Briton Shot Dead In Pattaya

[george]

English man shot dead in, what appears to be, a random armed robbery in Pong sub-district

Source: http://www.pattayacitynews.net

PATTAYA: -- At 4.30 am on Wednesday, Police Sub-Lieutenant Choosak from Pattaya Police Station was called to the front of the Jeab Mini-mart in Pong sub-district after receiving information of a foreign man who had been fatally shot at the location. Police arrived and inspected the body of Mr. Steven Parkinson aged 47 from England. Witnesses mentioned that a total of four shots were heard but it appears that only two hit the intended target. Mr. Parkinson sustained two gun shot wounds to his face.

Details of the shooting were provided by Khun Sujira aged 32 who works at a bar on Walking Street. She claims that Mr. Parkinson took her from the bar and the pair left South Pattaya on his motorbike, a Blue Honda Phantom. They made their way to Soi Siam Country Club in Central Pattaya and drove along the road towards Pong sub-district, some 3kms from the Sukumvit Road. Four Thai men on two motorbikes approached the pair from behind and one of the passengers produced a gun and ordered Mr. Parkinson to stop. He decided not to comply with the shooters instructions and the shooter expelled four shots.

The bike fell to the ground and Khun Sujira realized that Mr. Parkinson was dead. The four men restrained Khun Sujira at this point and stole items of value from her and the dead man including a mobile phone, 1,500 Baht in cash and a necklace and ring. A total of 20,000 Baht’s worth of items were stolen from the woman along with other undisclosed items stolen from Mr. Parkinson as he lie dead on the street.

Police Lieutenant General Jongrak, the Region 2 Commander of Police was called in to oversee this serious case, and early on Wednesday Morning he spoke with a friend of the dead man Mr. David Cettevell and Mr. Parkinson’s girlfriend, Khun Siripon aged 24 who mentioned that she was currently living in a hotel and not with Mr. Parkinson because of problems in their relationship. No financial problems or anything else which could suggest a motive for the attack was revealed by the pair.

The Police General believes this case was a random act of armed theft and the crime was not pre-meditated but Police will investigate all possibilities as they urgently hunt for the gang of four men who committed this horrific crime. The British Embassy in Bangkok are also conducting their own independent investigation into this case and if we receive any updates to this story we will bring them to you here on Pattaya City News.

--Pattaya City News 2006-05-03

[dezeure]

Poor guy man. I hope they find the killers and throw them in jail to rott away. Makes you think twice about going home at night...

By the way two shots in the head is not just shooting at random. That's shooting with the intention of killing!!!

Welcome to the land of smiles...

[britmaveric]

It's an obvious hit/revenge act - he complied with their demands and they shot him 4x connected twice in the face.

[bkkmadness]

It's an obvious hit/revenge act - he complied with their demands and they shot him 4x connected twice in the face.

He didn't comply with their demands Brit. Lokks like he tried to drive off and they started shooting.

produced a gun and ordered Mr. Parkinson to stop. He decided not to comply with the shooters instructions and the shooter expelled four shots.

[wolf5370]

If they wanted him to stop, why not shoot the bike? The shots were intended to kill.

If they were intending to kill him so they could not be recognised, why leave the girl alive?

If they were just after robbing him, why kill him?

Seems possible they were intending to kill him and the theft was a bonus.

Of course it could just be incompetance on the part of the mugger with the gun.

They say they are checking other possibilites (the digruntled GF? Upset someone in the bar? whatever) - I just hope they do, 'cos it smells like fish on a hot day to me.

[bkkmadness]

They say they are checking other possibilites (the digruntled GF? Upset someone in the bar? whatever) - I just hope they do, 'cos it smells like fish on a hot day to me.

If you reead this original post in the Pattaya section or perhaps it was merged in there is a background story to this case. Apparently the victim had previous trouble with a bike getting stolen in which he caught the theifs and they got banged up for it, so revenge might not be too far from the truth.

[Toni]

again Pattaya! I am glad that I don't live in that place!

[britmaveric]

Ok he didnt comply - missed the not. It's an obvious revenge case. Shame none the less.

