Man Shot, Dumped, Left For Dead - But Survives In Phuket

[Lite Beer]

Man shot, dumped, left for dead - but survives in Phuket

Phuket Gazette –

The entrance to the emergency room at Vachira Phuket Hospital, the island’s busiest medical facility.

PHUKET: A young Cambodian man who was shot in the chest and claims to have been tossed into the ocean afterwards, is being treated at Vachira Phuket Hospital.

Doctors are unable to identify him or contact family members due to a language barrier.

A source visiting the hospital yesterday told the Phuket Gazette that the the man was a 23-year-old fisherman, and was shot aboard a fishing trawler before being thrown into the sea, where he was left to die.

However, staff at the hospital have been unable to confirm the story.

Methavee Maneesri, who works in the hospital’s international division, looked into the man’s case at the Gazette’s request.

All that is known about the man is that he is 23 years old and has a bullet lodged in his chest, she said.

“We think he was shot by someone he knew during a drinking session,” Ms Maneesri said.

As a government hospital, the facility divides foreign patients into four classes: tourists, registered guest workers with insurance, retirees and illegal aliens, she explained.

We are duty-bound to treat critically-ill people in all four groups, she said, addressing the concern that the man had been denied treatment due to his lack of identification or inability to pay.

We gave the man a CT scan to pinpoint the location of the bullet in his lungs and drained blood from his pleural cavity because he was suffering from hemothorax, she said.

The treatment was effective and he is now able to breathe and eat on his own, but he has trouble speaking and none of the staff at the hospital understand Khmer, she explained

As for who shot the man and other details leading up to his arrival at the hospital, she said that was a matter for the police.

Ms Methawee described the case as “very normal”.

“We get cases like this every day here,” she said.

Now that the man has been treated, staff at the hospital hope family members or friends will arrive to assist him.

As for further surgery to remove the bullet still lodged in his lung, she said doctors had yet to make a decision.

Sometimes such operations are too risky, so it is safer just to let the bullet remain in place and hope the wound heals around it, said Ms Methawee.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle12125.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-01-26

[thaiIand]

they know an awful lot even though nobody understands a single word

[MJo]

Plausible, seen the documentaries of the slave ships operating in Thai waters keeping these guys working without pay and dumping those overboard who don't obey or are not able to work due sickness or injuries.

Hope the lad survives.

[bulmercke]

Young and fairly gullible men coming to Bangkok for the first time from the provinces are targetted at the main terminals and lured with flase promises into this slavery. Often with no escape from the boats for months or years at a time.

[scorecard]

they know an awful lot even though nobody understands a single word

And not one person at the hospital can understand khmer. Difficult to believe, there must be many Thais from the North East working in Phuket who could provide a few mnutes to help with some translation.

[bunta71]

I question the validity of the idea that it is too dangerous to extract the bullet. Sounds like a greed issue to me. I have friends here from Sisaket. They speak some cambodian dialects and live near the border. Probably thousands here in Phuket that can translate...

[thaiIand]

why translate when the reporting implies that they know the story through magic

[stevenl]

That story is not really complicated: drinking, shot and tosed overboard. Anybody can make that clear, sign language will do.

[Jimjim]

They can't find any Cambodian translators in all of Phuket? Really?

[anterian]

I question the validity of the idea that it is too dangerous to extract the bullet. Sounds like a greed issue to me. I have friends here from Sisaket. They speak some cambodian dialects and live near the border. Probably thousands here in Phuket that can translate...

Depending upon exactly where it is lodged it is indeed sometimes safer to leave it there,

[BigJohnnyBKK]

And not one person at the hospital can understand khmer. Difficult to believe, there must be many Thais from the North East working in Phuket who could provide a few mnutes to help with some translation.

Although the Khmer dialect spoken by **some** residents of Buriram/Surin/Sisaket is similar to that of the nearby Cambodian provinces, it is very different from the dominant PP language taught in schools there, and just as in Thailand, there are hundreds of local dialects, some of which have very little to do with any others linguistically.

My ex-wife was Khmer Surin, and was unable to communicate with locals once we passed Battambang.

[ExpatOilWorker]

We should find a copy of The Bourne Identity with Khmer subtitles and send to this guy. I think he will enjoy the beginning of the movie a lot.

Edited January 27, 2012 by ExpatOilWorker

[belg]

funny how they don't speak the language but a nurse can deduct if was during a drinking session, lol

[rotary]

Somehow I think there is a much larger story here that even the victim does not want to speak about even if he could

[Payboy]

As a government hospital, the facility divides foreign patients into four classes: tourists, registered guest workers with insurance, retirees and illegal aliens, she explained.

We are duty-bound to treat critically-ill people in all four groups, she said

Jeez, it would be really awful to be in the 5th group.

[moonbarman]

why translate when the reporting implies that they know the story through magic

Quite obviously a failed suicide attempt, he forgot to jump off the balcony at the hospital though.