British Tourist Stabbed By Illegal Tourist Bus Worker

[johnlandy]

Aren't we doing well.

The frequency of these events is really idicitive of a sick society with it's head in the sand.

Oh yes, not me!, not us, it's not happening!, even to, it's not nationals that are the perps. The events are inadequately investigated, people being pulled off the streets and coerced into confessing to crimes for which they are

innocent, BUT the cry goes out "It's been solved, the perps are in custody"

Next victim please.

[pieandmash]

Just watched "Crime Watch" in BBC.

I dont think THAILAND is the worse one.

Well it's got a murder rate more than 4 times that of the UK, higher even than the USA.

[theblether]

He should have read Thaivisa..........he would have known not to have left his valuables on the bus, known that every Thai is a murderous thief, and known that there is no chance of getting justice in this country.

Cos with the looks of it, that's what too many TV members think.

[silent]

Could it be that they caught the wrong stabber last week after all?

Food for thought.

[TackyToo]

I'm sure Chalerm will be swiftly on the case

Nah. He only deals with shootings.

Except those done by his siblings?

[softgeorge]

After taking their two bicycles from the bus and the bus departed Mr Banks realised that he had left his wallet with cash in US dollars and his passport on the bus, and he called the bus driver to return.

The bus came back to the petrol station and Mr Banks found that his wallet had been searched by someone and his valuables were missing. He asked a bus worker and the two men quarrelled. The staff worker stabbed the tourist before fleeing by the same bus.

C''mon. His own stupidity- sorry could have been Alzheimer- had caused the problem.

Please try to be honest. How many TV members would have brought the wallet to a police station?

I guess only two out of 100.............

Are you judging others by your own seemingly low standards?

I have found 3 wallets in my lifetime. Each has been handed either in to the police or directly to the owner fully intact.

I'd always give a wallet back to the owner, especially when having his passport details. It was a serious question.

How many people on this planet are that honest?

Guess just you and me at the moment.

[Nigel1500]

It appears Thailand is no longer a peaceful land of smiles but knifes and tourists stubbings / deaths.

I was initially thinking about moving there for some time but the more such news come through the less I like the idea...

it is still the land of smiles...

yes there are horrible things that happen there, but horrible things happen in every country, it is the way the authorities deal with these crimes that is the problem. i would still recomend going to thailand to anyone, i'd just say that there are do's and dont's. but they are common sense and generally the same in thailand as anywhere e.g. someone tries to rob you, you give them your stuff (if you were getting mugged in London your not going to fight back over a few quid when you know if this guy is low enough to mug you he's probably capable of worse).

please understand that this is not me trying to in anyway justify some of the terrible things that happen there; they are tradgic. i just want people to remember that every country has low lifes. for the huge majority thailand is an amazing experience...

don't not go because of a couple of horror stories

Well said philsson,

Statistically, Thailand isn't any more dangerous than the USA - a similiar number of tourists die there each year too. Last year, 26 Australians died in Thailand while 21 died in the USA. I can't comment on what percentage were related to violent crime though. Quite a number of tourists and foreign students die or are injured in the USA, Europe and Australia each year too.

[RichardinBKK]

It appears Thailand is no longer a peaceful land of smiles but knifes and tourists stubbings / deaths.

I was initially thinking about moving there for some time but the more such news come through the less I like the idea...

it is still the land of smiles...

yes there are horrible things that happen there, but horrible things happen in every country, it is the way the authorities deal with these crimes that is the problem. i would still recomend going to thailand to anyone, i'd just say that there are do's and dont's. but they are common sense and generally the same in thailand as anywhere e.g. someone tries to rob you, you give them your stuff (if you were getting mugged in London your not going to fight back over a few quid when you know if this guy is low enough to mug you he's probably capable of worse).

please understand that this is not me trying to in anyway justify some of the terrible things that happen there; they are tradgic. i just want people to remember that every country has low lifes. for the huge majority thailand is an amazing experience...

don't not go because of a couple of horror stories

That's fine . . . but do you realize just how many tourists are actually injured or killed in the LoS every year (it's a lot)? And how many are killed or injured in other tourist destinations (it's not a lot to none)? You'll be surprised if you Google the results.

If you Google "Tourists killed" there are killings/deaths in virtually every country in the world relating to tourists. This ranges from coach crashes (yes, not just Thai drivers fall asleep at the wheel) to killings for initiation to gangs.