[Maigo6]

again Pattaya! I am glad that I don't live in that place!

Toni yes, Pattaya is getting pretty bad now.

I dunno what's happened, maybe it's just cos there has been 2 in a week, but there seems to be a major problem in Pattaya concerning crime.

[ray23]

You know when I made my move to live here, I had been married to Filipina for 14 years and the P.I was definetly on my mind. I choose Thialand because of the level of violence in the P.I. I'm beginning to wonder if moving here made any real difference.

As it turns out there are South American countries where immigrtion is much easier, Ecuador for one. But you the level of violence in the South American countries can be very high, I wonder if any higher then what we see on a daily basis here in Thailand?

[Noel]

again Pattaya! I am glad that I don't live in that place!

You are not the only one...

[VTR1000]

Poor guy man. I hope they find the killers and throw them in jail to rott away. Makes you think twice about going home at night...

Poor guy indeed. My condolences to his family and friends. It seems 'dezeure' that you're the only one here with any compassion. The rest on this thread have so far come up with all the reasons/answers as to why this terrible crime happened without any real evidence being put forward.

As one person put it -

It's an obvious revenge case.

Really? Please tell me how you came to that conclusion Sherlock!

[taxexile]

life has always been cheap in this country , and thailand has , for a long time , had one of the worlds highest gun related murder rates.

foriegners have usually been left alone and crime against foriegners until recently was rare.

but i believe there is a wave of resentment slowly building up against foriegners here , and that hatred plays a large part in the crimes.

talking to thais here , and these are mostly middle class thais , i am left in no doubt that the behaviour of some of us , and especially the behaviour of the in your face stereotypical loutish drinker and the grubby retiree type that frequents resorts here , is one of the causes of that resentment.

an increase in property and land prices is another cause of resentment and jealousy.

most people who have this resentment do nothing about it , its just a nasty feeling they have towards foriegners.

thai males from the lower echelons of society here are however very different and it doesnt take much to bring them to violence.

add drink and unprincipled women into the mix , as often happens , and violence is never far from the surface.

poor detective work and evidence gathering by the police and the quick disappearance of the culprit and reluctance of witnesses to come forward means that criminals have a good chance of getting away with their crimes.

thais have always tolerated foriegners in their country, up to a point.

read the history of the foriegn presence in this country in centuries gone by to see what happens when foriegners overstep the mark and lose the respect of their hosts.

i believe foriegners here now are overstepping the mark on a regular basis , in aspects of behaviour and attitude and lack of respect and although this murder victim may not have behaved in any way untoward , he may have been a victim of the general feeling that is welling up towards us here.

what could have been a robbery with a punch or two , or a revenge attack with a punch or two , ends up being a murder.

because we are starting to be seen , by some , as worthless here now.

history often repeats itself.

[jaapfries]

again Pattaya! I am glad that I don't live in that place!

You are not the only one...

================================================================

You're both not 1/2 as glad as us "True-Pattayans" !!!!

Please stay in your safe-haven of "Nakhom Nowhere" and give Pattaya a wide berth, okay ? You're doing a lot of people a great favour by acting thus !

Proud Pattayan !

[britmaveric]

Uh Howard from PCN told us it was the same people who he banged up last time. Now being a bright lad that you are - can't you make the connection this isn't a coincidence?

[davethailand]

again Pattaya! I am glad that I don't live in that place!

You are not the only one...

================================================================

You're both not 1/2 as glad as us "True-Pattayans" !!!!

Please stay in your safe-haven of "Nakhom Nowhere" and give Pattaya a wide berth, okay ? You're doing a lot of people a great favour by acting thus !

Proud Pattayan !

Agreed.

I don't reckon this is a revenge for the first robbery too be honest

[kkf123]

It seems very unlikely that this crime was random.

First off all, he was driving on his moto when they told him to stop? <deleted>? Did they pull up next to him like in Mission Impossible III?

If he sped off, wouldnt his girl friend have fallen off the bike, gotten injuried?

Where is their motive to shoot him in the head with the intention of killing him?

The chances of this being random seem very unlikely. Pattaya may be a dangerous place, but it isnt that dangerous. All of these stories you read involve someone being killed by people they knew, so why expect this one is any different?

