Foreigner Assaulted At Bangkok BTS Station By Security Guard - Police Launch Investigation

[jonclark]

It saddens me to see so many people making a mountain out of a molehill. What is clear is that many of the posts here reflect a high level of racial dislike. Rather then making this a 'them vs us' or 'us vs them' thread fest, how about a bit of common sense and reflection so we stop de-humanizing each other with petty, nasty comments Both parties were probably in hindsight equally to blame and I'm sure they could both have handled the situation better. The fact they were both born in different countries is irrelevent

[Gaccha]

00:46 Guard holds farang with bloodied eye

00:48 Guard releases farang from grip

00:50 Guard grabs again

00:53 Guard hat knocked off

1:09 Guard puts hat on. Guard still not holding baton

1:28 Farang pushes into Guard

At no point on camera does guard doing anything except attempt to grip with one arm the farang. The farang does not target any one individual and shows no sense of injustice towards the one guard. From this video, the only reasonable conclusion is the farang is acting hot-headed and knows it.

[whybother]

How hard is to understand that bashing someone in the head with a metal detector is not the appropriate response? It is assault. He wasn't near the train. He hadn't even gone through the ticket turnstile yet. This isnt how things should be dealt with

And according to the other thread, the guard said it was ok to take balloons on the train, just not all of them.

Anyway they seem to have this on CCTV, and given that they are compensating him, they probably know that this is assault and are trying to calm things over.

An appropriate response to what? Does anyone know what happened prior to him being hit?

Given how he pushed through the guards to get up to the platform, it's a surprise he wasn't hit again.

[Kilvinski]

did the balloons survive?

[DiamondKing]

This stuff would not have happened if the man hadn't been drinking alcohol. I know its an assumption; but, after looking at the video, it appears the guy is loaded and in typical alcoholic form.

I wonder how this gentleman will get through Swampy immigration. They should open up a bar so people can pass the time while standing in line at immigration. Then we could see more of this type of behaviour on youtube.

DUDE he was just hit over the head with a baton I think anyone might be staggering after that happening to them, drinking has nothing to do with it

DK

[scorpio]

No one knows what really happened so we cannot correctly comment, it looked like a bad assult and maybe totally uncalled for that amount of force, on the other hand if the foreigner was told to not board with ballons then he should have listened and respected their decision. It was his child i really felt sorry for and both men should have had more sense than to let a child see this happen. Both should be dealt with, security guard fired and farang fined or banned from sky train. ! Simple as that. !

[takatukaland]

From what I saw of the video and read elsewhere, it's the guys own fault. He tried to do something that isn't allowed, got abusive, and got what was to be expected when you get abusive with security/police.

Yeah it was sort of my take on it too. Aren't these trains packed enough? Surely balloons won't help........

The security guard may have been quick with the baton (although we didn't see that) but it is supreme arrogance to ignore the rules.

Who was arrogant?they let him in before with ballons,then i would argue with them too,and if i get hit by a baton i'm pissed nothing to do with arrogant

[newsweird]

Sounds like it was excessive force on a farang who didn't want to follow the rules. They should have just called the police if they were that hard up about not letting the guy on the train with the balloons. Give him a ticket not bash his skull .. <deleted>

I did not see the guard hit the farang but did see the farang hit at the guard @ :49 seconds in the video and then clearly see the farang kick the guard in the stomach @ 1:50 of the video and continued to disregard rules. Rules are Rules take a taxi. I feel sorry for the child that had to go through that. Bad judgment call on the dad no matter how you slice it.

[MartinBKK]

I'd be pretty upset after I'd been hit on the head, especially in front of my daughter.

Possible scenario:

Guard: Hey! You! No! Man: what?

G: You! No! M: <deleted>?

*uses baton and then the video starts*

The man was clearly out of order but how would you feel when you had just been clubbed on the head?

Maybe he was out of order BEFORE he got clubbed.