Thailand is like every other country, it's just that people on forums appear to be Daily Mail readers and revert to their angered from Basingstoke personna.

I've lived in Thailand on and off for the last four years, have stumbled about drunk in Bangkok, Pattaya and Patong in the early hours of the morning and have never fallen foul of the nasties many on here and other forum make out exist on every street corner. Never been stopped by the police in their insatiable hunger for tea money, have left laptop bag, phone etc on tables in bars and come back and they're still there.

If I was someone who had never been to Thailand and read this forum, I'd never visit it after the scare stories and conspiracy theorists who spout garbage on here. Yes there's been some sad news regarding tragic events, but it's no worse than anywhere else. As regards the police and their response, when they do something right it appears that they've fitted someone up who is innocent/gullible/feeble minded and only pleading guilty so his family receive money.

You and I seem to be living in the same country... nice. Example: left my condo at 3:00AM to get to Sukhumvit Soi 12 to catch the Jack Golf bus for a Visa run. The tab was about 120 baht. Handed the driver two bills. After a second, he turned on the interior light to show me one 1,000 baht note, and one 100 baht note. How easy would it have been to just hand me four 20's and drive away? Please Thai Visa Bashers ... tell me another major capital in the world where this happens over and over? (left phone on outdoor table at Starbucks, came back an hour later ... the staff had it behind the counter ... would not accept a tip for their good deed) PS: Thanked the driver in my best most respectful Thai, replaced the 1,000 with 100 and got out of the cab.

[thaigold]

Come on folks. If you're dumb enough to leave your wallet on a bus in New York City, you'de never see it again. Something missing from this tale. Oh...and rule number one for you Farangs who think you're a bit tough...do not under any circumstance get into an altercation with a local. You WILL lose. Bank on it.

[RichardinBKK]

Come on folks. If you're dumb enough to leave your wallet on a bus in New York City, you'de never see it again. Something missing from this tale. Oh...and rule number one for you Farangs who think you're a bit tough...do not under any circumstance get into an altercation with a local. You WILL lose. Bank on it.

Yes, this story does sound a bit odd. Left wallet on a bus. Had the driver's number? He turned around and came back? After the other guy stole the money? Right, yes, of course. They drove back to give an empty wallet, which they replaced on the seat. Yes, of course .... happens every day. Just need to figure out what planet it happens on. Not this one.

Also, spot on ... When I first came to Thailand in 1980, a rather large and fit Swiss gentleman got into it with a "tiny" Thai. Hand to hand. No weapons. One ended up in a body bag. The other, hardly a scratch.

Lesson learned. A hand grenade seems small ... until you pull the pin and drop it.

Edited June 27, 2012 by RichardinBKK

[The Dancer]

No way to justify the stabbing but there is the problem (not saying it's the case here) that some farangs tend to treat locals, especially those they perceive to be of a "lower-class", like shit. And you know how mad Thais can get when they lose face - you and I are not going to change this so best factor it in when dealing with people.

Now, if it were the case that the bus workers who brough it back for the gentleman to check were not involved in stealing his stuff (likely, otherwise they would have simply caused the wallet to disappear), they would understandably take badly to being berated.

Anyway, the take-home I think is not to lose one's cool under any circumstance: if you're calm and polite you have a 50-50 chance of solving whatever problem it is, if you're not it's zero.

[ginjag]

Please don't look at the stats- but say 500 mill folks in USA and 50 mill here and still more Aussies died here than USA. just a reply only don't get too serious with me, no slant on our friends in USA. usually less persons die in a smaller country, NORMALLY.

[crazydrummerpauly]

Three things that need saying about the usual impulse on TV to start slinging comparisons about the different rates in different countries of whatever the current crime topic is.

