Farang got Stabbed

[ducio]

Not addressing this particular case specifically, rather tthe general nature of such attacks.. Thailand - a paradox. Yes, mai bpen rai - a jai yen ideal an easy-going nature. . . But this could so easily lead to a false sense of security. Seems to me, LOS is only a safe place until you cause someone to lose face. At this point anything can happen. Sheer Craziness may very well ensue. Or me I think its better to try and comport yourself, at all times, like you're in Mexico, no?. Remember you are in a dangerous country. RIP to deceased who could not possibly have done anything remotely deserving such a demonic attack.

[Estrada]

looks like a samurai sword

It is a sickle.

The taxi driver is probably a rice farmer. It is used for cutting rice. the same as you may have in the garden shed back home, for cutting the grass when it gets too long. You can see the handle and curved blade. I met Troy two years ago, he was with Caterpillar who my UK Company manufactured parts for. He will be greatly missed.

I recognise the taxi driver as the same one who picked me up on Sukhumvit 46 near Seacon Square Prawet, for my usual Friday taxi ride to Onnuch BTS station, a trip I have made 100's of times. It usually takes 20 to 30mins depending on traffic. He refused to go via Onnuch and insisted on taking down Sukhumvit 101/1 to Udomsuk BTS station. It took us an hour! He kept saying that he was clever as he was saving me time. I kept thinking to myself that this rice farmer from Esaan hadn't a clue about driving in Bangkok but I sensed that he was a little crazy and not one to argue with, so I let it go.

So I had extra taxi fare and another B10 to pay for the BTS fare plus extra time for the taxi journey and the BTS.

You have to understand that the pink taxis are rented by the day and the driver is under a lot of stress if he is unable to collect enough fares in the day to pay the taxi rental and fuel costs. Therefore they can easily blow a fuse if you want to argue about the fare. From my experience B51 was not an incorrect meter reading from Central Bangna to Soi 68 if there was heavy traffic. However, we only have the taxi drivers statement that the argument was over B51, and we do not know if the taxi driver had asked for extra money as sometimes I can happen.

[webfact]

UPDATE:
American hacked to death over Bt51
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A taxi driver hacked an American passenger to death with a machete on Saturday evening, after the man refused to pay a Bt51 fare and threw a coffee in his face. The suspect was later arrested and confessed to the crime.

Cherdchai Utmacha, 32, initially fled the scene at Soi Sukhumvit 85, after he attacked Troy Lee Pilkington, 51, on Saturday evening using a machete with a 16-inch blade taken from the boot of his taxi. The American had allegedly refused to pay the fee and walked away, believing he had been cheated.

Police arrested Cherdchai yesterday morning after staking out his apartment on Soi Chalerm Phra Kiat 46 in Bangkok's Prawet district. Cherdchai was arrested and charged with murder and carrying a deadly weapon.

Quoting eyewitnesses, police said both men had scuffled after Pilkington threw the coffee in his paper cup at Cherdchai through the passenger side door window. Cherdchai had been yelling at the man to pay up. The suspect told police later that he took the long knife from the boot and confronted the American, but the victim attacked first.

The victim, a senior official at Caterpillar Thailand, sustained one deep cut to his head, one stab wound to the left side of his chest and two cuts to his left wrist. Paramedics later pronounced him dead at the scene.

Quoting the suspect, police said the taxi had been stuck in traffic near Sukhumvit 68, when Pilkington spotted that the taxi's meter was already showing a fare of Bt51.

The passenger accused him of rigging the meter and got out. Cherdchai said he was enraged and grabbed the machete, only with the intent to threaten him.

He said he later threw the knife into a canal in Samut Prakan's Bang Phli district and then threw his shirt away on Soi Kanchanapisek 45 as it was covered in blood stains.

Police gave no details as to whether they had retrieved the items for evidence.


-- The Nation 2013-07-08

[steffi]

Did you see how the Bangkok Post article cited the blade being 18cm in length despite it being as long as his arm?

The longer than blade the more intent to kill so I think they have a vested interested in saying it's a short blade. At one point it looks like the blade is wacked against the guys neck but it doesn't look like the guy wielding the sword really knows what he's doing with it.