Yes, and maybe he had already been whacked by the guard a few times. We just don't know the facts unfortunately and likely never will.

[FOODLOVER]

Didn't the foreigner get off one train to be denied entry to another? If true why did this guard choose this issue and not the others? If they have batons as stated previously why would he use a metal detector to inflict injury? Is the foreigner outraged and out of control?, Yes, he was just hit in the head with a metal detector in front of his family!

[whybother]

Who was arrogant?they let him in before with ballons,then i would argue with them too,and if i get hit by a baton i'm pissed nothing to do with arrogant

Just because one person doesn't do their job properly, doesn't mean that everyone shouldn't.

If the rules are that he isn't allowed to take balloons on the train, then the guard that let him the first time should be fired.

The guard was doing his job. The farang was pushing through him to try to get to the train. Should the guard let anyone through that wants to push through them?

[gerger]

a great ad for family friendly thailand NOT

[whybother]

Didn't the foreigner get off one train to be denied entry to another? If true why did this guard choose this issue and not the others? If they have batons as stated previously why would he use a metal detector to inflict injury? Is the foreigner outraged and out of control?, Yes, he was just hit in the head with a metal detector in front of his family!

It would have been a different guard that let him on to the train (if that happened). This guard was choosing to follow the rules.

If it got so far as the farang being hit on the head, why did he bother trying to get on the train? Shouldn't it be clear that he wasn't allowed to get on?

Edited March 22, 2012 by whybother

[charliebru]

Looks like he got what he had coming. No way to behave and reflects badly on all of us farangs. Hope Thais can send him back where he came from.

[astanhope]

So the guy from Right Said Fred, now middle-aged, takes a Thai wife and travels with her, their daughter and some sort of a doppelgänger or decoy, carrying an outrageous inflatable phallus and runs into some trouble at the BTS station...

I must confess that I found the video fascinating.

Edited March 22, 2012 by astanhope

[Nisa]

I can only hope this farang spends some time in a Thai jail to help him learn some respect for authority in a foreign country. Based on this video he is a clear embarrassment to westerners who respect and appreciate being here. This guy was a disturbance well before he fought with the authorities and clearly why somebody started video taping this moron who clearly shouldn't be allowed to use public transportation until he can show he can do it without incident as the many many other millions of people do here.

[toenail]

I would bet a spicy papaya salad that the farang dude didn't know about not showing anger or worse yet, saying something insulting which sets off a Thai smile into a raging madman. A cultural misunderstanding. They are both guilty.

[marquis22]

It gives a whole new meaning to going clubbing in Bangkok!

On a serious note, it does worry me on the level of gratuitous violence that I am now reading about by Thais on farangs.

Well only you and that idiot have anything to worry about from Thai enforcement officers just doing their job if you go 'off your block' at them!

[Maestro]

I have deleted an off-topic post speculating about the foreigners' nationality and profession and the replies to it.

[Nisa]

If this was the US, the guy would still be feeling the effects of the stun guns and pepper spray if not still recuperating in the in the hospital from injuries while handcuffed to a jail bed .

[newsweird]

Cool This must be the New Tourism Promotion Video

Disney Land Ad spot for coming home with balloons. I love this commercial.

Fun for the whole family Slogan.

"You'll Love Thailand or we will bash your head in" Scaring children for life.

[moskito]

Nothing really new here, Give a Thai an uniform and he is growing two meters.... I just had yesterday an argument again with our nice VILLA MARKET Security guy at HOMEPRO in Chalong, Phuket..... Was the second time he was yelling at me because I want park on an empty car parking lot...the whole carpark was empty, motobike parkingsspace was full.... He is so agressive its rediculous they let a guy like him work there.....all the other guards there are nice ppl and complained similar....

[newsweird]

If this was the US, the guy would still be feeling the effects of the stun guns and pepper spray if not still recuperating in the in the hospital from injuries while handcuffed to a jail bed .

