Two young children narrowly avoid being kidnapped on a Thailand holiday

[mauGR1]

Strange story.. It seems a mentally disturbed woman more than a kidnapper.

Why can't she have been both? I.e., a mentally disturbed kidnapper.

Although it can be discussed that all kidnappers are mentally disturbed....

How many chances do you think she had to be successful ?

0 in 1 million IMHO.

[phantomfiddler]

I don,t get it ! Since when has it been a crime, or even strange, for a woman to talk to some children, especially on a ferry ? and there seems to have been no attempt at dragging the children away, at least in the original article. Should we all go about our lives terrified to talk to anyone for fear of being labelled a kidnapper ? A load of **** in my opinion.

[whybother]

I don,t get it ! Since when has it been a crime, or even strange, for a woman to talk to some children, especially on a ferry ? and there seems to have been no attempt at dragging the children away, at least in the original article. Should we all go about our lives terrified to talk to anyone for fear of being labelled a kidnapper ? A load of **** in my opinion.

I think you need to also click on the link. The OP is just part of the story. "Fair use" and all that.

[Pui]

may sound crazy,(and the whole thing sounds crazy),

but the way it happens sounds more like a demented woman who BELIEVED she was rescuing the kids...

with all the stuff about Madeleine MC Cann resursfacing,plus that little blonde girl Anna being discovered in Greece it could get into an unstable persons head...

Trying to get into the psychology of the perpetrator is pure speculation and somewhat irrelevant. The real concern is the Police didn't follow up the complaint. The woman placed another person child in a taxi. Thats a very serious offense and should have consequnces.

If she's overstayed her visa the Police would not have hesitated to arrest her but when it comes to real crime they're not interested.

What a frightening experience that must have been.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Pui

[ThaiFelix]

The Police were disinterested because there was no money in it for them.

The father is 71 and looks old while the children are very young, perhaps that is what triggered the incident.

The alleged kidnapper seems to be a do-gooder and tried to intervene to 'rescue' the children, thinking there was no way the couple were the real parents given their age. With Thailand's notorious reputation as a trafficking hub and destination for pedophiles it appears this woman was trying to act like a heroine, with disastrous consequences.

Doubt it was a serious attempt to kidnap, just an unstable, opinionated woman intervening in a situation she had created of her own making.

The father is 71 and looks old while the children are very young, perhaps that is what triggered the incident.

For Crist's sake he was the grandfather

If he was indeed the grandfather why was he dressed in drag with a wig and sunglasses and why would he overcharge his own family for the taxi fare??

[Carrerakiss]

I don,t get it ! Since when has it been a crime, or even strange, for a woman to talk to some children, especially on a ferry ? and there seems to have been no attempt at dragging the children away, at least in the original article. Should we all go about our lives terrified to talk to anyone for fear of being labelled a kidnapper ? A load of **** in my opinion.

You don't "get it" because you haven't read the whole article. Get it!

[Carrerakiss]

may sound crazy,(and the whole thing sounds crazy),

but the way it happens sounds more like a demented woman who BELIEVED she was rescuing the kids...

with all the stuff about Madeleine MC Cann resursfacing,plus that little blonde girl Anna being discovered in Greece it could get into an unstable persons head...

Trying to get into the physiology of the perpetrator is pure speculation and somewhat irrelevant. The real concern is the Police didn't follow up the complaint. The woman placed another person child in a taxi. Thats a very serious offense and should have consequnces.

If she's overstayed her visa the Police would not have hesitated to arrest her but when it comes to real crime they're not interested.

What a frightening experience that must have been.

Exactly.

[HeijoshinCool]

*sigh*

[Lancelot]

Not much of a news story but the headline certainly pulled everybody in to Thaivisa. Good job, George!

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

No wonder crime is increasing here; even some expats in Thailand feel that attempted kidnapping is no big deal.

Shame on the couple for making the Land of Smiles "look not good..."

Beam me up Scotty

[TomTao]

So let me get this straight, the parents were sitting resonably close by, the older child of the Strange' spoke to the strange woman for several miniutes before being joined by her younger sibling, they both then spoke to the strange woman for another ten minutes. Did the parents think to get up from where they were sitting and ask the stranger her name, or even bring the children back to where they were sitting? Or were they otherwise occupied with things other than protecting thier children?