[noitom]

The Nation states that the blade was 16 inches in length. This is inconsistent with the surveillance video readily available for viewing which clearly shows significantly longer blade than stated. Is the newspaper assisting in a 'coverup?" It certainly appears that emphasizing the length and then distorting the obvious size of the long, samurai length blade clearly appears to be manipulation so as to downgrade the level of severity from samurai sword to machete. Shameful inconsistent and manipulative reporting.

[ChinChanGamble]

The Nation states that the blade was 16 inches in length. This is inconsistent with the surveillance video readily available for viewing which clearly shows  significantly longer blade than stated. Is the newspaper assisting in a 'coverup?" It certainly appears that emphasizing the length and then distorting the obvious size of the long, samurai length blade clearly appears to be manipulation so as to downgrade the level of severity from samurai sword to machete. Shameful inconsistent and manipulative reporting.

Whoever posted the video on YouTube is probably s###ing themselves as this clearly represents Thailand in a negative way!

Sent from my LT26i using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Jingthing]

Just what Thailand needs. A racially charged murder trial ...

[razer]

Seems like attacks on foreigners have been increasing over the years. Any statistics on this?

[RigPig]

Seems an increase in violent crime all over, possibly due to the increase in Yabba and Ya-Ice (meth-amphetamine and Chrystal Meth). There has been some pretty big bust's lately, and they haven't scratched the tip of the Ice Berg (pun intended). Seems like a coincedence to me.....

[TomTao]

Another positive ad for Thailand as a safe tourist destination. RIP the victim, I hope the police catch the killer soon and put him away for a long time.

[DekDaeng]

I am very sorry to say this, but I think sometimes people unfortunatley BRING grief into their lives.

Yes, probably the cabbie too. Do you think he would be recommending to his fellow cabbies to always carry a 50 cm knife?

[NoshowJones]

Jo1973. Where do you live in Thailand? Somewhere in the south? I have been in Pattaya lots of times, and never had any problems or felt threatened with any Thais, I go regularly to Bangkok and never had any problems with any Thai. That would be impossible in Glasgow. In my opinion, there are two negative things about Thais, although not them all, They are cowards who won't confront you man to man they need a back up of about another six, and there mentality is very poor, but again I say, not them all.

Yes there have been sword attacks in Scotland, I remember a couple when I lived there. This incident here in Thailand is the only sword attack that I know about in almost 8 years. I still say that the biggest majority of Thais maybe 90%, are very non confrontational. You could never say that about people in the UK.

[Kilgore Trout]

The use of the word "farang" is completely stupid and unnecessary, why can't it be said that a tourist was stabbed, or a foreigner?

Then again, the ways taxi drivers react to white people is very very different than how they act toward asian people, especially those with status.

Because a farang got stabbed maybe?

You aren't going to start another 'the word farang is insulting' debate are you?

I haven't had any bad experiences with Bangkok taxi drivers so what's with this 'reaction to white people' you are claiming?

RIP for the victim.

This particular cabby has it ALL coming.

HA, you are funny; do you realize how ridiculous you sound? You do understand that it means whitey, right?

Dummy up before you make silly posts.

[Heng]

I would disagree with this statement!! Surely for a soft Western person, Thai jail would be a harsh environment, but I would think for a poor-ish Thai person, life isn't that much worse than it is for a Western person, in a Western jail. Although I guess Western jails can vary considerably.

But I would not say that 4-5 years is a significant punishment in any way. One can probably pick up their life just where they left it, in that short of time, for one thing. With 20-25 or more as you put it (+), your wife and kids have gone/grown up, your friends have gone, your parents have died, jobs might be pretty difficult to come by (but maybe not in Thailand?) your personality has most likely changed, besides whatever the actual hardship of being in jail might be.

But the actual situation in the jail, while probably massively difficult for certain people, seems not too much different than a poor Thai person's life. I mean, for me, I would hate the heat (no aircon), the cold water, the sleeping on the floor, the food, the toilet situation, etc. But I think that poor Thai people, live much the same anyway. And I believe if you have some money and family support, you can buy a lot of conveniences to make life better. You might have that support for 4-5 years, but maybe not for 25 years?

Yeah, it's all relative... but for me I'd choose living piss poor for years over any significant amount of time in local prison: fish heads and rice everyday and the universal rape/fight for your life environment.

