Australian Stabbed In Heart In Thai Bag-Snatch Tragedy

[David48]

This Morning I wrote ...

Sadness ... I feel sadness.

For her Family, her friends, her work colleagues, for the loss of Tourism which will result because they are 10 9 Travel Agents.

Also sadness for the Thai population for whom this low-life have bought disrespect to.

I have options to travel home to Australia through Phuket, but decline because of ongoing incidents like this and a general feeling that some institutions are, on Phuket, a law unto themselves.

Sadness ...

Not the sort of 'robust' comments for the General Forum ... but this particular death touches a nerve in Australian Society.

[crobe]

its time to stop the corny remarks about the police force .... its no longer a joke .....i cannot understand why a country such as australia does not slap a travel ban on this place immediately ...the phuket police are nothing but tea money collectors , they see tourists purely as a source of income .... until corruption is dealt with we will live in a lawless society ... so time to bail , tell your friends , colleagues , business associates stay away ....go to Myanamar ....

If I am reading your post correctly ... you want the Australian Government to 'slap a ban' of Phuket or on Thailand?

Phuket maybe be difficult to do because it's not a Nation.

The whole of Thailand is not Phuket.

Governments can, and frequently do, slap travel warnings and advisories on countries and various parts of countries that they consider not safe.

Usually this is because of a major threat such as civil war or major civil disturbance, but in these cases they withdraw all government personnel, including consular services, advise their citizens to leave the area immediately and issue the warning against all unnecessary travel to the affected area.

In such cases travel agencies, cruises etc have to also avoid the area as they may be held liable.

Now I am not suggesting that Australia should go to such an extreme measure, but the threat of such an action of other incidents occurred is a powerful economic weapon, especially in tourist dependent areas.

As for the Australian travel agencies selling holidays to Phuket - if they cannot guarantee the safety of one of their own, how can they guarantee it to their customers - it will be interesting to know if greed overcomes prudence.

Crobe

[TomTao]

RIP the poor lady who died as a result of this cowardly attack, they two ladies who were attacked were part of a group of travel agents from a prominent travel agency in Perth, great advertising for family freindly Phuket, this sj=hould help bring the agency to recomend Phuket to all their customers, NOT.

[pipo1000]

Wonder if Colonel Sermphan will come out again with his statement this time,as he did in the false rape claim.( coincidental also by an Australian)

Col Sermphan expressed his concern that this “false report” had already damaged Phuket’s tourism image.

http://www.thaivisa....t/#entry5392484

[cdmtdm]

its time to stop the corny remarks about the police force .... its no longer a joke .....i cannot understand why a country such as australia does not slap a travel ban on this place immediately ...the phuket police are nothing but tea money collectors , they see tourists purely as a source of income .... until corruption is dealt with we will live in a lawless society ... so time to bail , tell your friends , colleagues , business associates stay away ....go to Myanamar ....

If I am reading your post correctly ... you want the Australian Government to 'slap a ban' of Phuket or on Thailand?

Phuket maybe be difficult to do because it's not a Nation.

The whole of Thailand is not Phuket.

they can place a ban a travel warning and emphasis the the cities to stay away from , such as bali did , bangkok etc ....the crime in phuket is out of control , the sad thing is farangs are beginning to accept it as normal ...my point is this, until the govt"s of other countries get serious about protecting their own citizens abroad ..the murders , rapes , bashings , robberies ,traffic accidents will only get worse ...

[crobe]

We were discussing this incident this morning in another area here and all the comments were directed to the support of the victim.

There are times and places to vilify Phuket and all that has tragically gone wrong there ... but maybe not this time, not this day and not this thread.

Stop talking rubbish.

There is no-one on here that does not feel sympathy for the victims, and in so doing are right to highlight their own personal opinions regarding the safety or otherwise of Phuket which is the topic of the thread.

Stop trying to censor people or stopping them from their right to free speech on this board, of you don't like it - find another board.

