Thai Policeman Kills Six Fellow Officers After Drinking Session

[cgphuket]

Another tragic story (with few details) that brings out the many ignorant and hateful posters who have deep insecurity issues and feel a need to stereotype entire groups of people because of the acts of an individual(s) within that group.

If one was to apply the same logic these posters apply to other groups then one would need to assume that westerners are a bunch of ignorant rednecks that can't even comprehend and accept Thailand is not yet at the same level of many countries in the west and therefore still has the problems most countries also had in the west in their past.

And the whole notion that Thais as a whole don't deal with their feelings because they are not allowed to express anger is idiotic. Yes, one is supposed to act like they can control their emotions in public but unlike many posters here they simply don't let things upset them or feel a need to obsesses about things as many folks here seem to do. It is also a myth that expressing anger through means like yelling or fighting helps get rid of it and studies show it actually can make it worse as we witness here on this board.

What an absolute disgrace reading some posts here about these PEOPLE who died that we know nothing about and who likely all left loved ones behind including sons, daughters and wives who now have not only lost a loved one but also their financial support.

Kind of makes you wonder how these troubled posters can at all be taken seriously as they point their fingers at others to say they have problems.

The police should be respected, but I'm afraid they are not here in general by Thai or foreigner. I wonder why ????

In most societies more feeling would be felt by this incident, BUT here not many care, and persons care more if deaths were people that are known to them. majority of posters feel the same as Thai people do about the incident, because of lack of respect lack of feeling. I'll wager a bet that most posters will feel for the kids and families/partners, the ones left are the only sufferers. We all know the police force here is run as a business and not to protect the people so much. royal Thai police should merge into the communities more 1 police house in every village, upholding the law, and therefore being the village bobby-could keep a eye on all around him. Believe me there are too many police at town police stations with little to do, and all in 1 place. please be honest how many police on evening and night shifts do you see around, nearly non as they have gone to ground. Next poster please.

The majority of Thai people (and all people) see this incident as a tragedy. I'm sure there are a number of criminals and those with authority problem issues who feel differently but other than that it takes somebody with personal issues not to see this as a tragedy and instead see it as an opportunity to express idiotic and sick feelings of not caring because they were Thai people and/or Thai police. It boggles the mind that a person able to post on this board lacks such little common sense and feelings towards their fellow man.

There are tragic stories in the news all around the globe on a daily basis and nobody says we should get emotionally distraught over the causalities of others but it is just plain sick and troubling to see people get into an almost celebration state to hear of these deaths of policemen because they so ignorantly love to stereotype entire groups in a country and culture they clearly don't understand and have not been able to be accepted into.

The US and its citizens have lots of problems that can be talked about all day long for years without scratching the surface but anyone with an ounce of common sense and compassion for their fellow man knows the time to vent about this was not in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 unless you felt these people deserved to die.

I can only speak for the US but it is not about respect in the US when it comes to police, it is generally about fear. It would be a rare instance for a cop to find your stolen TV or catch those who broke in your home in the US and the contact the vast majority of people have with police results in fines for hundreds of dollars for traffic or vehicle violations since the vast majority of police are assigned to write tickets to collect funds to not just pay for the police and court systems but also to support the city they operate. However, the majority of law abiding citizens know when a police officer dies that it is a time to keep your mouth shut about pointing out their faults as it is a dangerous job and they do keep the streets safer by locking up violent criminals ... not much different here beyond the police here are operating in a much less developed nation making them radically under payed and trained with inferior equipment and even more limited ability to legally take strong action against those not complying to a simple request (ie. they cannot beat a suspect with their club or tazer them until they comply to a simple request such as "sit down" as they can in the US)

I can only speak for the US" No, actually, you cannot. Speak for yourself.

[metisdead]

A nonsense troll post and associated reply have been removed.

[xthAi76s]

Nisa,

There were too many quotes, so I took from your post.

The majority of Thai people (and all people) see this incident as a tragedy. I'm sure there are a number of criminals and those with authority problem issues who feel differently but other than that it takes somebody with personal issues not to see this as a tragedy and instead see it as an opportunity to express idiotic and sick feelings of not caring because they were Thai people and/or Thai police. It boggles the mind that a person able to post on this board lacks such little common sense and feelings towards their fellow man.