Edited July 8, 2013 by Heng

[Heng]

Straws and camel's backs, usually for both parties.

[Keesters]

A few months ago I looked into the luggage compartment (boot) of a Bangkok taxi while retrieving my friends suitcase. Saw an Aluminum baseball bat. No other sports equipment, just the bat. Probably there to be used as a weapon I'd guess and hopefully for defense and not attack purposes.

Maybe the bus is safer after all.

[EyesWideOpen]

Gotta love Thai news stories. So far we have a choice of the product being thrown as:

1. Water

2. Water bottle

3. Coffee..

Guess without the victim to speak up, the taxi driver can make up whatever

he wants. Interesting where the police are talking now about the actual wounds

that caused the death. The video clearly shows a strong downward strike to

the head which is most likely the head wound. But there is also a stab wound

to the chest, which must have happened under the bridge. Perhaps he was stunned from the head wound, and then he was stabbed in the chest. To me this would show intent to murder.

Edited July 8, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[Scottythai]

The only solace I take from this is knowing that next time it could just as easily be one of the deluded rose coloured glasses brigade on the end of a sword. Their fawning and obsequiousness seems to have no bounds so they'll probably be justifing their own death as it happens.

This 'member of the rose colored brigade' has survived 52 years on this earth, survived street gangs, bike gangs, worldwide on the ground travels, a year through africa alone, stabbings (yes survived it) guns, bombs, hostile soldiers who don't speak english, intterogatuions (including African military and the Chinese PSB) r, and even... yes... WOMEN! I do (and always have) evaluate my surroundings, my environment, and those within my comfort zones and approaching same. I am smiling and easy going as much as possible and although had serious fights all over the planet, have only had one good fight in Thailand, and that was with a young strong Miner from australia who was disrespectful and belligerent to the Thai people in the Pattaya bar in the wee hours. He called me outside, not vice versa, and this old bull kicked his butt with a few good punches, to the bemusement of the thais and a thumbs up from a thai police officer who watched the whole thing and was unable to deal with this character. The Aussie? I pulled him up, told him to cool down and I'll buy him a beer. We went back in the bar and everything was fine.

I don't look at life from rose colored glasses, quite the opposite, i look through very clear honest and analytical glasses. Thus my earlier remarks.

And trust me, I will survive this world because I evaluate, I adjust accordingly, I walk away when possible, and most of all... I RESPECT others.

The big problem isn't any 'rose colored glasses brigade' the real problem in the world is all the people with glasses fogged and dirtied with the mud and shit of their own egos, ignorance, prejudiced, lack of respect and empathy.

I wish you luck in your travels.

If you walked and rode my path so far in this life, i doubt you'd be alive to be typing... as I am.

'Put that in your pipe and smoke it!' hahahaha

Go to those type of places for work or for travels? And forgive me if I am wrong but last time I read it was Motor Cycle Clubs is it not?? But back on topic Repsect is the key respect for anothers life and respect to realise fighting about $5 is petty.

[klubex99]

First part of video with the foreigner in the frame in slow motion:

machete man walks backwards. farang seems to follow and to attack him.

What do you expect him to do?.... Run????

When someone is angrily approaching you with a drawn sword the last thing you do is run. Because if you do, you can no longer see the attacker or the weapon, all martial arts training tells you this... NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE AGGRESSOR AND THE WEAPON.....EVER! The moment you turn your back, you are at a huge disadvantage. You have much better survival odds to attempt to disarm the attacker and get him into a submission position.

You don't even need martial arts training, you will probably do it by instinct if you were in that position.

In the very short time you get to react to a situation like that, a person needs to make a lightening fast assessment. If you are older and more overweight than your aggressor, you know that running is NOT an option available to you where you are going to come out safe. The only other thing is to close the distance between you and the weapon to reduce its effectiveness., at the same time the attacker is going to move away from you to increase the weapon's effectiveness.

Once the range is reduced, you concentrate solely on immobilizing the weapon, nothing else matters to you at this time. Once you have the weapon under control, then you switch your attention to getting the attacker in a submission point. That is for laymen with no martial arts training. If you are experienced in martial arts, there are techniques to actually take out the person in a way they can't use the weapon. But inexperienced, go for the weapon arm.

