Labour Government’s Bold Claim to “honesty with voters” Has Unraveled Quickly

[blows]

It is now almost every day that we read such horrible attacks from Phuket and Pattaya about vicious guys who behave like wild animals (never girls) who beat up, rob and murder foreign tourists who bring in much needed cash! Thailand is already in the doldrums economically and financially. Instead of asking foreigners to report every 90 days to immigration, the Thai police should clean up their act and rid this "garbage" from places which are frequented by tourists, especially Phuket and Pattaya. There are other means to control foreigners if immigration feels they need to. It is to hope that foreigners start staying away from such unsafe places like Thailand is.

I for myself feel unsafe when I go cycling upcountry near my new home in the Isaan (due to my diabetics I must go cycling). My wife urges me every day again to stay close by our home, because she knows very well her young compatriots, especially those learning at technical colleges.

Obviously I have no idea what it is like where you live but, living on Phuket I have NEVER found myself in trouble.

Yes, I've been 'ripped off', but never been frightened that I might be attacked.

That is little comfort to the victims of these crimes that happen every day in Phuket, many of them appear here on thaivisa. Just because it is not happening to you does not mean it is not happening.

[fastphil]

This story sounds really dodgy to me:

A 19 year old girl, 5 months pregnant, out on her own at 1am in a strange foreign city while her boyfriend's back in the hotel with a friend, walks from Soi Bangla but can't find her way back to her hotel, walks down a small alley somewhere near the Tai Pan disco, approaches 4 ladyboys to ask directions and ends up getting mugged!

First I want to say the if this did happen then it is a terrible thing, there’s no condoning it and there is no blame to be laid on the girl, it’s also a very good thing that the girl and baby are both Ok!

Firstly I agree with many of the people here, she shouldn’t have been out alone at 1am – as someone has already mentioned, would you go out alone in a city in your own country and walk down a small alley at 1am, I certainly wouldn’t! And why would the boyfriend stay in the hotel and leave his pregnant 19 old girlfriend go out alone? Why didn't she have any money on her, do tourists usually go out in the evening without money? And what small alley did she walk down, Soi Bangla and the area near the Tai Pan nightclub are packed with people at 1am, if she wanted directions to her hotel why wouldn’t she ask one of the 1000’s “farrangs” that are around there at that time, also, it said in the article that her hotel wasn’t far from Bangla so why couldn't she find her way back (presumably being 5 months pregnant she wouldn’t have been drinking alcohol?) and the fact that neither the girl or the boyfriend would give their names to the reporter also seems strange! I’m sorry guys and gals but this story just doesn’t ring true to me, I apologize in advance if I’m proved wrong!

On a wider note; many postings here are bemoaning Patong, the crime, the Taxi mafia etc. I have never lived in Thailand but I have travelled there 35 times in the last 17 years, usually staying for a month at a time, I am a well seasoned traveller and I have visited many other countries (last count 29 countries spread all over the world) in my opinion Thailand is one of the best places to visit as a tourist, true, it’s not as good as it used to be, factors like the crime rate, rising prices, falling exchange rates and a local indifference to tourists all combine to make the tourist experience here not as good as it used to be, but I still think it’s better than a thousand other places, the land of smiles is still a special place to come to! As for Patong being worse than Pattaya, I have to disagree with that sentiment, Pattaya is still the sin central of Thailand although I have to concede that Patong is closing the gap!

[oldsailor35]

It is now almost every day that we read such horrible attacks from Phuket and Pattaya about vicious guys who behave like wild animals (never girls) who beat up, rob and murder foreign tourists who bring in much needed cash! Thailand is already in the doldrums economically and financially. Instead of asking foreigners to report every 90 days to immigration, the Thai police should clean up their act and rid this "garbage" from places which are frequented by tourists, especially Phuket and Pattaya. There are other means to control foreigners if immigration feels they need to. It is to hope that foreigners start staying away from such unsafe places like Thailand is.

I for myself feel unsafe when I go cycling upcountry near my new home in the Isaan (due to my diabetics I must go cycling). My wife urges me every day again to stay close by our home, because she knows very well her young compatriots, especially those learning at technical colleges.