I'm not sure how anyone could know what a majority of Thai people feel about this event one way or another... I'll assume that it is more likely that we do not know. I agree that disrespect in this tragedy is not helpful, but I think the negativity you're seeing is certainly not due entirely to the people expressing it. What do they say in business about reputation? Reputation matters. And, unfortunately, the police here in Thailand (and many other countries) have a poor reputation. I happen to think much of their poor reputation among Thais and non-Thais alike is warranted.

There are tragic stories in the news all around the globe on a daily basis and nobody says we should get emotionally distraught over the causalities of others but it is just plain sick and troubling to see people get into an almost celebration state to hear of these deaths of policemen because they so ignorantly love to stereotype entire groups in a country and culture they clearly don't understand and have not been able to be accepted into.

I'll be honest with you; this is is a tricky one. Do I care about people in general? Sure, I do. However, when someone does something stupid, I can allow myself to be either 1) sad or 2) angry. There are of course other emotions, but just for the sake of argument, let's assume these two are my options. I will almost always choose to be angry. My reason? Feeling and expressing condolences and all that does not compute in my head/heart. I care more about preventing these terrible events and getting angry and pointing out flaws is what I believe moves humanity forward -- certainly a lot more than does being sad and sorry. That's just my personal opinion. Someone needs to point out the stupidity, the idiocy of it all and of the perpetrators. Humanity has struggled forward because we have generally 'called a spade a spade' so-to-speak.

The US and its citizens have lots of problems that can be talked about all day long for years without scratching the surface but anyone with an ounce of common sense and compassion for their fellow man knows the time to vent about this was not in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 unless you felt these people deserved to die.

I can only speak for the US but it is not about respect in the US when it comes to police, it is generally about fear. It would be a rare instance for a cop to find your stolen TV or catch those who broke in your home in the US and the contact the vast majority of people have with police results in fines for hundreds of dollars for traffic or vehicle violations since the vast majority of police are assigned to write tickets to collect funds to not just pay for the police and court systems but also to support the city they operate. However, the majority of law abiding citizens know when a police officer dies that it is a time to keep your mouth shut about pointing out their faults as it is a dangerous job and they do keep the streets safer by locking up violent criminals ... not much different here beyond the police here are operating in a much less developed nation making them radically under payed and trained with inferior equipment and even more limited ability to legally take strong action against those not complying to a simple request (ie. they cannot beat a suspect with their club or tazer them until they comply to a simple request such as "sit down" as they can in the US)

I can also speak as someone from the US, and yes the police are often feared. Some of that has to do with our propensity toward force and how seriously the law is enforced. In Western nations, indeed one might argue that a certain amount of fear of the institution is required to keep the society orderly. And, I also agree with you that people generally keep their mouths shut when a police officer dies in the US despite the flaws in the system, BUT this is likely to be because generally speaking people trust the system to be mostly good and in their interests. I lived in NYC, and I do trust and respect the work that the police do. They are not all good; they are human! Many fall into the lower education bracket. But, I feel that 99 times out of a 100 I don't have to fear the police if I'm not doing anything wrong. I think that is simply not the case in Thailand. I've heard only questionable things about the Thai police force from all kinds of Thais (educated, not so educated). The institution has a horrible reputation so much so that Thais often don't even get the police involved in various disputes. This contributes greatly to the negativity you see.

Oh, and with respect to statistics, any statistics course would caution a person from trusting statistics in developing economies where many, many things simply go unreported. Would I trust the statistics in the US over those in Thailand? Of course I would, and so should you. Places like Thailand have almost no controls in place to encourage/ensure that things like accident statistics are accurate and with a heavy focus on FACE, their is certainly and potentially often an incentive to even make sure they are not accurate. That is stats 101 stuff. If you are reading any sort of stats about Thailand as reported by Thai authorities, those stats should very much be used a guide to try to get you just an idea of what might be going on. It's certainly rather laughable (academically) to compare stats held up by elite countries (US, Japan, Western Europe, Australia, etc) against those reported by and for developing countries with the aim to compare them.