What Mr Pilkington did was in my opinion 100% instinctive to close down the distance. He could have possibly done better had he dropped what he was holding, but who knows in the heat of the situation, he didn't have a lot of time gifted to him to gather his thoughts.

To try to allude to something irrational such as quoted above in some sort of absurd attempt to try to turn the blame on the victim is in my view... very profound.

Some readers may find it useful to watch a few youtube videos on how to disarm an attacker, not just with a sword, but with a gun, knife etc... You never know, it may come in useful some day. Probably never will, but 30 minutes could make a big difference in a bad situation, and they are quite interesting videos on there.

[Heng]

The channel 3 news reports police say 51 Baht is around the fare for that distance. Although who knows what the meter read with no witnesses. The news was one of the later news stories.

[stickylies]

The use of the word "farang" is completely stupid and unnecessary, why can't it be said that a tourist was stabbed, or a foreigner?

Farang = western foreigner. It is not an insult per se.

Not all tourists are farang, not all farang are tourists.

[Heng]

First part of video with the foreigner in the frame in slow motion:

machete man walks backwards. farang seems to follow and to attack him.

What do you expect him to do?.... Run????

When someone is angrily approaching you with a drawn sword the last thing you do is run. Because if you do, you can no longer see the attacker or the weapon, all martial arts training tells you this... NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE AGGRESSOR AND THE WEAPON.....EVER! The moment you turn your back, you are at a huge disadvantage. You have much better survival odds to attempt to disarm the attacker and get him into a submission position.

You don't even need martial arts training, you will probably do it by instinct if you were in that position.

In the very short time you get to react to a situation like that, a person needs to make a lightening fast assessment. If you are older and more overweight than your aggressor, you know that running is NOT an option available to you where you are going to come out safe. The only other thing is to close the distance between you and the weapon to reduce its effectiveness., at the same time the attacker is going to move away from you to increase the weapon's effectiveness.

Once the range is reduced, you concentrate solely on immobilizing the weapon, nothing else matters to you at this time. Once you have the weapon under control, then you switch your attention to getting the attacker in a submission point. That is for laymen with no martial arts training. If you are experienced in martial arts, there are techniques to actually take out the person in a way they can't use the weapon. But inexperienced, go for the weapon arm.

What Mr Pilkington did was in my opinion 100% instinctive to close down the distance. He could have possibly done better had he dropped what he was holding, but who knows in the heat of the situation, he didn't have a lot of time gifted to him to gather his thoughts.

To try to allude to something irrational such as quoted above in some sort of absurd attempt to try to turn the blame on the victim is in my view... very profound.

Some readers may find it useful to watch a few youtube videos on how to disarm an attacker, not just with a sword, but with a gun, knife etc... You never know, it may come in useful some day. Probably never will, but 30 minutes could make a big difference in a bad situation, and they are quite interesting videos on there.

His mistake if any was the coffee cup/water bottle/etc. (if true) to the face. That and robbing (by not paying for services) someone who likely only makes US$30-$40 a day at most of $1.70. Again, if true.

Unfortunately we're not going to hear the victim's side of the story.

Maybe the taxi driver had driven him around for hours pretending to be lost, or had a lit yabaa pipe inviting the passenger to join in.

Edited July 8, 2013 by Heng

[nosatisfaction]

A few months ago I looked into the luggage compartment (boot) of a Bangkok taxi while retrieving my friends suitcase. Saw an Aluminum baseball bat. No other sports equipment, just the bat. Probably there to be used as a weapon I'd guess and hopefully for defense and not attack purposes.

Maybe the bus is safer after all.

It's little more difficult to purchase an M16 over here, maybe???????????

[nosatisfaction]

The use of the word "farang" is completely stupid and unnecessary, why can't it be said that a tourist was stabbed, or a foreigner?

Farang = western foreigner. It is not an insult per se.

Not all tourists are farang, not all farang are tourists.

agree, by the way it sounds very unlikely a tourist would go from Bang Na to Skvit Soi 68, any reason, why argue about apparently 51Thb? Channel 3 news.

