Foreign tourist beaten unconscious, robbed by Thai gang in Pattaya

[menorah]

Firstly, my sympathy to the victim of this crime and best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.

Secondly;

I recommend the Thai Health Minister be appraised of this story at the earliest as, no doubt, he'll want to check how much it will cost to get the stricken tourist back to full health and what impact this will have on Thailand's beleaguered healthcare budget !

More seriously; tourists to Thailand would be well advised to leave any items of value in their houses back home. 'All that glitters, may not be gold' but in Thailand the villains aren't fussy what they take.

Pedantically;

the story originates from The Pattaya Daily News and if its construction is considered only casually, then it seems to have been written in a foreign language, not English and then translated, with the result it falls well short of an acceptable level.

Seriously, the use of repetition, misspelled words... maybe instead of may be and generally poor phrasing and limited vocabulary, make this an exceptionally dire piece of reporting.

[nakhonandy]

A lot of people knocking Pattaya but the problem is elsewhere.

Pattaya is a big place with lots of tourists so of course it happens more here than Hua Hin for example.

This sort of thing goes on everywhere, at least here they do not kill you which happens in a lot of other places.

With these scum the Police are usually pretty good and catch them, they are 99% uneducated idiots so not difficult really.

Just wish the judges would make the punishment suit the crime!

I have been living in Jomtien for roughly 5 years and have regularly been to Pattaya at night, sometimes early morning.

Never once have I had a problem, neither have my friends!

[spidermike007]

There is so little in the way of crime and punishment here. Thailand is getting a reputation all over the world, as being one of the easiest countries on crime. You can pretty much commit any crime, anytime day or night, with or without witnesses, except anybody except a high ranking politician, and get away with it. Most of the time you will not get arrested. If you do get arrested nearly all the time they will give you a choice of buying you way out of it. And if it does proceed to court, one of those tiny minded, tiny hearted men or women with not a gram of courage in their bodies, nor an ounce of judgment will let you off completely, sentence you and then give you only probation, suspend the sentence, give you a fine of 500 or 1,000 baht, or slap your wrist. That is unless you are a foreigner without cash. So, I ask again where is the deterrent? The fortunate part is that the Thai people are generally not violent. Imaging if this were Honduras, or Mexico, or the US, any of the other countries with relatively high murder rates? Tourism would go directly into the toilet.

So, the question is, when will all this change? Will the Thai authorities get sufficiently embarrassed when 100 embassies worldwide issue tourist warnings about Thailand? Is that the direction all this is headed? It seems like Pattaya is the worst crime spot in Thailand now. Tourist beware. Maybe we should all start carrying loaded pistols? Or mace? Or machetes?

[Emdog]

Here's a radical idea: how about the police get off their asses and out of the police station, go on patrols??? They do it in spades if some big wig comes to town. A camera not watched is no deterrent, and could only be useful AFTER the fact. A live cop on the street might make these psychopaths choose to go elsewhere.

[Rimmer]

Off topic post in over large caps removed

[unanimosity]

whilst you should be able to sit alone on beach road drunk at 3.30 in the morning without any problem but we know that is asking for trouble. More often than not it would have been ladyboys that would have been the attackers. Take care of yourself get drunk with friends.

Who said he was drunk? Sitting and drinking a beer at any hour is not necessarily being drunk? Perhaps, he was unadjusted to the jet lag and couldn't sleep. Your post may say more about you than about him.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Here's a radical idea: how about the police get off their asses and out of the police station, go on patrols??? They do it in spades if some big wig comes to town. A camera not watched is no deterrent, and could only be useful AFTER the fact. A live cop on the street might make these psychopaths choose to go elsewhere.

Negative on that...I prefer the cops stay snoozing comfortably at the station or in their little traffic booths rather than out and about enforcing the dozen or so traffic violations I commit on a daily basis thank you.

[flyingdoc]

I agree that it is despicable.but I would never sit alone on a beach at 2 am, especially in Pattaya!

[movsrus]

One would think that the TAT would be concerning with this kind of behavior- just like the jet ski scams in Phuket. As word gets out in various tourist forums on the web that Thailand is not a safe place to travel visitors will opt for other places that don't have this kind of threat. There are many places in the Philippines which have great beaches, are cheap to stay and are accommodating of foreigners. Thailand makes a lot of money off tourists and to allow this kind of thing to occur will only damage a valuable source of foreign revenue.

Admittedly, TAT can't do anything itself but it has the power behind to scenes to lean on the police to curtail this kind of thing. If the police were to get a few of these punks and send them to the south to help out with the military I think there would be fewer incidences of tourist attack. i don't think the insurgents in the south would be as docile as the drunks they roll on the Phuket beaches.

[OMGImInPattaya]

One would think that the TAT would be concerning with this kind of behavior- just like the jet ski scams in Phuket. As word gets out in various tourist forums on the web that Thailand is not a safe place to travel visitors will opt for other places that don't have this kind of threat. There are many places in the Philippines which have great beaches, are cheap to stay and are accommodating of foreigners. Thailand makes a lot of money off tourists and to allow this kind of thing to occur will only damage a valuable source of foreign revenue.