Crobe

[Arkady]

Terrible tragedy indeed ... nobody should die in that way ..if the police were less busy trying to get money from corruption they would perhaps be more visible to those criminals, I never seen any police patrol in those very touristic areas.. I might be wrong of course .Well Thailand is not safe anymore that for sure.

It's never been safe. This type of murder has been occurring in Phuket and other tourist areas for decades, in fact ever since tourists started coming. When there were only backpacker bungalows on the beaches of Phuket, backpackers were regularly attacked and shot dead or knifed, even in broad daylight, sometimes in their hotel rooms. The police made a bit more effort in those days and also had the "communist" bandits to deal with in Phuket and the South as well as the Muslim insurgents. Now, as you say, they are only interested in corruption. They have to pay handsomely for transfers and promotions to these lucrative tourist areas and then have to pay a fixed monthly rental payment to stay in the job. Obviously they are there to rake in as much as they can.

[monty1412]

its time to stop the corny remarks about the police force .... its no longer a joke .....i cannot understand why a country such as australia does not slap a travel ban on this place immediately ...the phuket police are nothing but tea money collectors , they see tourists purely as a source of income .... until corruption is dealt with we will live in a lawless society ... so time to bail , tell your friends , colleagues , business associates stay away ....go to Myanamar ....

If I am reading your post correctly ... you want the Australian Government to 'slap a ban' of Phuket or on Thailand?

Phuket maybe be difficult to do because it's not a Nation.

The whole of Thailand is not Phuket.

You are tecnically correct but nothing to stop a travel advisory warning re Phuket itself

[johnlandy]

"popular holiday island of Phuket"

How long before the world at large understands and realises what sort of scum prey on tourists (all farang) here in the realm. It's probably safer in Somalia

And the average 'local Joe' thinks that the world is full of cretins who are fair game as soon they set down at the airport.

[soundman]

Absolutely terrible.

RIP to the deceased.

[tommyuk]

oh man, this is not cool,with all the talk about saving face in this country, where's the face in a cowardly act like this? it may not have been Thais, but they were men in Thailand, what the hell is going on here? forget jetski's and scams,this is the stuff tourists are really scared of, being attacked and killed while taking a pleasant walk...dam_n it, after Phi Phi, this one could seal their fate...RIP and condolences to families.

I wholly agree!

This is the lowest of the low me thinking it was always Tuk Tuk drivers/Jet Ski scammers that destroyed the holiday industry. These scum pale into significance with motorcycle robbers, whom are usually drug addicts and stop at nothing to terrorize tourists to steal their belongings and money - even resorting to MURDER. The time has come for somebody to put a stop to ALL this, its no longer happening on the odd occasion. No use some mouthy ex-pat comments saying 'what happens back home'. This is where tourists come to have nice pleasant holiday to get away from their home country to relax and meet Thai culture, not coming here to be brutalized, raped,scammed, assaulted or mutilated. If the Australians just standby and let another of their citizens on vocation be taken out or whatever - its a DISGRACE. Time has come to forget about saving face in the LOS and think about human life which is by far more important.

Sickened

TommyUK

[NoshowJones]

Terrible tragedy indeed ... nobody should die in that way ..if the police were less busy trying to get money from corruption they would perhaps be more visible to those criminals, I never seen any police patrol in those very touristic areas.. I might be wrong of course .Well Thailand is not safe anymore that for sure.

I still think Thailand is one of the safest countries in the world, every country has bad bastards like the two involved in this tragedy, but I feel much safer in Bangkok or even Pattaya than I do in Glasgow, or would feel in any city in the UK.

[NoshowJones]

its time to stop the corny remarks about the police force .... its no longer a joke .....i cannot understand why a country such as australia does not slap a travel ban on this place immediately ...the phuket police are nothing but tea money collectors , they see tourists purely as a source of income .... until corruption is dealt with we will live in a lawless society ... so time to bail , tell your friends , colleagues , business associates stay away ....go to Myanamar ....

If I am reading your post correctly ... you want the Australian Government to 'slap a ban' of Phuket or on Thailand?