Do you understand what I'm expressing?

EDIT: Nisa, the thrust of your effort is respectable. Of course, some people do unfairly stereotype and some are hateful etc. But, to make your point in this case, comparing the Thai and US police forces is entirely wrong. It's a convenient argument style and employed often, but for anyone who is honest and perhaps didn't live in all but the absolute worst handful of neighborhoods in the US (South Central & East LA, for example) they would not likely be able to make the 'leap of faith' you are implying to regard the US and Thai police forces as 'similar'. If you live in a half decent city/town anywhere in the US, you are overwhelmingly likely to be just fine with the police force.

Edited December 29, 2011 by ThailandMan

[Chalard]

The guys were Border Patrol Police which is not your regular BiB.

[hehehoho]

^ True.

The Border Patrol Police allegedly have more control of the drug and human trafficking trade, and their job positions cost more if a local wishes to become one.

[Heng]

Lucrative for officers. These guys were middle aged peons of the police force. 'Jars' tend to make copies, run errands, are the guys doing the paperwork in the front office, if there is a suspicious package sent to the station, these are the guys who get to open it, I've seen more than a few making coffee, etc....

[xthAi76s]

I wonder how much (if any) of these police force issues have to do with the fact that there is really not a large tax base in Thailand. Where does the funding for the police force (fire department, etc) come from? It's probably tricky economics to get it to the point where the force is well funded, has attracted better candidates who are paid enough to not worry terribly about supplementing their income etc...

Complex stuff.

But one thing for sure is that taxes are a major issue in informal economies like Thailand.

[animatic]

Behind every smile is an angry Thai.

Seems like many of them wear brown uniforms.

Thinking back to the Royal Thai Police officers who executed the backpacker in Pai, the one who executed two of them in Kanchanaburi, the one who cut off the arms of that karaoke girl, the one who executed another cop and his wife at a roadstop.... etc etc.

They are not allowed in the culture to show anger, so it stays bottled up till they get drunk, and that is the only time they are forgiving for showing negative emotions. That said some bottle up way to much, and have access to lethal weapons, like this BiB and the assault weapon.

Loss of face, pent up anger, weapons and alcohol are very dangerous combined in this culture.

Geez, I wish my girlfriend felt 'not allowed' to show anger ... she can be quite good at it, in fact.

Yeah but your a baah farang you don't count.

Dating a farang is like being permanently drunk.

Bet the do NOT show the same to a Thai male.

[Scott]

An unsourced quote has been deleted. Please provide a link to the article you are quoting.

[nurofiend]

I read somewhere that Thailand is actually an extremely dangerous country having (according to the article) the 2nd highest hand gun murder rate in the world,not per.capita.

Some research has shown that this may not be far off the mark.

Wikipedia cites Colombia as number 1 with 51.77 gun homicides per 100,000 people, followed by Guatemala (18.50) and Paraguay (7.35).

The Wikipedia list doesn't include Thailand, but looking at the source information, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, gives Thailand (as of the year 2000), a rate of 33 per 100,000, from 20,032 gun homicides across the country during the year. Compare that rate with the US (2.97), Germany (0.47), Australia (0.31) and the UK (0.12).

The figure seems very high -- are 55 people really being shot to death in Thailand every day? -- but those are the UN figures.

Thailand don't officially and openly reveal the yearly murder rate stats afaik... but going by what you read on various places, the gun murder rate is among the highest in the world

Venezuela is more dangerous than columbia now btw.... re-first bit of post

[housepainter]

Holiday holiday holiday time!

Quiet drink in a bar - up county where nothing ever happens. Quiet and safe.

Of course the small incident ............... was it six or seven dead? .... happens anywhere, doesn't it?

No thought not.

I expect like prostitution there's no mental illness in Thailand.

That's OK then.

Next.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Scott
formatting

[49337]

no doubt drinking can be a real problem . i used to drink a lot espec when i visit bkk but i dont go out shooting people

[ding]

Alcohol, repressed emotions, and weapons.

First, uncork the bottle.. then the lid comes off the emotions.. and next you pop a cap in someone's arse...

