No good deed: Chiang Mai ex-pat shot by man he tried to help
By Casey Hynes

CHIANG MAI: -- The night Nic Brown got shot seemed at first a night like any other. The 35-year-old Canadian ex-pat was out with his girlfriend and some friends. The group was having a few drinks at Baan Din, a small bar in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Brown had even played the part of the Good Samaritan, helping break up a fight between a drunk Thai man and the Baan Din bar staff. After seeing the man out of the bar, Brown and his friend Ryan Powell lingered outside the bar, discussing the brawl.

They say no good deed goes unpunished, and that seemed the unfortunate case that night. The drunk man returned to the bar with a gun and opened fire as he drove past.

“I’m in the doorway perfectly framed, wearing a white t-shirt, holding up a beer,” Brown recalled. “And then suddenly five shots ring out, bam bam bam bam bam. And I got hit.”

Looking for trouble

Don Praweenmeth, who has confessed to the shooting, had been making a nuisance of himself at Baan Din that night, according to reports.

Full story: http://asiancorrespondent.com/111038/chiang-mai-ex-pat-shot-by-man-he-tried-to-help/

-- ASIA Correspondent 2013-07-25

Ah the mental clinic route he will be trying to do a moo ham. There is no justice here when the rich are involved. All because of the corruption that a large part of the farang expats find great (its so easy to pay a bribe to drive fast so much better as back home.. not realizing that its all part of the system that makes sure there is no justice here)

Isn't this an old story (about a person who didn't know better than to intervene in a Thai fracas -- perhaps an unfortunate person with good intentions who maybe doesn't understand the importance to Thais of saving face)?

Breaking up a pub fight does not constitute being a good samaratin.

Breaking up a pub fight does not constitute being a good samaratin.

Done it countless times. Wouldn't interfere in Thailand tho as it appears Thai's don't appreciate others medling.

Breaking up a pub fight does not constitute being a good samaratin.

I totally agree with this. It's not a good deed to interfere in such a way in Thailand.

Considering that the shooter was drunk he can hardly be held accountable now can he?

Can we list this under Yinlucks "Thainess Promotion?"

Considering that the shooter was drunk he can hardly be held accountable now can he?

Probably not in Thailand but elsewhere that defence doesn't work.

Considering that the shooter was drunk he can hardly be held accountable now can he?

I'm sure this was meant as joke, but seriously if he presents the defence that he was drunk and the farang caused him to loose face.. it's not really a defence but it may be enough of a mitigating factor to see him walk free in a couple of years.

Rule number 1 to live here as a foreigner. Always stay out of Thai conflicts especially in the bar scene. Last week a Thai was beating up his wife in front of a fuel station Bang Na. Your instinct says to give help. Later other Thais guys hit him with a brick on his scull.

Clearly the perpetrator has influence and expects to escape punishment.

Corruption rules. Jokers are wild.

Considering that the shooter was drunk he can hardly be held accountable now can he?

Wow, that's some pretty twisted humour.

People can't really think that way!!!

Can we list this under Yinlucks "Thainess Promotion?"

Of course!

“Me and Nic went outside to talk and I saw my girlfriend Daytona with a very drunk Thai man,” Powell said via Facebook message. “She introduced him to me. He didn’t [seem] too terribly grabby but did seem very drunk. We returned to the table and the drunk Thai man followed.

Probably more to the story than reported.

Could this place be like Syria they are killing each other and no one wants to interfer.

Helping a drunk Thai. Good grief.

Daytona?

Canucks should stay away from Chiang Mai!

Ya know what...who gives a rats ass about the shooter...he's in a mental hospital supposedly and will soon be in

court...also supposedly...I hope he burns. Hoverver Mr. Brown...seriously injured and at present paralysed in

hospital is facing a huge problem...finances...and recovery. This is not an unusual story...many tourists have no

insurance and many insurance companies most likely do not have a clause/option for coverage if one get's shot.