Dario, i don't seem to have been reading much about vicious in Pattaya, there they appear to have the "Jump off tall buildings" game in the bag ! However vicious attacks and rip off appear to be the norm in Phuket.

No i do not live in Pattaya, but Samui is my home.

[oldsailor35]

Phuket is turning into a s**t hole. With all the corruption, violence, scammers...etc, it's a wonder why tourist go there. Why risk it?There are so many other beautiful places in Thailand to visit.

I wish the girl a speedy recovery.

Australian tourists go there because the aussie travel market is swamped with cheap package deal holidays directly into Phuket from major aussie cities.

[metisdead]

Inflammatory posts, nonsense posts and unwarranted speculation posts have been removed. Let's keep it civil and on topic.

[oldsailor35]

glad to hear the baby is alright but....

1. why go out at one in the morning into a dark alley in patong beach?

2. why wasn't the boyfriend with her?

when you're five months pregnant...

She found the hotel after the attack without directions I presume! Strange!!

Whats wrong with you ? she knew where the hotel was, she was asking for the main road. Whats strange about that !

[maidu]

Vicious bastards! Sounds like Phuket needs real clean up.

Exactly. The rats can do what ever they want when the cats are too corrupted to do their work.

I wouldn't doubt the same katoy are well known by local police, as cops have likely seen the same bunch in criminal activities earlier.Local cops are adverse to arresting katoy and the cops giggle and cringe when lady boys start yelling and screaming (if you doubt that, try hanging out for a couple nights at a Thai police station in a district rife with katoy). So those punks, who should have already been behind bars for prior offences, are out on the street doing their thing, time and time again. The cops will be too busy giggling and saying 'mai pen rai' - rather than doing what they're supposed to be doing.

[ydraw]

5 months pregnant is not a bloody invalid. People asking "what was she doing out" might well ask themselves what a fat 45 year old bloke was doing out past 10pm.

[Jimi007]

<deleted>! This story really steams me! I have a mind to fly down there and do a walk about. At 180 lb.'s and an accomplished brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I would love to tie these waste of a human life into ladyboy knots.

I hope the police get to them soon!

I think it's time I put my superhero outfit on again and clean that scum up!!!

I would love to see the two of you out trying to clean up the Soi Bangla area!

Edited February 23, 2012 by Jimi007

[morocco]

<deleted>! This story really steams me! I have a mind to fly down there and do a walk about. At 180 lb.'s and an accomplished brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I would love to tie these waste of a human life into ladyboy knots.

I hope the police get to them soon!

I think it's time I put my superhero outfit on again and clean that scum up!!!

I would love to see the two of you out trying to clean up the Soi Bagla area!

All fun and games until there are 8 or 10 lady boys scratching your eyes out and kicking the s**t out of you.lol

[Canexpat]

The tall, skinny, long haired ladyboy, with the protruding jaw is infamous in Patong for assaulting and robbing tourists with his gang of four or five thugs. He was at it back in 2009, when I was there. My Australian friend was closelined then assaulted by him as he drove through an alley on his scooter after leaving Tai Pan. Fortunately for my Aussie friend Garth (not his real name), he feigned to be more injured than he actually was, and as "Jaws" approached, Garth layed him out with an uppercut knocking him out and quickly drove off.

To those of us aquainted with Phuket, Pattaya has nothing on Patong when it comes to being assaulted and robbed by ladyboys and tuk tuk drivers.

My regards to Bonnie and her daughter. I hope she has more luck with catching her assaulter than most people do when involving the corrupt and ineffectual police force of Patong.

My advice to anyone who is assaulted in Patong, if you do go to police there and are hoping for justice especially in an assault case involving a tuk-tuk driver, "Get out of Thailand as soon as you can after involving the police, before they confiscate your passport and hold you prisoner until your day in court arrives." Especially if you're hospitalized due to your assault, and the police have caught your attacker.

[KeyserSoze01]

This sort of attack will continue until someone is killed in one of these incidents. At which point, I hope that foreign governments impose a travel warning to Phuket and Pattaya, citing safety issues due to the lack of rule of law. In fact, we all know that the BiB are more than complicit in these acts, they profit from them as well. Perhaps not the case cited in the OP as the aussie girl had no money at the time of the attack.