I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

[animatic]

Alcohol, repressed emotions, and weapons.

First, uncork the bottle.. then the lid comes off the emotions.. and next you pop a cap in someone's arse...

I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

It does,

just not in important enough ways to make the Big City papers.

[hehehoho]

I wonder was the ex-cop who went on a shooting rampage in Bangkok last week was drunk too, or all his pent up anger and resentment happened to come out at once.

http://www.tannetwor...?DataID=1051178

Metropolitan police have arrested a former police commando who allegedly fired at cars on the streets of Bangkok last Friday night in a drive-by shooting that injured three people.

The 28-year-old former crowd control policeman, Police Lance Corporal Tirayu Phetmika was arrested by the metropolitan police after he randomly shot at cars on the streets of Bangkok last Friday night.

Six cars were shot at and three people were injured.

The most critical victim is tourism police officer, Police Corporal Suriya Jantraj.

Edited December 30, 2011 by hehehoho

[hehehoho]

I just remembered that retired police officer in Pattaya last year who went back to his old station in Pattaya with a meat cleaver and ended up closing the station. Will try to find a link.

Edit:

From Pattaya One newspaper:

Knife-wielding Retired Police Officer forces temporary closure of Pattaya Police Station

28th January 2010

PATTAYA: -- On Wednesday Night at Pattaya Police Station there was drama as a retired Police Officer forced the station to close for a time as he was threatening People with a meat cleaver. Retired Police Senior Sergeant Major Pairort who finished his career with the Marine Police, came to the station and demanded a meeting with Police Lieutenant Colonel Sutum, the Deputy Chief of Pattaya Police. The reason for the meet was not given by the retired officer who realized he would not be granted his wish and then produced a knife and made his way to the car park and claimed he would not back-down until he saw the senior officer. Eventually the other Deputy Police Chief, Police Lieutenant Colonel Chonapat arrived and ordered the man to place the knife on the ground. He complied and was led up to the cells to give him a chance to calm down. He was later released with no charge.

Edited December 30, 2011 by hehehoho

[ginjag]

Nisa,

Your reply to me, contradicting my post--as usual and most others with your style . Near always you have to bring up the USA and try to compare or stats without a real feeling here.

You said this was a tragedy, IT WAS for those left behind to struggle on regardless, and I did speak about that, but you skipped that in your answer, and implied that anyone not having your view were gangster-uninformed persons or words to that effect, your twists of things at times and omitting parts of positives in posts to make your post look well put NOT. these involved in this incident do NOT get sympathy from majority, that's fact whether you like the truth or not. It's sad really that this happened. Nisa I try to speak honestly about reality, and certainly do not post to try to impress other posters, or to put them down, nor am I here to favour Thai cause I'm here, or foreigners.

[transam]

I just remembered that retired police officer in Pattaya last year who went back to his old station in Pattaya with a meat cleaver and ended up closing the station. Will try to find a link.

Edit:

From Pattaya One newspaper:

Knife-wielding Retired Police Officer forces temporary closure of Pattaya Police Station

28th January 2010

PATTAYA: -- On Wednesday Night at Pattaya Police Station there was drama as a retired Police Officer forced the station to close for a time as he was threatening People with a meat cleaver. Retired Police Senior Sergeant Major Pairort who finished his career with the Marine Police, came to the station and demanded a meeting with Police Lieutenant Colonel Sutum, the Deputy Chief of Pattaya Police. The reason for the meet was not given by the retired officer who realized he would not be granted his wish and then produced a knife and made his way to the car park and claimed he would not back-down until he saw the senior officer. Eventually the other Deputy Police Chief, Police Lieutenant Colonel Chonapat arrived and ordered the man to place the knife on the ground. He complied and was led up to the cells to give him a chance to calm down. He was later released with no charge.

Probably upset that on retirement he was cut out of the tea money, poor chap.

[Oberkommando]

Last Friday night another ex-copper was arrested for firing a gun at random people in Bangkok. Three people injured including a tourist policeman.

http://www.tannetwor...?DataID=1051178

Ah - someone already beat me to it.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Oberkommando

[Nisa]

Nisa,

Your reply to me, contradicting my post--as usual and most others with your style . Near always you have to bring up the USA and try to compare or stats without a real feeling here.