Mr. Brown just tried to help and along with others got shot...by a drunk local twit (rich or poor who cares) in a

drive by shooting. I've fired off some Baht for his fundraiser...perhaps others reading this thread should do likewise

instead of speculating about the outcome or other matters of this incident...because that's all irrelevant now ain't it.

it proves one thing .... anyone with or without mental disorder can carry a gun in Thailand ......I would be curious to know how many unofficially own guns are around ...... even one of my staff once shows me his gun ....

there is no honor at all, there cowards.

The dangers of visiting or living in Thailand ought to be well publicised on international media. Only then, when it hits the pocket of the tourist-dependent areas, will policing and law be enforced.

Considering that the shooter was drunk he can hardly be held accountable now can he?

I'm sure this was meant as joke, but seriously if he presents the defence that he was drunk and the farang caused him to loose face.. it's not really a defence but it may be enough of a mitigating factor to see him walk free in a couple of years.

It's amazing how many people think everything that happens in Thailand depends on someone losing face and that losing face (i.e. being insulted, humiliated, falsely accused, etc) in the west never provokes people, especially drunken people, to commit crimes.

People have used sugar highs (The Twinkie Defense) to defend themselves in the west and intoxication is certainly often offered as a defense, with varying degrees of success.

Generally, an intoxicated person is incapable of acting as an ordinary prudent and cautious person would act under similar conditions. In recognition of this factor, the law may allow intoxication to be used as a defense to certain crimes. In many jurisdictions, intoxication is a defense to specific-intent crimes. The underlying rationale is that the intoxicated individual cannot possess the requisite mental state necessary to establish the offense.

Other jurisdictions recognize it as a defense to general-intent crimes as well. For example, although rape is commonly considered a general-intent crime, there are states in which extreme intoxication may be alleged as a defense. It is unlikely, however, that the defense will be successful in such cases absent proof that the defendant was so intoxicated that he or she could not form the intent to have intercourse.

In Homicide cases, intoxication is relevant to negate premeditation and deliberation necessary for first-degree murder. When the defense is successfully interposed, it will reduce a charge of first-degree murder to second-degree murder.

When a person is forced to consume an intoxicant against his or her will, the person is involuntarily intoxicated. In most jurisdictions, the defense of involuntary intoxication is treated similarly to the Insanity Defense. For example, an intoxicated person who cannot distinguish right from wrong at the time of committing the wrongful act would have a valid defense.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc.

Breaking up a pub fight does not constitute being a good samaratin.

I totally agree with this. It's not a good deed to interfere in such a way in Thailand.

Seems to me that anyone standing outside the pub was going to get shot. The gunman couldn't have been too drunk if he recognised the guy who broke up the fight, drove past and zapped him.

No business getting involved in spats...especially in bars.

Ah the mental clinic route he will be trying to do a moo ham. There is no justice here when the rich are involved. All because of the corruption that a large part of the farang expats find great (its so easy to pay a bribe to drive fast so much better as back home.. not realizing that its all part of the system that makes sure there is no justice here)

So true. We like corruption- when it benefits us...

The dangers of visiting or living in Thailand ought to be well publicised on international media. Only then, when it hits the pocket of the tourist-dependent areas, will policing and law be enforced.

If someone has to be told by the "international media" that it can be dangerous to get mixed up in a drunken brawl he probably shouldn't be allowed to cross a street unassisted, let alone travel overseas without his mother.

I suppose the international media could also highlight the number of deaths & injuries and the amount of property damage caused by drunken football hooligans in Europe so that no one will travel there until each "fan" is assigned a police nanny to protect him.

And now a good man is paralyzed. Way to go SOMCHAI!

Hi, in my profession (I'm a Krav Maga instructor and teach self-defence as part of that profession) we advocate to our students a firm policy of mind your own business unless it's family/friend situation of course. The best defence is what I call "defence by distance" be somewhere else - if you're not there you can't get hurt can you? If you'e in a place and you think somethings going to kick off. Leave, immediately. If this Canadian chap had just left when the fighting started he wouldn't be crippled now. I feel for him and his family, it's a terrible thing. But to everybody else reading this, remember "defence by distance" Be as far away as possible from this type of place and live to drink a beer another day!