The police in Patong are worse than the jet ski scum and tuk tuk mafia. IF you approach them to investigate a crime committed against you, the first they want is baht before they will lift a finger.

[ReeceArnold]

In anycase, just clean up the trevors (ladyboys), that would be such a wonderful thing . . . imagine a Thai tourist venue without these horrible scum. Then the jetski crowd, the taxis and tuktuk mafia, the police mafia and include the immigration crew, what a task; pop ur hand up if you can sort this for us please. We'd be able to arrange a bonus payout in a little white envelope, if you could also include the pimps and drug dealers and corupt polititions, etc, . . .

[scotsdude]

Doesn't matter where you are in Thailand... They don't f*****g like us!!! End of!!

[morocco]

Doesn't matter where you are in Thailand... They don't f*****g like us!!! End of!!

You don't know what you are talking about. Or it's just you and your kind they don't like! Edited February 23, 2012 by morocco

[HaleySabai]

What a F*#K-hole Phuket has become. My niece and her husband are planning a trip in Dec. to visit me in CM and then want to head for the beach.... no freaking way I will sent them to such an ugly place.

We don't even holiday in the south anymore,taking advantage of cheap tickets to Bali instead.

[PoodMaiDai]

I think the boyfriend has some responsibility for what happened. I would not let my 5 month pregnant girlfriend out alone at that time of night any where in the world and especially a place like Phuket where there are many dangers for a woman alone.

Considering Thailand and all travel agents sell Phuket as paradise on earth where the Thai people are all friendly, full of smiles, all welcoming you into their home for food, there is no reason for anyone who doesn't live here to know otherwise.

Haven't you seen the advertisements?

Amazing Thailand.... once in a lifetime.

And honestly, 4 ladyboys (probably drug addicts) beating up a girl sounds exactly like something that would happen in Phuket or Pattaya.

[blows]

'once in a lifetime.' Is exactly the problem, your life may end there. It should say 'Once to too much'.

[morocco]

I think the boyfriend has some responsibility for what happened. I would not let my 5 month pregnant girlfriend out alone at that time of night any where in the world and especially a place like Phuket where there are many dangers for a woman alone.

Considering Thailand and all travel agents sell Phuket as paradise on earth where the Thai people are all friendly, full of smiles, all welcoming you into their home for food, there is no reason for anyone who doesn't live here to know otherwise.

Haven't you seen the advertisements?

Amazing Thailand.... once in a lifetime.

And honestly, 4 ladyboys (probably drug addicts) beating up a girl sounds exactly like something that would happen in Phuket or Pattaya.

I am not so sure your right about Pattaya.Have been there many times and have not really heard much about ladyboys attacking tourists. But Phuket is a whole different story. Have been there many times as well and have heard numerus stories about the ladyboys there. Edited February 23, 2012 by morocco

[PoodMaiDai]

What a F*#K-hole Phuket has become. My niece and her husband are planning a trip in Dec. to visit me in CM and then want to head for the beach.... no freaking way I will sent them to such an ugly place.

We don't even holiday in the south anymore,taking advantage of cheap tickets to Bali instead.

Who has cheap Bali flights from Chaing Mai?

[PoodMaiDai]

I think the boyfriend has some responsibility for what happened. I would not let my 5 month pregnant girlfriend out alone at that time of night any where in the world and especially a place like Phuket where there are many dangers for a woman alone.

Considering Thailand and all travel agents sell Phuket as paradise on earth where the Thai people are all friendly, full of smiles, all welcoming you into their home for food, there is no reason for anyone who doesn't live here to know otherwise.

Haven't you seen the advertisements?

Amazing Thailand.... once in a lifetime.

And honestly, 4 ladyboys (probably drug addicts) beating up a girl sounds exactly like something that would happen in Phuket or Pattaya.

I am not so sure your right about Pattaya.Have been there many times and have not really heard much about ladyboys attacking tourists. But Phuket is a whole different story. Have been there many times as well and have heard numerus stories about the ladyboys there.

Go read some of the news on the pattaya sites. Ladyboys are always causing problems to tourists in Pattaya.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

glad to hear the baby is alright but....

1. why go out at one in the morning into a dark alley in patong beach?