1) Anecdotal evidence is just that - a story about something that happened to one person or a few people, at one place, one time. Like an empirical observation in science, it is not important - though it might be entertaining and personally vital - in a scientific sense, unless it is embedded in a larger theory; and that theory is supported by a large number of other observations. In the case of crimes, the other observations take the form of official statistics gathered by a range of government agencies. These statistics are now widely available online, for example this - http://en.wikipedia....ated_death_rate - lists relative death-rates by firearm in different countries during specific years. On the face of it, one is 60 times more likely to die by firearm in Thailand than in the UK, but...this is often where the false conclusions are drawn; onto the second point ->

2) When a government announces an increase in domestic Inflation, there is a knee-jerk response : Oh shit, the (my) cost of living has gone up by X. But that may or not be true. For example, if the govt uses some typical 'basket' of goods, and that basket includes meat and petrol, then the inflation figure will not match the increase in the cost of living of a vegetarian cyclist. Similarly, with statistics about violence attacks - without breaking down the bald numbers to the details of who, where, when...one cannot jump to any conclusions about the risk to oneself. If it turns out that many of the gun-crimes in Thailand occur between Thai gangs, or drug-dealers, and in a certain part of the country, then a foreigner living quietly in a respectable way in some other part of the country, is not at the risk that the headline numbers suggest. The statistics are better than a shed-load of anecdotes, but they are not valuable without in-depth analysis, and without relating to personal details of various kinds. A neighbour of mine once argued that the danger in the town was being exaggerated - until it was pointed out that i) he never went out at night, and ii) he was just under 2 metres tall and weighed around 100Kgs.

3) The statistics suffer from under-reporting in many contexts, and even over-reporting sometimes - fraudulent theft-reports to get insurance for example. The under-reporting in some countries can be so large that the official numbers could be out by as much as 200, 300, XXX %. How many TV members know of crimes in their locality which went unreported to the Police for a number of reasons ? This doubt about the tightness of the stats in relation to events actually occurring in the society, is an enduring problem for the practice of stats-collecting and analysing the world over - for example, in the UK, as soon as the Police announced and demonstrated a much more woman-friendly approach to rape-victims, the number of reported rapes increased significantly.

Numbers are fascinating, but they are fallible, complex, and usually the beginning of an analysis not the end.

Edited June 27, 2012 by crazydrummerpauly

[EyesWideOpen]

Come on folks. If you're dumb enough to leave your wallet on a bus in New York City, you'de never see it again. Something missing from this tale. Oh...and rule number one for you Farangs who think you're a bit tough...do not under any circumstance get into an altercation with a local. You WILL lose. Bank on it.

So in any confrontation with a Thai, fall to your knees, beg for mercy, and give them what ever they want?? Seems like an odd way to live a life.......

The rose colored glasses brigade, and the bashers can go back and forth all they want on this forum, a true tempest in a tea pot. But if this level of violence keeps occurring and being reported in world wide media, Thai tourism WILL take a hit.

I have a friend who has the most cynical attitude of all. He is not a basher nor does he have rose colored glasses. He LOVES when bad things happen here. When I asked him why one day, he said bad things drive away tourists , making the girls cheaper and easy to book hotels......

[Skywalker69]

So the bus is illegal, not the worker?

Buses need a special licence to transport tourists????

Dosen´t busses needs workpermit´s as well?

[RogueLeader]

Especially in Thailand, this newer, much more voilent approach seems rather silly.

Silly, as in prison sentences are an actual punishment around these parts.

Incarceration is punishment wherever it happens.

That should deter criminal activity, rather than promote it.. Well at least that is how I see it.

Not at all like a paid vacation, as seen in some European countries.

Hmm. Overly harsh prison conditions don't seem to act as an effective deterrent...perhaps we've all learnt something today?

[ricku]

The stabber must be quite retarded.

I mean, does he think that he can somehow become untraceable and invisible after the stabbing? There were probably multiple witnesses, and since he was working on a tour buss (illegal or not), OF COURSE they will be able to find him. It is just a matter of time.

His punishment will be much more severe than if he had just confessed to the tourist and given his money back.. But no, instead he chosed to stab him and then flee the scene.

I hope he gets shot in the head twice. One bullet for the stabbing and one bullet for being so incredibly stupid.

Edited June 27, 2012 by ricku

[mrdome]

Speedy recovery to the injured man.

I wish ThaiVisa would give us a break from these crime reports. It's not that I can't handle them but those that see Thailand in a negative light already only use them to further cement their view. Also, it's boring to read the same negative comments in every thread how Thailand is going down the drain... Aren't we all? I say to that.

I lived in Thailand for over 4 years and still return regularly and apart from the odd misunderstanding nobody has put a knife in me, cheated me for a big amount or stolen anything from me.

[harrry]

Speedy recovery to the injured man.