[whybother]

So let me get this straight, the parents were sitting resonably close by, the older child of the Strange' spoke to the strange woman for several miniutes before being joined by her younger sibling, they both then spoke to the strange woman for another ten minutes. Did the parents think to get up from where they were sitting and ask the stranger her name, or even bring the children back to where they were sitting? Or were they otherwise occupied with things other than protecting thier children?

Why did they need protecting while they were on the ferry?

[MMarlow]

I don't believe it. Sounds like a tall story to me.

Who's to say that the grandfather isn't the 'kidnapper',

and the lady who looks like a school teacher is in fact his wife,

and she wants her children back!

So that would mean the Stranges are in fact

the kidnappers and the grandfather isn't really the grandfather

he's actually trying to get his own kids back - so that means he's the father!

Anyone pote Thai? call the police.

You're a bigger nutter than the alleged kidnapper.

[MMarlow]

Oh my god not another one that has not read my apologies----#####Please read the whole posts they will explain why I posted as I did.

Please, give it a rest, you are not obliged to apologise to every clown on here, it's getting tedious. If you do continue, please stop telling people to read all of the posts! If you had done that in the first place that would have saved us all a lot of grief.

[MMarlow]

A load of **** in my opinion.

As is your (badly informed opinion).

[TomTao]

So let me get this straight, the parents were sitting resonably close by, the older child of the Strange' spoke to the strange woman for several miniutes before being joined by her younger sibling, they both then spoke to the strange woman for another ten minutes. Did the parents think to get up from where they were sitting and ask the stranger her name, or even bring the children back to where they were sitting? Or were they otherwise occupied with things other than protecting thier children?

 

Why did they need protecting while they were on the ferry?

Young children have a habit of having accidents, and on a ferry there is always the risk of falling overboard. How many children do you think have been abducted in situations where they were not being supervised by an attentive parent, and had the ferry been loaded with a lot of passengers it would have been easy for the children to be 'lost' in the crowd, and if someone had wanted to lure the children away just before the ferry berthed they would have tried to be among the first ashore with the kids while the parents did thier best headless chook impersonation on the ferry looking for the children that weren't being supervised by them.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Loptr]

The Police were disinterested because there was no money in it for them.

The father is 71 and looks old while the children are very young, perhaps that is what triggered the incident.

The alleged kidnapper seems to be a do-gooder and tried to intervene to 'rescue' the children, thinking there was no way the couple were the real parents given their age. With Thailand's notorious reputation as a trafficking hub and destination for pedophiles it appears this woman was trying to act like a heroine, with disastrous consequences.

Doubt it was a serious attempt to kidnap, just an unstable, opinionated woman intervening in a situation she had created of her own making.

Odd how you know everything about this incident without even reading the article.

Barry Strange are the children's grandfather, he is not their father.

[Sealbash]

The big worry is that the Police where not interested.  Surely the attempted kidnapping of children is a serious crime anywhere? Whether the perpetrator of the offence is foreign or not. Its every parents worst nightmare.

Or, just perhaps, the police listened to the entire story and, just perhaps, it differed from what was reported in the media? perhaps, there was absolutely nothing to the story? Perhaps? But then if it is in a newspaper, or on the internet, it must be true. And gives us a chance to bash Thailand, Thai police, Thai government....if only this happened in pattaya

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Loptr]

When the family got to their resort they reported the incident to the local tourist police, but they appeared disinterested when they were told the woman was not Thai.

And there we have it. Thailand will always be a 3rd world shitehole until such time that this attitude changes.

[Hugh Jarse]

The Police were disinterested because there was no money in it for them.

The father is 71 and looks old while the children are very young, perhaps that is what triggered the incident.

The alleged kidnapper seems to be a do-gooder and tried to intervene to 'rescue' the children, thinking there was no way the couple were the real parents given their age. With Thailand's notorious reputation as a trafficking hub and destination for pedophiles it appears this woman was trying to act like a heroine, with disastrous consequences.

Doubt it was a serious attempt to kidnap, just an unstable, opinionated woman intervening in a situation she had created of her own making.

Or perhaps, you live in 'Cloud Cuckoo Land"! How can you assert : "Doubt it was was a serious attempt to kidnap" A highly inflamatory post me thinks especially if parents read it.