Question is - If Thailand wants to promote tourism and push for a Disney Land. How would tourist get there? BTS? Will they take everything away from the kids before going home? .... "forget I asked that, of coarse they would to resell to next family" The main thing is all need to get on the same page in regard to tourism and decide as a nation which orifice it wants to speak from.

[midasthailand]

Seems to me that several respondents to this thread must have been there at the BTS station. One guy claims he was hit with a metal detector and another says he was hit with a baton. Since neither a metal detector or baton are in evidence in the video I can only assume these people were in attendance.

Notwithstanding the above, it looks to me like he and his friend had indulged in one sherbet too many and the woman needs some parenting lessons, take the child up to the platform and wait for daddy at home.

Nobody is above the law and if a BTS security guard makes a suggestion regarding the balloons then take that on board and either lose the balloons or go get a taxi.....either way, no confrontation and no loss of face for anybody concerned.

An earlier post suggested that he may have injured his head when he bent down to pick up whatever had been dropped.

Why was he carrying everything?

[TheWalkingMan]

Thailand, the land of blood and smiles.

[JO1973]

It gives a whole new meaning to going clubbing in Bangkok!

On a serious note, it does worry me on the level of gratuitous violence that I am now reading about by Thais on farangs.

I've lived in Southeast Asia for close to ten years in several different countries and I've never seen the level of acceptable violence shown towards foreigners in other countries as I have here. The biggest problem is that Thais seem to believe that they are allowed -- even have the right -- to commit violence against others because they will not be prosecuted for any crime. And when police do show up it will be the foreigner in trouble.

This sense of immunity is certainly a big factor -- maybe the biggest factor. I'm willing to bet that if anything does happen to the security guard it will be a transfer to another station for a little bit -- if that.

Sooner or later there's going to be some Thais that get beaten badly for something which they started and it will be on camera. Unfortunately many locals will probably blame the 'bad foreigners' for defending themselves, but many people watch the way Thailand is turning and it already is negatively affecting the country. Let's face it, can a country really have on and off-again coups and political riots and still call itself a peaceful and safe place?

[whybother]

Im feeling a sense of deja vu.

Didnt this entire discussion and thread happen just twenty four hours ago, admittedly by a completely different set of posters?

Was there any other information on there about what happened prior to this video?

[wavedalker]

I know the people involved, heard about it when it happened & they have seen the CCTV footage which shows the whole episode, started by the guard hitting him with his metal detector, hence the cut eye at the start of the youtube clip.

The person who took the video also does explain that her clip is only the final 2 minutes of the whole episode, which she started to record because she thought the foreigners were being treated unfairly. This is stated on the Andrew Drummond website I beleive.

Far too many posts implying & suggesting things that are very wide of the mark.

Policeman they spoke to at the time said he wasn't going to arrest any Thais, so the farangs had better go home!

The people involved wish it hadn't got this far, but that is the power of video media online these days!

[2000]

None of us who weren’t there knows the whole story, and no point to speculate. I’m however pleased to see a guard that try to implement the safety rules. Too often nobody cares about safety in this country.

On another occasion I saw BTS security guards taking very good care of a farang that fainted on the platform, assisting him very professionally. Seems they have good training.

[whybother]

I know the people involved, heard about it when it happened & they have seen the CCTV footage which shows the whole episode, started by the guard hitting him with his metal detector, hence the cut eye at the start of the youtube clip.

The person who took the video also does explain that her clip is only the final 2 minutes of the whole episode, which she started to record because she thought the foreigners were being treated unfairly. This is stated on the Andrew Drummond website I beleive.

Far too many posts implying & suggesting things that are very wide of the mark.

Policeman they spoke to at the time said he wasn't going to arrest any Thais, so the farangs had better go home!

The people involved wish it hadn't got this far, but that is the power of video media online these days!

It "started" with the guard hitting him with his metal detector??

Surely there was something before that.