I wish ThaiVisa would give us a break from these crime reports. It's not that I can't handle them but those that see Thailand in a negative light already only use them to further cement their view. Also, it's boring to read the same negative comments in every thread how Thailand is going down the drain... Aren't we all? I say to that.

I lived in Thailand for over 4 years and still return regularly and apart from the odd misunderstanding nobody has put a knife in me, cheated me for a big amount or stolen anything from me.

yet

[james255]

It appears Thailand is no longer a peaceful land of smiles but knifes and tourists stubbings / deaths.

I was initially thinking about moving there for some time but the more such news come through the less I like the idea...

it is still the land of smiles...

yes there are horrible things that happen there, but horrible things happen in every country, it is the way the authorities deal with these crimes that is the problem. i would still recomend going to thailand to anyone, i'd just say that there are do's and dont's. but they are common sense and generally the same in thailand as anywhere e.g. someone tries to rob you, you give them your stuff (if you were getting mugged in London your not going to fight back over a few quid when you know if this guy is low enough to mug you he's probably capable of worse).

please understand that this is not me trying to in anyway justify some of the terrible things that happen there; they are tradgic. i just want people to remember that every country has low lifes. for the huge majority thailand is an amazing experience...

don't not go because of a couple of horror stories

That's fine . . . but do you realize just how many tourists are actually injured or killed in the LoS every year (it's a lot)? And how many are killed or injured in other tourist destinations (it's not a lot to none)? You'll be surprised if you Google the results.

If you Google "Tourists killed" there are killings/deaths in virtually every country in the world relating to tourists. This ranges from coach crashes (yes, not just Thai drivers fall asleep at the wheel) to killings for initiation to gangs.

Thailand is like every other country, it's just that people on forums appear to be Daily Mail readers and revert to their angered from Basingstoke personna.

I've lived in Thailand on and off for the last four years, have stumbled about drunk in Bangkok, Pattaya and Patong in the early hours of the morning and have never fallen foul of the nasties many on here and other forum make out exist on every street corner. Never been stopped by the police in their insatiable hunger for tea money, have left laptop bag, phone etc on tables in bars and come back and they're still there.

If I was someone who had never been to Thailand and read this forum, I'd never visit it after the scare stories and conspiracy theorists who spout garbage on here. Yes there's been some sad news regarding tragic events, but it's no worse than anywhere else. As regards the police and their response, when they do something right it appears that they've fitted someone up who is innocent/gullible/feeble minded and only pleading guilty so his family receive money.

Yes but Phuket is such a small island and i mean very small for the amount of tourist killed in phuket is amazing0

after all we are talking about a tiny tiny small island ? other countrys around the world you could fit phuket in 1 province .

As for the other parts of Thailand not many westerne's are murdered at this rate ( or are they ? ) and dont get press

Now thats this week

1 Austrlaian stabbed and died in phuket

1 British Stabbed ( same night ) in phuket not die

1 British Stabbed in Samt not die

If some was to collect and put on this forrum in 1 listing all that have been murdered in Thailand on this forum

Thi visa would need more bandwidth to handle the list - You would be amazed how many

regards

[spidermike007]

It appears Thailand is no longer a peaceful land of smiles but knifes and tourists stubbings / deaths.

I was initially thinking about moving there for some time but the more such news come through the less I like the idea...

Thailand is still fairly peaceful. In comparison to the gangland killings in Los Angeles, or the murders in many capitals, it is peaceful. Unfortunately, some of the youth are being brought up with little regard for human life. And some of the southern men are animals. Less regard for life, and very short fuses. This guy was obviously a greedy coward. It is easy to sucker punch (stab someone) a guy who is not expecting it. It is the work of a tiny man, without a heart, a soul, or a conscience. What a two bit punk. Would love five minutes with this 13 year old girl of a "man". Hopefully, the toy police will be able to find him. Should be a walk in the park to find the bus operator, illegal or now. Whether or not there will be any will to prosecute this creep, will depend on how much publicity this gets.

[Moruya]

A few words of wisdom:

Always stay calm in a discussion with locals in any country whether you are right or wrong. If the blood starts to boil - cool it.

Assume that the person you are talking with is carrying a gun or a knife or has a friend close by who is or has 10 friends close by who don't need one.

Self-preservation - better to walk away and swear into a few beers later than end up on a slab

For Thailand - in the same way that you never assume a girl is a girl, never assume a smile is a smile. The oranges are green here for God's sake so never assume anything.