Phuket maybe be difficult to do because it's not a Nation.

The whole of Thailand is not Phuket.

You make a good point David48.

[cdmtdm]

Terrible tragedy indeed ... nobody should die in that way ..if the police were less busy trying to get money from corruption they would perhaps be more visible to those criminals, I never seen any police patrol in those very touristic areas.. I might be wrong of course .Well Thailand is not safe anymore that for sure.

I still think Thailand is one of the safest countries in the world, every country has bad bastards like the two involved in this tragedy, but I feel much safer in Bangkok or even Pattaya than I do in Glasgow, or would feel in any city in the UK.

try your luck in Phuket i think that will change your mind about the level of safety ....

[monty1412]

RIP Dear lady, this should not have happened and can never be reconciled.

Condolences to family and friends

kata noi has always been regarded as a bit quieter and less risky than patong. Phuket continues its slide downwards and continual changing of the police chief is nothing more than just changing the hand that holds the tea money plate.

so bloody senseless and I can see this being pigeon holed by Phuket authorities and Tourism associations as a once off occurrence.

Something needs to be done on the island .. not so much to protect its reputation but to protect those who go there.

let not this innocent ladies death be in vain.

[Nitupsar]

It is about time to wake up and realize that there are no places 100% safe, not in Thailand and nowhere else for that matter. The dumbest thing I hear is the oft repeated: "I never thought it could happen here!" It (theft, robberies etc.) does happen everywhere and we should try to guard ourselves the best we can without being hysterical. Carrying your bag openly in a way that invites snatchers is not wise. And of course the worst thing you can do if someone tries to get away with your bag or any other belongings of yours, is to resist. What is most important, your stuff or your life?! That is sometimes the choice you are faced with. I know it is an almost involuntary reaction to fight back and defend your property, but I have made up my mind that if something similar happens to me, I will let the robbers have what they want and that will hopefully prevent any further calamities.

And please don't put your confidence in the police. As the saying goes; "When it's a matter of seconds, the police are only minutes away!"

[Beetlejuice]

It`s appears that Phuket is rapidly catching up with Pattaya as one of the most dangerous cities to visit in Thailand.

These are certainly becoming places to avoid.

[NomadJoe]

The RTP will not take this lightly. I suspect they will have made arrests by the end of the day.

[allan michaud]

RIP to the victim.

Pretty sick you take a vacation and end up going back in a body bag!

Seems to happen to a lot of tourists to Thailand

[islandee]

After reading of this latest death in the LOS, and thinking back just a few days to lancashirelad's observation,

I wonder: how many foreign tourists get killed annually in Australia? In the UK? In the US?

[DLock]

What a terrible, senseless murder, all for a handbag and probably a few thousand baht.

Condolences to her family and friends.

[David48]

its time to stop the corny remarks about the police force .... its no longer a joke .....i cannot understand why a country such as australia does not slap a travel ban on this place immediately ...the phuket police are nothing but tea money collectors , they see tourists purely as a source of income .... until corruption is dealt with we will live in a lawless society ... so time to bail , tell your friends , colleagues , business associates stay away ....go to Myanamar ....

If I am reading your post correctly ... you want the Australian Government to 'slap a ban' of Phuket or on Thailand?

Phuket maybe be difficult to do because it's not a Nation.

The whole of Thailand is not Phuket.

Governments can, and frequently do, slap travel warnings and advisories on countries and various parts of countries that they consider not safe.

Usually this is because of a major threat such as civil war or major civil disturbance, but in these cases they withdraw all government personnel, including consular services, advise their citizens to leave the area immediately and issue the warning against all unnecessary travel to the affected area.

In such cases travel agencies, cruises etc have to also avoid the area as they may be held liable.

Now I am not suggesting that Australia should go to such an extreme measure, but the threat of such an action of other incidents occurred is a powerful economic weapon, especially in tourist dependent areas.

As for the Australian travel agencies selling holidays to Phuket - if they cannot guarantee the safety of one of their own, how can they guarantee it to their customers - it will be interesting to know if greed overcomes prudence.