[mdmayes]

I don't believe it. Sounds like a tall story to me.

Who's to say that the grandfather isn't the 'kidnapper',

and the lady who looks like a school teacher is in fact his wife,

and she wants her children back!

So that would mean the Stranges are in fact

the kidnappers and the grandfather isn't really the grandfather

he's actually trying to get his own kids back - so that means he's the father!

Anyone pote Thai? call the police.

...and then an ufo landed...(get real buddy)

[Tchooptip]

The Police were disinterested because there was no money in it for them.

The father is 71 and looks old while the children are very young, perhaps that is what triggered the incident.

The alleged kidnapper seems to be a do-gooder and tried to intervene to 'rescue' the children, thinking there was no way the couple were the real parents given their age. With Thailand's notorious reputation as a trafficking hub and destination for pedophiles it appears this woman was trying to act like a heroine, with disastrous consequences.

Doubt it was a serious attempt to kidnap, just an unstable, opinionated woman intervening in a situation she had created of her own making.

Not the father on the picture. Milly and Alana Strange with their grandad Barry Lewis

[ginjag]

Oh my god not another one that has not read my apologies----#####Please read the whole posts they will explain why I posted as I did.

Please, give it a rest, you are not obliged to apologise to every clown on here, it's getting tedious. If you do continue, please stop telling people to read all of the posts! If you had done that in the first place that would have saved us all a lot of grief.

Tell the other posters for not reading posts sent, sorry but they are the tedious ones, (teacher) Ha. I only read the page 1 topic that's all I knew, as I just arrived back from the UK. so thanks for reading the tedious posts of mine -I'll give you credit-you read them. by the way are you a control freak ??? Bye friend.

[unanimosity]

Of course a super frightening incident but the abductor sounds more like she was a loony tune than anything else.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You should join the BIB, you'd fit right in.

[unanimosity]

I don't believe it. Sounds like a tall story to me.

Who's to say that the grandfather isn't the 'kidnapper',

and the lady who looks like a school teacher is in fact his wife,

and she wants her children back!

So that would mean the Stranges are in fact

the kidnappers and the grandfather isn't really the grandfather

he's actually trying to get his own kids back - so that means he's the father!

Anyone pote Thai? call the police.

...and then an ufo landed...(get real buddy)

Actually, UFOs have more basis in truth.

[ginjag]

A load of **** in my opinion.

As is your (badly informed opinion).

The first 3 posts your only comments are to advise people what to do, or how wrong they are. Whats your take on the topic ??? will be interesting I am sure .

[goatfarmer]

It is a strange story, and probably unlikely that the BIB got anywhere with investigating it. Thankfully nothing happened, but it is worrying.

Worrying would be an understatement but TIT and the realm is not a safe family tourist destination any longer.

Isn't that a fact. I have stopped encouraging family to visit me here for a few years now. Just not safe.

Nonsense. Nowhere is safe from loonies. One has to keep one's eyes on children in crowded places at all times. If there were three adults in the group how did it transpire that none of them was watching the children during the taxi procuring process?

[goatfarmer]

and the lesson is: Never become a cheap Charlie or your children will be kidnapped.

No. The lesson is keep your eyes on your children at all times in crowded places. It doesn't take much effort to hold a child's hand while you are talking to a taxi driver.

[Baerboxer]

Read the full article, it didn't happen on the ferry.

Perhaps you should read it all again more carefully too. The 71 year old is the maternal grandfather !

[Benmart]

Bizarre is right.

Blizzard are some of the comments advocating vigilante violence, descriptions of police inaction when not in possession of the facts, pedophile havens, etc.. While I can understand the sensitive nature of child abduction, the mere topic and this type of news "story" invokes what reads as hysteria from some posters.

I would rather gather the facts, which in many cases is difficult for a lay person to do let alone law enforcement officials, and see if this were a custodial or mental health related issue.

I wasn't there, I'm not related to anyone that was involved, and I don't know anymore than anyone else that read the story.

[soi41]

Not much of a news story but the headline certainly pulled everybody in to Thaivisa. Good job, George!

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Yes it certainly got all the Thaivisa loonies out from under their bridges!

Newsworthy=0 Entertainment=10+

Keep them coming guys!!