You said this was a tragedy, IT WAS for those left behind to struggle on regardless, and I did speak about that, but you skipped that in your answer, and implied that anyone not having your view were gangster-uninformed persons or words to that effect, your twists of things at times and omitting parts of positives in posts to make your post look well put NOT. these involved in this incident do NOT get sympathy from majority, that's fact whether you like the truth or not. It's sad really that this happened. Nisa I try to speak honestly about reality, and certainly do not post to try to impress other posters, or to put them down, nor am I here to favour Thai cause I'm here, or foreigners.

If that is what you take away from my reply to you then you are being thin skinned and a bit insecure. You should also spend more time away from Thai Visa if you truly believe the majority of people see the murder of 6 people as tragic regardless if they are police ... they also don't try to find ways in their mind to believe they deserved to die or that they must be bad people because they were police.

[Nisa]

Last Friday night another ex-copper was arrested for firing a gun at random people in Bangkok. Three people injured including a tourist policeman.

http://www.tannetwor...?DataID=1051178

Ah - someone already beat me to it.

ex-cop because he was fired for testing positive during a drug test.

Why not mention the story yesterday with a police office shot protecting the public as well as police getting a number of dangerous people off the street in Bangkok? http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thief-gunned-down-officer-hurt-in-heist-30172890.html

6 officers murdered and people want to bash the police because they were killed by a cop. 6 to 1 but so many posters here choose to condemn an entire Thai group of people for the actions of a few ... nothing new.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Nisa

[waza]

Last Friday night another ex-copper was arrested for firing a gun at random people in Bangkok. Three people injured including a tourist policeman.

http://www.tannetwor...?DataID=1051178

Ah - someone already beat me to it.

ex-cop because he was fired for testing positive during a drug test.

its hard to believe that would be the grounds for dismissal in Thailand lol

[hehehoho]

Why not mention the story yesterday with a police office shot protecting the public

You mean he was doing his job by going to the scene of a robbery? As opposed to torturing, murdering, or extorting members of the public.

Wow, that actually is mentionable. Good find.

Edited December 30, 2011 by hehehoho

[hehehoho]

I just remembered that retired police officer in Pattaya last year who went back to his old station in Pattaya with a meat cleaver and ended up closing the station. Will try to find a link.

Edit:

From Pattaya One newspaper:

Knife-wielding Retired Police Officer forces temporary closure of Pattaya Police Station

28th January 2010

PATTAYA: -- On Wednesday Night at Pattaya Police Station there was drama as a retired Police Officer forced the station to close for a time as he was threatening People with a meat cleaver. Retired Police Senior Sergeant Major Pairort who finished his career with the Marine Police, came to the station and demanded a meeting with Police Lieutenant Colonel Sutum, the Deputy Chief of Pattaya Police. The reason for the meet was not given by the retired officer who realized he would not be granted his wish and then produced a knife and made his way to the car park and claimed he would not back-down until he saw the senior officer. Eventually the other Deputy Police Chief, Police Lieutenant Colonel Chonapat arrived and ordered the man to place the knife on the ground. He complied and was led up to the cells to give him a chance to calm down. He was later released with no charge.

Probably upset that on retirement he was cut out of the tea money, poor chap.

More than likely, but regardless of circumstance, the Royal Thai Police not so different than those in the West. Eh Nisa.

Anyone remember the six Western countries that officially complained about the 35 million baht Tsunami Donation money that the Royal Thai Police were left in charge of?

How much do you think went missing of the 35 million?

Only 30 million of it.

Of Charitable Donations for the Tsunami!

To be fair they were honest in their response, that corruption may have occured.

Edited December 30, 2011 by hehehoho

[Nisa]

I just remembered that retired police officer in Pattaya last year who went back to his old station in Pattaya with a meat cleaver and ended up closing the station. Will try to find a link.