[Psych01]

Hi guys, Sky news has now covered it, not sure if the link will be allowed, but here: http://news.sky.com/story/1112654/samurai-sword-death-thai-taxi-driver-charged

[klubex99]

The use of the word "farang" is completely stupid and unnecessary, why can't it be said that a tourist was stabbed, or a foreigner?

Farang = western foreigner. It is not an insult per se.

Not all tourists are farang, not all farang are tourists.

agree, by the way it sounds very unlikely a tourist would go from Bang Na to Skvit Soi 68, any reason, why argue about apparently 51Thb? Channel 3 news.

That's because he wasn't a tourist, he lived and worked here for 10 years.

He knew the score. So I think it is highly unlikely that this was merely over a 51 baht fare. I think there is a bit more to this, but don't expect the taxi driver to tell the truth, and I regret that we will never ever find out because the only person who will really know the truth is unable to tell us.

Edited July 8, 2013 by klubex99

[stickylies]

one important fact for all us living here to remember: many thai (men) live under chronic frustration. as i wrote before many times this land of smile (LOS)-thing is a farce since smiling in thailand can also mean "anxiety", "angry", "not-happy-whatsoever", "watch-it-i'm-gonna-break-your-nose". many people, especially in bangkok, work under very stressy circumstances, earning barely enough money to eat and pay for the shitty, noisy room they live in. bkk taxi drivers deal with hectic traffic non-stop and we all know how stressy that can be. lower male working class often sleep too little and drink too much, 2 factors that make you even more edgy. add to that the plain arrogance of so many hi-so/rich thai and u get a deadly coctail. the problem is that these hi-so Thai can humiliate a fellow thai in a much more subtle way than any farang.

and some may laugh with the next phrase BUT i'm serious so think about it: many thai, when alone, are afraid of farang. no kiddin'.

1) they don't understand us (both our behaviour and what we are saying/language)

2) we are much bigger, intimidating

3) they don't know how we will react since we are NOT reacting like thai.

fear can cause dangerous reactions.

Edited July 8, 2013 by stickylies

[brewsterbudgen]

Unfortunately there are nutters everywhere,the whole world is more violent nowadays.I know of farangs who carry weapons too,and no doubt would use them in a so called protecting themselves mode.

So many hotbeds of violence in uk too, take Glasgow for instance,supposed to have more nutters than anywhere in the uk

Glasgow is the same as any other big city in the UK, they have there share of nutters. There are people who walk about and gather together just looking for trouble, looking for innocent people to attack, they don't have to be provoked.

That sort of thing is almost unheard of in Thailand.

Almost unheard of in Thailand? Are you serious? This kind of thing is very common in Thailand. It may not happen in your neighbourhood but it certainly does happen. Your statements all have the same central theme: Thais don't do this kind of thing so it most be something the foreigner did. But almost every day you read about Thais attacking Westerners. Maybe its time people accept the fact that there is a lot of bigotry towards foreigners (and Westerners specifically) and this often spills out in attacks.

By the way, when was the last time you heard of someone getting attacked in the street with a sword back home? I'm willing to bet the cops would take it a little more seriously if a Thai tourist was hacked to death with a sword in Western country -- and the Thai government and media certainly would be up in arms.

This is complete nonsense.

Here you go: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/dec/24/man-arrested-attacking-samurai-sword

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10012089/Shopkeeper-tells-of-terryfing-samurai-sword-attack.html

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/10464749.Man_jailed_for_Samurai_sword_attack/

Edited July 8, 2013 by brewsterbudgen

[angiud]

A man was killed and you loose time and respect joking.

Few post deleted

[Bkungbank]

To be fair for both parties, taxi driver was wrong for killing for just 51 Baht but you think he wants to go to jail for killing . He has to raise his family .

Thailand is the best taxis in the Asia, In Malaysia they have special button hidden under the driver seat and the fare like magic without the passanger knowledge.

I have been taking taxi many times same route with only 2-10 baht different, Thai people may be friendly but please don't provoked them.

In any nation learn to respect people and we will get same in return. Don't think farang are more superior. If you think taxi cheated you ask them to stop and pay fares then took a new one but for my 20 years here no such incident happen.

The taxis driver here very good and polite people.

Look at other Asean countries you will know Thailand still best and safetest country to lived in.

Edited July 8, 2013 by Bkungbank