type of result from simple talking and banter on a daily basis. If one person grows up in a culture where trash talking, open complaints, and insults are considered the norm, it's easy to see how that might not go over so well in a place (and this isn't the only place like that in the world) where's it's pretty much the opposite. I don't think anyone thinks this was a 12 man robbery.

Surprised it doesn't happen more often.