Crobe

Thank you for that insightfull statement on how the Australian Government 'slap' ... issue travel warnings to their citizens ... I never would have known that.

The comment that I was replying to stated that a travel ban should be initiated immediately and should be read in that context.

[GiveMeABreak]

AdamRich, on 29 minutes ago, said: "Experienced travelers? When are women going to learn to stop carrying those handbags in places where they know purse snatching is rampant?"

To AdamRich - You are kidding me, arent you? Are you for real? This is NOT a place rampant for purse snatching!! Any street, anytime you can have your purse snatched. A friend of mine (young girl - farang) in Sukhumvit had her pursed snatched by guys on a motorcycle, they try to grab it and keep driving but she hung on and fell to the ground breaking her shoulder!

You're showing blame - thats disgraceful.

So no woman is safe anywhere (in the world) because she carries a purse? Get a life, get your head out of the sand. Youre the type of person that would say a rape victim 'deserved it because of what she was wearing'!!!

This poor woman was 60 years old, you dont expect a motorcycle idiot to (a) take your bag and ( stab you!! All they had to do was take the bag and go, or just run when it didnt work out. Geez... so sad....

[Yunla]

R.I.P. to the poor lady who died, and I hope that her friend has a speedy recovery physically and more importantly emotionally.

Most of these bag-snatches which occur in tourist areas internationally too, involve the use of a knife to cut the shoulder-strap for quickness. If the victim struggles or the offender is on drugs, obviously the knife is used for murder. Usually these crimes the offender produces a knife as he approaches from behind and cuts the bag-strap and runs, which happened to me twice, in Goa and also in Tenerife. Even a robbery leaves lasting emotional scars and the police should treat these robbers as serious criminals even if there is no injury involved. The police in Thailand will soon enough see less and less tourists, especially the nice friendly family and retired tourists, if they don't start doing their jobs and pre-emptively patrolling as deterrent.

[samsiam]

How will the cops and TAT spin this one.....crisis meetings in place....a travel agent and all that....it will be doing the rounds of the travel industry in Oz like wildfire.

[markt7081]

RIP to the victim.

Its a sad fact that this sort of thing happens all over the world.

Now, if it happened in The UK, USA, France, Germany, Australia etc, I think that most people would be assured that the police would do their utmost to catch the criminals, maybe put up warnings about high risk areas etc etc.

Clearly this gives some concrete reason why tourists should treat it as an isolated instance & keep going to those countries.

In Thailand, you read about police applicants cheating to get jobs, not real comforting.

However the reality is its cheap & fun to come to Thailand, accordingly, I dont think the tourism industry in the LOS will even miss a beat.

[evadgib]

The vast majority of knife crimes go unreported in what must surely be a deliberate attempt to stifle the information. There have been at least 3 knife related incidents on the opposite coast since Songkran resulting in 1 death & 2 hospitalisations for attempted murder. Knives & guns are fashion accessories here & until that is addressed we can expect little change.

[cdmtdm]

The RTP will not take this lightly. I suspect they will have made arrests by the end of the day.

yes they always arrest someone ...but whats the point if the crims do little or no time? the sad thing this continues to happen because the police force is corrupt ... 350k and you can be a cop in LOS ..... anyone follow the cheating in police exams story ?

[samsiam]

then there is this one to add to the fire... http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8487202/australian-man-beaten-left-for-dead-in-phuket

[coma]

This is getting out of hand. Who in their right mind would do such a thing in the process of comitting a petty crime such as a bag snatch ? Messed up druggies ? They should be taken out the back and ....

Further to the BIB incompetence issue is this incident which also occured last night in Phuket where an Australian alledges he was beaten to within an inch of his life and left for dead. Only for the BIB to call it a motorbike accident. This gets on my nerves as I was personally involved in a similar incident many years ago when a young lad was clearly beaten savagely only to have the BIB say it was a motorbike accident. He didn't even own or rent a bike.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8487202/australian-man-beaten-left-for-dead-in-phuket