Admittedly, TAT can't do anything itself but it has the power behind to scenes to lean on the police to curtail this kind of thing. If the police were to get a few of these punks and send them to the south to help out with the military I think there would be fewer incidences of tourist attack. i don't think the insurgents in the south would be as docile as the drunks they roll on the Phuket beaches.

Are you serious...the PHILIPPINES! Petty crime there is much much worse than anywhere in Thailand...it's almost as bad as Compton or south Chicago.

[nycjoe]

Wolves prowling for the weak and careless. Happens everywhere.

[Traveller45]

...I didn't quite get it

Upon arrival they were informed that a gang had attacked a tourist, robbed him and fled the scene. The victim was a foreign man who maybe Russian aged approximately 30-35 his body was battered and bruised and he was unconscious so he wasn’t able to tell the police what the gang looked like.

but surely, before he was beaten unconscious he saw something...?

[kerrysum]

Abra-kada-brah,

Guess Thailand has regressed to what they once, upheld.......

Don't think I would be hanging around at 3:30 AM......

There is an easier way,

Go have some fun,

And go home..........

Know your surroundings,

Oh and yes Thailand,

An apology is definitely appropriate.......

It has changed over the years....

Not the Land I once knew......

But still back then,

We took due diligence,

And handled problems.....

Never been in this hole,

Never wanted to visit it.....

But danger can always lurk surely,

No matter where you are.......

Hope he is better,

And if so... A little wiser....

some great posts from the people who remember,

How it was back then.......

kilosierra

[cbluck58]

WRONG PLACE , WRONG TIME - happens all over the world ....

[Rimmer]

Off topic posts about Vietnam and the Pope removed

[movsrus]

One would think that the TAT would be concerning with this kind of behavior- just like the jet ski scams in Phuket. As word gets out in various tourist forums on the web that Thailand is not a safe place to travel visitors will opt for other places that don't have this kind of threat. There are many places in the Philippines which have great beaches, are cheap to stay and are accommodating of foreigners. Thailand makes a lot of money off tourists and to allow this kind of thing to occur will only damage a valuable source of foreign revenue.

Admittedly, TAT can't do anything itself but it has the power behind to scenes to lean on the police to curtail this kind of thing. If the police were to get a few of these punks and send them to the south to help out with the military I think there would be fewer incidences of tourist attack. i don't think the insurgents in the south would be as docile as the drunks they roll on the Phuket beaches.

Are you serious...the PHILIPPINES! Petty crime there is much much worse than anywhere in Thailand...it's almost as bad as Compton or south Chicago.

I have traveled all over the Philippines from Luzon to Mindanao and never had a problem. Even in Subic City or Angles (the equivalent of Phuket or Pattaya) one doesn't hear stories of tourists getting rolled. While it may happen the frequency is much less than here in Thailand. I agree that going into the Sulu Archipelago is taking a risk and one would be looking for trouble doing it but the Visayas is a much safer place than Pattaya or Phuket.

[transam]

Wouldn't it be great for some of our lads to be in the wings to show this scum how brave they are.

[Patje]

The police are now urgently seeking the offenders to arrest them and prosecute them according to Thai law.

You have to admire the choice of words " according to Thai law" , since when Thailand have a law ? except the one that you basically can do anything you want as long no one sees ....

[Skint]

One would think that the TAT would be concerning with this kind of behavior- just like the jet ski scams in Phuket.  As word gets out in various tourist forums on the web that Thailand is not a safe place to travel visitors will opt for other places that don't have this kind of threat.  There are many places in the Philippines which have great beaches, are cheap to stay and are accommodating of foreigners.  Thailand makes a lot of money off tourists and to allow this kind of thing to occur will only damage a valuable source of foreign revenue.

 

Admittedly, TAT can't do anything itself but it has the power behind to scenes to lean on the police to curtail this kind of thing.  If the police were to get a few of these punks and send them to the south to help out with the military I think there would be fewer incidences of tourist attack.  i don't think the insurgents in the south would be as docile as the drunks they roll on the Phuket beaches.

Are you serious...the PHILIPPINES! Petty crime there is much much worse than anywhere in Thailand...it's almost as bad as Compton or south Chicago.

Philippines is a poor mans Thailand with AC being the worst copy of pattaya I have ever seen.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[timewilltell]

Perhaps people do not expect perfection and a tourist place to be crime free but I think most people expect diligence in catching villains and proper punishment from the courts

[johnnytuc]

Totally agree,with nutcracker I spent my early years in a tough London area, and this sort of thing was a nightly thing, but there was one big difference, if and occasionally they were caught, they got a suitable punishment usually Borstal, oops showing my age.

[colomboserb]

My own experince " cos i am half slav" Russians are very racist when they are drunk. I dont know how many fights betwin russians VS British over "WW2" reasons ...in sri lanka i have experied. And many times also locals getting the angry drunk russians who are not scared to be alone against 10 tiny smal locals....However quantity beats size and a drunk russki

We don't know what the tourist might have said or done to start it.

[Jackson86]

sitting along the beach is dangerous as well? I walked along pattaya beach alone but nothing happened to me. Perhaps I was lucky.