[qualtrough]

Ray23, Pattaya is in a league of its own. The few times I have been there I felt like I was visiting a foreign country, and I live in Thailand. Having said that, I think Thailand, including Pattaya, has a long, long way to go before it catches up to the crime levels in the Philippines (I lived there two years). Even if the two countries were on a par as far as crime levels the Filipino cuisine would rule out a move there for most people.

I expect that this will turn out not to have been a random crime after all, not that it makes much difference to the victim and his friends/loved ones. Since there were 4 assailants and apparently no VIPs involved I am sure the cops will round them up in short order.

[VTR1000]

Uh Howard from PCN told us it was the same people who he banged up last time. Now being a bright lad that you are - can't you make the connection this isn't a coincidence?

PCN being the bastion of journalism that it is, I'll still rather wait until all the facts are out before I jump to any hasty conclusions - bit like the rabbit and the tortoise uh Brit?

life has always been cheap in this country , and thailand has , for a long time , had one of the worlds highest gun related murder rates.

foriegners have usually been left alone and crime against foriegners until recently was rare.

but i believe there is a wave of resentment slowly building up against foriegners here , and that hatred plays a large part in the crimes.

talking to thais here , and these are mostly middle class thais , i am left in no doubt that the behaviour of some of us , and especially the behaviour of the in your face stereotypical loutish drinker and the grubby retiree type that frequents resorts here , is one of the causes of that resentment.

an increase in property and land prices is another cause of resentment and jealousy.

most people who have this resentment do nothing about it , its just a nasty feeling they have towards foriegners.

thai males from the lower echelons of society here are however very different and it doesnt take much to bring them to violence.

add drink and unprincipled women into the mix , as often happens , and violence is never far from the surface.

poor detective work and evidence gathering by the police and the quick disappearance of the culprit and reluctance of witnesses to come forward means that criminals have a good chance of getting away with their crimes.

thais have always tolerated foriegners in their country, up to a point.

read the history of the foriegn presence in this country in centuries gone by to see what happens when foriegners overstep the mark and lose the respect of their hosts.

i believe foriegners here now are overstepping the mark on a regular basis , in aspects of behaviour and attitude and lack of respect and although this murder victim may not have behaved in any way untoward , he may have been a victim of the general feeling that is welling up towards us here.

what could have been a robbery with a punch or two , or a revenge attack with a punch or two , ends up being a murder.

because we are starting to be seen , by some , as worthless here now.

A good post Tax.

[monty]

Bit strange...

I live in that area (and a few other forum members as well), it's quite a bit out of Pattaya...

But I haven't heard any rumour about this during the day, and news like this normally travels like wildfire on a windy day in our neighbourhood. My GF knows quite a lot of the older local populace, but not a hint that anything untowards happened last night...Looks like they already tried to keep it quit...

[pipchatel]

Well, here is a perfect reason I chose to live in the Rural north (Lampang) In London this crime is a basic Muging, but at least they dont (normally) murder. But here is the truth, Pattaya, Hue hin, Phucket. Bkk, C M ,will see a lot more of this type of crime, as young thais see rich pickings and dissapear into the night, Poor Thailand! Nuf said

pipchatel

[bulmercke]

This is a shocking case.

IMHO it's got all the hallmarks of a revenge killing - particularly there being two motorcycles and four individuals involved in the murder.

If my suspicions are correct and this was, indeed, a revenge attack - then Steve Parkinson was a brave and courageous man who stood up for himself

And he most certainly didn't deserve to be shot like a dog in a Pattaya side road for taking on his attackers.

My condolences go out to his family and friends.

There is more additional info. available here on the original thread - Pattaya forum - (Hope this doesn't contravene forum rules)

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=68109&st=0

[lannarebirth]

Nothing good ever happens at 4AM.

[Mobi]

Bit strange...

I live in that area (and a few other forum members as well), it's quite a bit out of Pattaya...

But I haven't heard any rumour about this during the day, and news like this normally travels like wildfire on a windy day in our neighbourhood. My GF knows quite a lot of the older local populace, but not a hint that anything untowards happened last night...Looks like they already tried to keep it quit...

