27-Year-Old English Teacher Reported Missing In Phuket

[moonbarman]

I just pray to god that i or my family never need the services of the Thai police for anything serious, fingers crossed.

[Jimi007]

If you've been here twenty years or more, if you have even a Thai family, job (off the 'reserved for Thais list), you are still a 'tourist' if you're white.

Only if you act like one.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

In a case like this The South African and certailnly the UK government MUST demand and want evidence a thorough investigation by the so called "law enforcement" of Thailand, Indeed The Uk government needs to act in the same way with advice to their citizens as the Chinese did recently when one of theirs was attacked badly in Chiang Mai. "warning against travel in a particular City". This is justified if a country's police does not show serious effort to tackle crimes against visitors. The only way this country is going to learn that falang are not to be treated differently, in fact should have even greater justice. I hope the family do not have to launch their own investigation , but sadly it is often neccessary for outsiders to do so,

RIP Young Mark Robson

I can't believe you really think this way. Why should foreigners get better treatment as victims of crime than the locals? The only possible answer might be because tourism is important to the economy, but that's just as cynical as going along with the reality that only important people (status as viewed by local chief of police) are treated differently.

Of course if a given victim has a rich family who cares enough to make it happen, the police can be paid enough to rig up a scenario that makes it appear that justice has been served, but that's about the best case scenario, and you won't get it for free.

Asking the foreign service of our home countries to apply pressure so we get special treatment is idiotic, what makes us so special? The fundamental problem of police incompetence and corruption won't go away. If you live here you need to accept that along with the risks that entails. Or go someplace with better police.

You live in a country where your life and treasure may be taken from you anytime without consequences. Bottom line is that it isn't the police's job to actually serve the public or some abstract concept of "justice". Their business is to take advantage of the law in order to make money, they are institutionalized mafia. You can try to improve your odds by being smart and not sticking your neck out, but you can't change the fundamental truth that this is a country where impunity rules, not the law.

[Fatherfluffybottom]

RIP Mark, too young.

[Baerboxer]

In a case like this The South African and certailnly the UK government MUST demand and want evidence a thorough investigation by the so called "law enforcement" of Thailand, Indeed The Uk government needs to act in the same way with advice to their citizens as the Chinese did recently when one of theirs was attacked badly in Chiang Mai. "warning against travel in a particular City". This is justified if a country's police does not show serious effort to tackle crimes against visitors. The only way this country is going to learn that falang are not to be treated differently, in fact should have even greater justice. I hope the family do not have to launch their own investigation , but sadly it is often neccessary for outsiders to do so,

RIP Young Mark Robson

I can't believe you really think this way. Why should foreigners get better treatment as victims of crime than the locals? The only possible answer might be because tourism is important to the economy, but that's just as cynical as going along with the reality that only important people (status as viewed by local chief of police) are treated differently.

Of course if a given victim has a rich family who cares enough to make it happen, the police can be paid enough to rig up a scenario that makes it appear that justice has been served, but that's about the best case scenario, and you won't get it for free.

Asking the foreign service of our home countries to apply pressure so we get special treatment is idiotic, what makes us so special? The fundamental problem of police incompetence and corruption won't go away. If you live here you need to accept that along with the risks that entails. Or go someplace with better police.

You live in a country where your life and treasure may be taken from you anytime without consequences. Bottom line is that it isn't the police's job to actually serve the public or some abstract concept of "justice". Their business is to take advantage of the law in order to make money, they are institutionalized mafia. You can try to improve your odds by being smart and not sticking your neck out, but you can't change the fundamental truth that this is a country where impunity rules, not the law.

Sadly, I think your comments are about right. There cannot be justice or democracy in a country with a corrupt police force, unwilling to impartially enforce the law and provide evidence to an impartial judiciary. I first came to Thailand 21 years ago, and thinks have probably got worse rather than better. Have to accept it or leave, because farangs ain't gonna change it!

[Felt 35]

Harsh and sad, but Thailand have exactly the country, the police force, the school system and the government that they want and deserve, and there are no single agency/department to blame. Each and every one of he Thai people are responsible for how their country are.

[Lite Beer]

Thai adventure ends in death on beach

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS: Mark Robson was found strangled on a beach in Phuket, Thailand.

Sameer Naik

He loved sport. He enjoyed attending the Durban July. He made people laugh with the jokes he cracked.

And to his older sister, Cathy, he was a friend who truly understood her.

And then on January 26, Mark Robson from KwaZulu-Natal was found strangled on a deserted beach in Phuket, Thailand.

His family did not learn of his fate until February 12.

It was devastating news to them. And the unanswered questions around his death haunt the Robson family.

“I miss him terribly,” a distraught Cathy said this week.

His memory, she said, would remain for ever engraved on her heart.

“He was a sweet, caring, sensitive, warm, loving person who always worried about me and protected me.”

The pieces in the puzzle have slowly been coming together.

Cathy’s parents, Keith and Merneen, were concerned when their son did not catch his scheduled flight to Taipei, Taiwan, early this month.

Mark, 27, was to have taken up a post as an English teacher at a school in Taipei.

According to his e-mails to his parents, he arrived in Phuket on December 5, then travelled alone to Koh Samui, Patong, Karon and Nai Yang.

The last time they heard from him was on January 15 when he wrote that he was in Nai Yang.

When there were no e-mails after that, the family began to worry.

They sought the help of a foreign volunteers group in Thailand in trying to locate their son.

A picture of Mark was sent to newspapers.

An editor who had also seen a picture of a man whose body had been found on Phuket’s Freedom Beach in January noted the resemblance between this man and Mark.

The Phuket News reported that the Robsons had confirmed the body in the photograph was their son’s, particularly after recognising his T-shirt.

Merneen expressed her grief on social networking site Facebook. She said the family were devastated.

“Our darling son Mark had been missing in Thailand and we were informed last night that his body had been found in Phuket,” she posted on her Facebook page.

“We had seen him over there for a few days while on holiday in January, but lost e-mail contact after January 15. We are absolutely devastated to have lost our very special boy.”

Then the tributes started pouring in.

Janine Beckley-Setzkorn, a colleague of Mark’s at Unilever, described him as a “very lovely guy”.

“I knew Mark in passing through the Unilever building. He was a lovely guy, with a gentle persona. He definitely did not deserve this. I am truly sad for him and the family. Condolences to all,” she said.

Another colleague at Unilever said: “Myself and Mark left for overseas at the same time and helped each other with leaving work. Had a few drinks and laughs with him too. Such a brilliant and friendly guy. You will be missed, this is terrible news.”

Robson matriculated from Hilton College in 2002 and completed degrees in marketing and law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg before joining Unilever. He left the company in September.

Cathy is feeling the loss of her brother deeply.

This week she painted a loving picture of him.

“He was fun-loving and very spiritual, and had such a great sense of humour,” she said.

“He was the kind of person who loved spending time with his friends and particularly enjoyed attending sports events like rugby, cricket, and the Durban July.”

The Robson family are battling to arrange for Mark’s remains repatriated to South Africa. They also face a struggle to find out who killed him and why and to have the killer or killers brought to justice.

http://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/thai-adventure-ends-in-death-on-beach-1.1238514