[kranuan]

filthy scum. slap on the wrist for them.

[transam]

We don't know what the tourist might have said or done to start it.

Oh yeh, the guy told a GANG to FO, hmmmmmm, don't think so..............

And if YOU have a ruck and knock a guy out, do YOU then go through their pockets and take their small change .............

Edited November 11, 2013 by transam

[Malthus101]

"3 culprits driving a red Honda Click"

Big league.

[bunuel]

As a long time Pattaya resident, I find this kind of attack sadly predictable in the wake of a massive influx of

down market foreign tourists in any urban area in the world. Rio de Janeiro, Kingston, Nairobi, Capetown, Mexico City, Rome, London , New York, and Los Angeles are all big cities where you can get into trouble just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have written about travel safety in the past in these countries, and the rule of thumb is to be street smart - though that mean different things in different places - and some places are best avoided altogether, like Mexico City and Kingston,since I find the rewards there do not compensate for the risks.

LOS is fortunately nowhere near as bad as those places - for the moment. However, when I see the poorly planned tourism development in Pattaya, there is definite reason for concern. It reminds me of a story about a sudden and inexplicable surge in shark attacks in the Brazilian city of Recife. Bathers on the city beaches were being attacked in shallow water, and eventually people stopped going to the beach. Then somebody did some investigating and discovered that a pig slaughterhouse had been dumping offal in an estuary leading straight to the beaches - just enough to send the bull sharks into a feeding frenzy.

The authorities realized they could hardly blame the sharks - or the bathers. Instead, they shut down the factory. Here in LOS, one cannot blame the victim or the police - the problem is the massive influx of mass tourism in urban centers like Pattaya. People from different cultures need time to get to know one another, and adjust accordingly. Mass tourism makes that impossible, and this resentment and anger in the host country, which can feel invaded. This is the current situation in Pattaya, and short-sighted greed on the part of "entrepreneurs" and some Thai authorities is to blame for creating the situation.

Since any change in tourism strategy is unlikely, the only immediate solution is to teach tourists to be street smart. This means different things to different people, but safe to say that hanging out in bars in the wee hours is asking for trouble - unless you are really sure of your surroundings.

[Jackson86]

As a long time Pattaya resident, I find this kind of attack sadly predictable in the wake of a massive influx of

down market foreign tourists in any urban area in the world. Rio de Janeiro, Kingston, Nairobi, Capetown, Mexico City, Rome, London , New York, and Los Angeles are all big cities where you can get into trouble just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have written about travel safety in the past in these countries, and the rule of thumb is to be street smart - though that mean different things in different places - and some places are best avoided altogether, like Mexico City and Kingston,since I find the rewards there do not compensate for the risks.

LOS is fortunately nowhere near as bad as those places - for the moment. However, when I see the poorly planned tourism development in Pattaya, there is definite reason for concern. It reminds me of a story about a sudden and inexplicable surge in shark attacks in the Brazilian city of Recife. Bathers on the city beaches were being attacked in shallow water, and eventually people stopped going to the beach. Then somebody did some investigating and discovered that a pig slaughterhouse had been dumping offal in an estuary leading straight to the beaches - just enough to send the bull sharks into a feeding frenzy.

The authorities realized they could hardly blame the sharks - or the bathers. Instead, they shut down the factory. Here in LOS, one cannot blame the victim or the police - the problem is the massive influx of mass tourism in urban centers like Pattaya. People from different cultures need time to get to know one another, and adjust accordingly. Mass tourism makes that impossible, and this resentment and anger in the host country, which can feel invaded. This is the current situation in Pattaya, and short-sighted greed on the part of "entrepreneurs" and some Thai authorities is to blame for creating the situation.

Since any change in tourism strategy is unlikely, the only immediate solution is to teach tourists to be street smart. This means different things to different people, but safe to say that hanging out in bars in the wee hours is asking for trouble - unless you are really sure of your surroundings.

I feel that farangs are more likely to get attacked or robbed in pattaya or Thailand in general. I'm not a farang but I guess Thai people generally accept me into their society probably coz I'm asian.

[boone57]

In the seediest part of the country, in the middle of the night, alone, with a beer in his hand. In my opinion that's about as smart as pearl diving with a pocket full of chum.

[unanimosity]

One would think that the TAT would be concerning with this kind of behavior- just like the jet ski scams in Phuket. As word gets out in various tourist forums on the web that Thailand is not a safe place to travel visitors will opt for other places that don't have this kind of threat. There are many places in the Philippines which have great beaches, are cheap to stay and are accommodating of foreigners. Thailand makes a lot of money off tourists and to allow this kind of thing to occur will only damage a valuable source of foreign revenue.

Admittedly, TAT can't do anything itself but it has the power behind to scenes to lean on the police to curtail this kind of thing. If the police were to get a few of these punks and send them to the south to help out with the military I think there would be fewer incidences of tourist attack. i don't think the insurgents in the south would be as docile as the drunks they roll on the Phuket beaches.

You may be operating under the assumption that TAT and the police are of a different moral and cultural mindset from the punks, when actually, it appears that they are all cut from the same cloth.