Sons Of Anarchy

[tinfoilhat]

So, the other day on Sukhumvit Soi 11, up near the residential, klong end of the soi, very drug-addled (yaa baa) and deranged individual threw a bit of a fit and started a small fire, gesticulating wildly and yelling, and taking swipes at parked cars, setting off their alarms.

From the reaction of the local motor cycle taxi driver's as well as the hawker community in the area, it quickly became clear that this man was an outsider and his actions were simply not to be tolerated.

he was quickly quarantined, essentially surrounded at a distance by a sort of human cordon, which contained him but allowed him freedom of motion and avoided any violence.

with the motorcycle guys clearly on point, the local street community effectively closed ranks and isolated this guy from doing any further harm to property, and possibly to himself, while police and a rescue truck arrived and he was subdued and, as it was explained to me, taken to the hospital.

I have been in regular contact with our motorcycle guys in the many years i have lived on the soi,and eat regularly at the local stalls, my daughter plays with a few of their kids and they have all known her by name since she was born, and it is not uncommon for the kids to hang out in the yard or pop by to torture the cat.

What struck me on this occasion was the sense of community in the area, from a group of people who don't actually live here, but certainly spend the majority of their time here. I had always been aware of what an integral part of the area they are, but here was proof positive of what they, as a group, actually do contribute to the community.

The motorcycle guys have on countless occasions helped me out in one way or another, and i was impressed how they stood up for the area, doing both themselves and the residents a valuable service.

Motorcycle taxis are one of my favorite things about Bangkok and, particularly on my soi, are bunch of essentially very decent guys that are great to have around.

[guzzi850m2]

Good story, I also never had any problems with the motorcycle taxi driver's here in Pattaya during +6 years use.

They are like in BKK on a allocated spot and they know what's going on.

I seen them telling their female tourist customers to keep the handbag between the driver and passenger in order to avoid theft attempts.

[smokie36]

I like bike taxis.

[Rancid]

So here we have a classic tale of the local community taking care of community problems. In the West we would have had the social workers arrive and discuss how society was to balme, then the police after they failed to resolve and tasers would have ensued. Cost equals?

Read in Aussie newpaper that as police are no longer selected on being sizable guys that could actually subdue someone, that tasers are now the prefrerred technique for the smaller men and women. Some older cops were interviewed who disagreed with the practice and said they always used to just try and talk people down, with their size as an asset, and that usually worked. But what do they know, we here all know PC and the Nanny State is better.

[mauGR1]

So here we have a classic tale of the local community taking care of community problems. In the West we would have had the social workers arrive and discuss how society was to balme, then the police after they failed to resolve and tasers would have ensued. Cost equals?

Uhm, well, here we have a case of " tribal society " ( feel free to correct my choice of words ) working fine, but, i remember the crazy guy who damaged the spirit house in Suk, a few years ago ; he was beaten to death.... a really awful story.

[geriatrickid]

So here we have a classic tale of the local community taking care of community problems. In the West we would have had the social workers arrive and discuss how society was to balme, then the police after they failed to resolve and tasers would have ensued. Cost equals?

Read in Aussie newpaper that as police are no longer selected on being sizable guys that could actually subdue someone, that tasers are now the prefrerred technique for the smaller men and women. Some older cops were interviewed who disagreed with the practice and said they always used to just try and talk people down, with their size as an asset, and that usually worked. But what do they know, we here all know PC and the Nanny State is better.

On the contrary, the presence of "diminutive women" has gone a long way to accessibility. Violent confrontations with the police are not a daily event. Rather, interaction and intelligent intervention is the direction policing is moving in. The cities you criticize now have specialized units with police officers that have received advanced training in dealing with violent criminals and the mentaly unstable. On the island of Phuket, there is only one solitary female police officer. Consider the implications for at least half of the population made up of women and children. Who is most appropriate to assist a female in a case of rape or domestic violence? If you were a battered female spouse, would you want to discuss your problems with some guy? If you were a sexually abused or bullied child who do you think would be the best suited person to respond? If you were an elderly victim of crime, who do you think you would be more open with? The old school beefy police officers will be the first to say, they often feel uncomfortable in dealing with a female domestic violence victim You do realize that the majority of police responses in Thailand involve non violent events, don't you? Domestic violence is an epidemic in Thailand and the police response is poor.