[Lite Beer]

Tourist-stabbing bus attendant arrested

SAMUT SAKHON, June 27 -- A 16- year-old tour bus company employee who stabbed a British tourist in Samut Sakhon early today was arrested in Prachuap Khiri Khan province this afternoon.

The victim is reported in stable condition and being transferred to hospital in Bangkok.

Provincial Police Region 7 Commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Harnpon Nitwiboon, Samut Sakhon Governor Julapat Saengchan and Samut Sakhon Police Chief Pol Maj-Gen Tayarit Akepaopan jointly told a news conference on the case.

Leigh Banks, 36, was stabbed by the bus driver’s helper when the vehicle stopped at a petrol station in Samut Sakhon where he and his wife and another 20 passengers had travelled on the bus from the southern province of Surat Thani en route to Bangkok.

Gen Harnpon said that a police investigation team received information that the boy was fleeing to Prachuap Khiri Khan, then the team alerted the Highway Police in Prachuap Khiri Kan leading to the arrest.

The boy was now taken to Samut Sakhon for questioning and re-enacted the crime.

Police also found a knife, dried kratom leaves and tissue paper sheets with blood stains on the tour bus which was the crime scene.

Bus driver Watcharin Jinda, 23, told police that he carried about 20 foreign tourists from Surat Thani but the bus had an engine problem at the Khao Yoi area in Phetchaburi.

The bus owner then sent vans to transfer the tourists to Bangkok but Mr Banks and his wife could not go with the van because they had two bicycles with them.

Mr Banks and his wife waited while the engine was being fixed and went on the bus to the petrol station, where they got off the bus with their bicycles and baggages.

The bus left the petrol station to clean the toilet before returning to the station, waiting for the next trip to southern region.

Mr Banks inquired about his missing valuables, reporting that his baggage has been rummaged through, and he quarrelled with the bus attendant before he was stabbed.

Mr Watcharin said he drove the bus away from the petrol station and dropped the boy along the way before he was stopped by police.

The British tourist was wounded in his torso and the knife penetrated and tore part of one lung. A Thai woman passerby identified as Sumalee Yisunkaew offered help, called an ambulance and also called the police.

The wounded tourist was initially admitted at Mahachai 1 Hospital and now has been transferred to Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-06-27

[dingdang]

you mean, when getting overcharged or wrong change in the bus, then dont say anything?

many people in the bus could feel offended by the complaint?

[davidstipek]

"The police are searching for the bus" -

Ehhhhhhh right you are then........ Why not check the CCTV at the gas station for the number plate or the name of the bus company...Shhhhhhhhhhhhh the case will be cracked in no time at all then.....

But sad to see this "ANOTHER" stabbing here in LOS, hope the British guy will be ok. But you do know it was his fault!!

Also you can have employees names posted at money exchange sights to see who exchanges the USD... can be done. We did with police 3 years ago! They caught the woman!

[george]

UPDATE: The British national stabbed by a 16-year-old bus boy is in stable

condition. The attacker was arrested by police in the southern province of

Prachuap Khirikhan later this afternoon. /The Nation, MCOT

[BuffaloRescue]

Clearly a case of cultural misunderstanding

He should be grateful to the driver for not taking his wallet also, along with his credit cards. Honestly he should have given the driver a reward for looking after his belongings he was foolish enough to leave on the bus.

[mrdome]

I lived in Thailand for over 4 years and still return regularly and apart from the odd misunderstanding nobody has put a knife in me, cheated me for a big amount or stolen anything from me.

yet

Ha ha! Wise guy! ... This may sound funny but I really do not expect any of those things to happen in the future and my street smarts to lead me into the right direction.

[Ulysses G.]

It appears Thailand is no longer a peaceful land of smiles but knifes and tourists stubbings / deaths.

I was initially thinking about moving there for some time but the more such news come through the less I like the idea...

Of course no one ever gets stabbed in Blighty or the USA.

[Bender]

During the flight to thailand, airline company should provide express training course:

How to deal with a thai and a knife.

How to win a fight bare hand.

How to avoid getting ripped off by hospital, and stitch alone your wound.

Honestly for every bad news you hear from media everyday, you certainly have dozens and dozens who get covered.

This place and these people are little wild.

Edited June 27, 2012 by Bender