Monty,

I'm confused. Where is Jeab Mini Mart? The report said the incident happened 3 kms from Sukhumvit, yet Pong is about 12kms away. Can you pin point where it happened? None of the locals around here have heard about it.

This is another terrible tragedy - whatever the underlying motive.

I know that I'm probably wasting my time, but any chance the Pattaya bashers can keep their comments off this thread? How about a bit of dignity for the bereaved? There are loads of threads here where you can bash away to your hearts' content - and we can bash back.

Only asking.

[britmaveric]

I wonder how you get shot in the face when you are being chased from behind. Also the girl wasnt shot, which seems very odd if they can so easily do away with a farang, why leave any witness behind?

Something not quite right about all this.. perhaps the girl was in on it, which would explain... well almost everything.

Disturbing trends going on in Pattaya, it's really the bottom of the barrel for thailand these days.

You "proud pattayans" have very little to be proud about, apart from the thousands of hookers, which is why I suspect half of you are there anyway.

And people wonder why farangs in Thailand are getting a bad name....

Still better than Samui, right Tax?

[davethailand]

I wonder how you get shot in the face when you are being chased from behind. Also the girl wasnt shot, which seems very odd if they can so easily do away with a farang, why leave any witness behind?

Agree with you on this

Something not quite right about all this.. perhaps the girl was in on it, which would explain... well almost everything.

Maybe??? Thats why i think its not revenge or they would have been obvious suspects so they would have done her also. Disturbing trends going on in Pattaya, it's really the bottom of the barrel for thailand these days.

You "proud pattayans" have very little to be proud about, apart from the thousands of hookers, which is why I suspect half of you are there anyway. Keep your daft comments to yourself.

And people wonder why farangs in Thailand are getting a bad name....

Because of divvys like you maybe

Edited May 3, 2006 by davethailand

[mai_reuh]

I wonder how you get shot in the face when you are being chased from behind. Also the girl wasnt shot, which seems very odd if they can so easily do away with a farang, why leave any witness behind?

Something not quite right about all this.. perhaps the girl was in on it, which would explain... well almost everything.

Disturbing trends going on in Pattaya, it's really the bottom of the barrel for thailand these days.

You "proud pattayans" have very little to be proud about, apart from the thousands of hookers, which is why I suspect half of you are there anyway.

And people wonder why farangs in Thailand are getting a bad name....

I agree with everything you say here VanZam and thanks for having the balls to say it - even if you may be flamed for your second last sentence.

[ray23]

Ray23, Pattaya is in a league of its own. The few times I have been there I felt like I was visiting a foreign country, and I live in Thailand. Having said that, I think Thailand, including Pattaya, has a long, long way to go before it catches up to the crime levels in the Philippines (I lived there two years). Even if the two countries were on a par as far as crime levels the Filipino cuisine would rule out a move there for most people.

I expect that this will turn out not to have been a random crime after all, not that it makes much difference to the victim and his friends/loved ones. Since there were 4 assailants and apparently no VIPs involved I am sure the cops will round them up in short order.

Yes I totaly agree with that here in Udon, it's just a mugging as a norm, adn not to often. But in Nong Kia it's a bit of a different story . Don't know if it's becasue its a border town or what. Yep i like Thai food better as well.

[davethailand]

I wonder how you get shot in the face when you are being chased from behind. Also the girl wasnt shot, which seems very odd if they can so easily do away with a farang, why leave any witness behind?

Something not quite right about all this.. perhaps the girl was in on it, which would explain... well almost everything.

Disturbing trends going on in Pattaya, it's really the bottom of the barrel for thailand these days.

You "proud pattayans" have very little to be proud about, apart from the thousands of hookers, which is why I suspect half of you are there anyway.

And people wonder why farangs in Thailand are getting a bad name....

I agree with everything you say here VanZam and thanks for having the balls to say it - even if you may be flamed for your second last sentence.

Above comment applies to you also.

[dishrace]

please define "the grubby retiree type" and how that warrents beginning shot to death by anyone