2. why wasn't the boyfriend with her?

when you're five months pregnant...

Both the paper and you should be ashamed for implying she's at fault for walking alone at night in an upscale resort area. Same kind of people that say beautiful young girls shouldn't dress like sluts if they want to avoid being raped.

What does being pregnant have to do with anything either? No one's implied she was getting drunk or doing drugs, are you condemning her for being out late that that's bad for the baby?

It's obviously who the primary perpetrators are and I hope they do get properly brought to justice, even if informally, but the police share a lot of the blame for being so ineffective at their theoretical mission, as everyone knows they're much more concerned with their criminal corruption activities.

And the foreign embassies should also be much more outspoken in protecting their citizens by warning them very publicly that Phuket is just as scummy and dangerous as Pattaya, and in fact there are many things to be wary about when visiting any touristy areas, and even Thailand as a whole.

[thongsuknork]

get well soon

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I have been at the raw end of a teenage verbal attack in Australia,they can be iittle bitches with foul mouths at times, just cause i parked in a parking space they said belonged to them, f**** stupid C**** with your slanty eyed slut,hmmm, i think that was the jist of it, i didn't beat the shit out of them, though seriously tempted to retaliate and no,none were pregnant,i just copped the abuse.....so we never really know...do we?

Pregnant or not, verbal abuse never justifies physical assault. Sticks and stones etc.

[scotsdude]

Doesn't matter where you are in Thailand... They don't f*****g like us!!! End of!!

You don't know what you are talking about. Or it's just you and your kind they don't like!

What is our kind? Enlighten me...

[theanimaster]

I'm trying to do my share -- our AFS students asked about Phuket. I told them don't bother. I told them what a shithole it is and to stay clear away from the place. Go to Krabi instead. I feel so embarrased and sorry that I actually recommended Phuket to my mom last year (idiot I am). Until recently I was always getting Pattaya mixed up with Phuket!! But from then on I've started my own personal campaign to boycott Phuket. Just hope the scum don't spread to other places. Wishful thinking?

[yellow1red1]

glad to hear the baby is alright but....

1. why go out at one in the morning into a dark alley in patong beach?

2. why wasn't the boyfriend with her?

when you're five months pregnant...

True, this won't be the last attack to tourist, the Hotel must post warnings about travel alone at night, some very easy basic Mua Thai defensive moves for ladies... best place to post this is in elevator or ladies bathroom. Also leave valuables in Hotel safe, one where you have a double key to open safe, and the security boxes are in full view of CCTV.

Learn Mua Thai basics for ladies ... a 1/2 days training would be with you any where in the world!!!...here in Pattaya, FairTex Sports club offers defensive training for European women, I see novelist women gain confidence and know this is the best insurance for defence and opens doors for further physical conditioning, this would inspire a NEW opportunity for Thai's to seek employment in the tourist industry.

kidding??? 1/2 day and pregnant teen could wallop 4 men in a dark alley? does FT Sports Club know you're making them look foolish? or do you own it?

[morocco]

Doesn't matter where you are in Thailand... They don't f*****g like us!!! End of!!

You don't know what you are talking about. Or it's just you and your kind they don't like!

What is our kind? Enlighten me...

I have a bunch of great Thai friends.I've heard your comment from other farangs before.These guys don't understand Thai people or their culture.They don't even try.They think they are above Thai people.And the Thais know this,so of course they have no respect for these type of farangs.I've seen the same thing in other countries as well.Maybe you just had a bad experience and are generalizing?

[blows]

Doesn't matter where you are in Thailand... They don't f*****g like us!!! End of!!

You don't know what you are talking about. Or it's just you and your kind they don't like!

What is our kind? Enlighten me...

I have a bunch of great Thai friends.I've heard your comment from other farangs before.These guys don't understand Thai people or their culture.They don't even try.They think they are above Thai people.And the Thais know this,so of course they have no respect for these type of farangs.I've seen the same thing in other countries as well.Maybe you just had a bad experience and are generalizing?

Sounds like you just confirmed his post. 'They don't f*****g like us!!!'

[IsaanUSA]

3 men attacking and sexually assaulting a pregnant teenager.

Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. I'm glad the fetus/baby seems to be okay.