Edit:

From Pattaya One newspaper:

Knife-wielding Retired Police Officer forces temporary closure of Pattaya Police Station

28th January 2010

PATTAYA: -- On Wednesday Night at Pattaya Police Station there was drama as a retired Police Officer forced the station to close for a time as he was threatening People with a meat cleaver. Retired Police Senior Sergeant Major Pairort who finished his career with the Marine Police, came to the station and demanded a meeting with Police Lieutenant Colonel Sutum, the Deputy Chief of Pattaya Police. The reason for the meet was not given by the retired officer who realized he would not be granted his wish and then produced a knife and made his way to the car park and claimed he would not back-down until he saw the senior officer. Eventually the other Deputy Police Chief, Police Lieutenant Colonel Chonapat arrived and ordered the man to place the knife on the ground. He complied and was led up to the cells to give him a chance to calm down. He was later released with no charge.

Probably upset that on retirement he was cut out of the tea money, poor chap.

More than likely, but regardless of circumstance, the Royal Thai Police not so different than those in the West. Eh Nisa.

Anyone remember the six Western countries that officially complained about the 35 million baht Tsunami Donation money that the Royal Thai Police were left in charge of?

How much do you think went missing of the 35 million?

Only 30 million of it.

Of Charitable Donations for the Tsunami!

To be fair they were honest in their response, that corruption may have occured.

Actually it was not missing money. It was about money being wasted. And it was not 30 of 35 million but about 60% of donations received. Having 40% of donations get to the proper place is actually not a bad ratio when it comes to charities. One of the most recognized and trusted charities is the American Red Cross whose CEO makes over $1,000,000 a year thanks to donations and whose organization paid severance of $1.5 Million to the person they hired to distribute 9/11 donations after it was discovered more than 1/2 the money was being spend inappropriately.

But anyway ... lets consider what Thai officials did with donations many years ago in deciding if 6 murdered people should be celebrated.

[Nisa]

Last Friday night another ex-copper was arrested for firing a gun at random people in Bangkok. Three people injured including a tourist policeman.

http://www.tannetwor...?DataID=1051178

Ah - someone already beat me to it.

ex-cop because he was fired for testing positive during a drug test.

its hard to believe that would be the grounds for dismissal in Thailand lol

Only hard to believe if you buy into the what the sad sacks posters here on Thai Visa who constantly whine and complain and go out of their way to find reasons to support their negative views.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Nisa

[wxyz]

why believe the official version as being murder suicide

maybe it was just murder and they are just saying it was murder suicide

or maybe staged to look like murder suicide

i did do a search and i do see their is a high suicide rate among the thai and even thai police

just saying, it may not be as reported, it seems things here seldom are

[hehehoho]

Actually it was not missing money. It was about money being wasted.

Incorrect.

Po. Col. Pornprasert was found guilty of misappropriation of funds.

Which began with the Ambassadors of Finland, Germany, the US, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and France officially writing to the Police Commissioner General requesting a full audit of accounts due to the amount being siphoned off by the Royal Thai Police.

One of the most recognized and trusted charities is the American Red Cross whose CEO makes over $1,000,000 a year thanks to donations and whose organization paid severance of $1.5 Million to the person they hired to distribute 9/11 donations after it was discovered more than 1/2 the money was being spend inappropriately.

What on Earth has the salary of an American charity's CEO got to do with the Royal Thai Police being found guilty of misappropriating millions and millions of baht that was donated to help with the Tsunami, which was being discussed as some people oddly don't think the Royal Thai Police are much different from the police in Western nations.

Edited December 31, 2011 by hehehoho

[Markaew]

It' s always a worry to see police sitting around drinking in a restaurants wearing guns in Thailand . Maybe there was one of the guys jealous of some of the promotions .

Actually, I have observed this with thai guys that get promotions or even are considered up on a hierarchic level. The one with the promotion will rub it in the face of the others. In jest or not, with a few drinks that could really piss off somebody with access to a gun. So your speculation deserves some merit.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I don't think anyone here, to use the word one of our familiar apologists used above, is "celebrating" the deaths of six people, whether they be Thai police or anyone else.

But in the case of Thai police, it's simply a reflection of what most people, Thai and farang alike, think of what overall is a group of largely corrupt, useless, self-serving SOBs.... That doesn't mean they deserved to die... Just means... won't find a lot of sympathy with many folks.