Bangkok: Taxi driver beaten unconscious by anti-govt protesters

[webfact]

Taxi Driver Beaten Unconscious By Protesters
By Khaosod Online



BANGKOK: -- A taxi driver has been mobbed and beaten unconscious by anti-government protesters who were blocking Vibhavadi Road in Bangkok.

The protesters were sealing off both inbound and outbound roads, which connects Bangkok with Don Mueang Airport, at around 16.00 today when the taxi driver attempted to convince the protest guards to let him pass the blockade.

The man′s request was denied, and he scolded at the protesters for blocking the traffic, which greatly enraged the group of protesters nearby.

His car was vandalised by the protesters while the driver himself was mobbed and beaten. He was left bleeding on the ground for some time before rescue workers arrived at the scene and transported him to hospital.

His condition is not immediately known.

The protesters later withdrew from Vibhavadi Road and the traffic resumed as normal.

Full story: http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNNE9EQTFPVGt6Tmc9PQ==


-- Khaosod English 2013-12-26

[Credo]

So much for the protesters taking the high road.

[toybits]

This is a disgrace!!! The taxi driver is just trying to earn a decent living!!! Perhaps the demonstrators thought he was a nobody? Or a Taksin loyalist because many taxi drivers come from Esan? Why was this allowed to happen?

[DocN]

Peaceful protest! (Yeah, yeah ...in 2010...red shirts thugs...blah blah blah...)

[jackrich]

Suthep is desperate to spark a civil war in Thailand.

[LomSak27]

Obviously the protestors must have been in the pay of the man in Dubai. There can be no other explanations for the Nation media outlets and their foreign lapdogs

[Prbkk]

One photo puts to rest the GREAT LIE that this is some kind of benign movement of the people. Just vile lawless thugs who will stop at nothing to impose their will. Time for the Army to have the guts to stand by the elected government

[JAG]

Are thse the same guards who will replace the police in maintaining law and order on Sutheps brave new world?

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[TallPalm]

This is a disgrace!!! The taxi driver is just trying to earn a decent living!!! Perhaps the demonstrators thought he was a nobody? Or a Taksin loyalist because many taxi drivers come from Esan? Why was this allowed to happen?

So if he were a Thaksin loyalist or came from Isan, this would be OK then?

[onomataho]

Just political thuggery -- Thai style. Anyone who gets in the way is beaten down -- literally.

Anyone who believes that Suthep and his well-heeled supporters don't want total insurrection is missing the "big picture" perspective.

This will just continue escalate and nothing good will come of it. Get the body bags ready.

[Spare]

Who was the witness of this?

Me.

Here are more photos taken at the scene.

[ChoakMyDee]

Something I wonder about as the country slowly descends into mob rule, will farangs become targets for their rage? I keep hearing that many Thais hate us and only put up with us because we spend money. I don't know how true this is or even what percentage hate us if it is true but something to think about perhaps.

[sjjmmi]

Mob Rules They should all be in Jail

[thairookie]

Mob Rules They should all be in Jail

It was meant to be satirical.

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[hotrod4098]

Who was the witness of this?

Me.

Here are more photos taken at the scene.

most taxi in bangkok are rented ..some 12 hours etc..so the owner may be a yellow shirt...he wont be happy

[Prbkk]

Mob Rules They should all be in Jail

Correct, they should be in jail and if this continues tomorrow, I hope we see a mass round up and throw the lot of them behind bars , without bail, until the election is over

[Prbkk]

Who was the witness of this?

Me.

Here are more photos taken at the scene.

most taxi in bangkok are rented ..some 12 hours etc..so the owner may be a yellow shirt...he wont be happy

Given the look of that injury, he may well be dead...

[onomataho]

Something I wonder about as the country slowly descends into mob rule, will farangs become targets for their rage? I keep hearing that many Thais hate us and only put up with us because we spend money. I don't know how true this is or even what percentage hate us if it is true but something to think about perhaps.

I walked among the crowd at Metropolitan police headquarters a few weeks ago, I could hear people say "farang this & farang that..."

While I was not concerned as it felt like a harmless gathering, it was in stark contrast to what I experienced in the same location in 2010 when the UDD was there.

As a street photographer, I don't think I would venture anywhere near the "mad mob" at this point in time.

[maengda]

Did he make it? Looks serious

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[metisdead]

Troll posts and replies have been removed.

[1ma]

Think of the people trying to get to Don Muang for a flight. They suddenly closed down both Vipawadee and the toll way.

Only option, on to a jam packed Pahonyothin.

Shutting down the main way to an airport, a policeman shot dead, a good few other policemen shot. Starting to get serious.

Imagine if that stadium of Red Shirts wasn't sent home.

Edited December 26, 2013 by 1ma

[wellred]

Poor guy he was just trying to do his job. Why can't the military just step and tell the protesters to clear off?

[newcomer71]

Post deleted.

Edited December 26, 2013 by newcomer71

[mca]

som nom na .... find it hard to feel sorry for a taxi driver after seeing one of his own kill a man with a sword for a couple baht.

Last year a taxi driver stopped and helped me change a flat tyre on petchburi and wouldn't accept a single baht for his trouble so yeah some nam nah to this poor bastard. And some folks on here consider thais to be dumb shits. They're mental giants compared to a lot of the mongs on tvf

Edited December 26, 2013 by mca

[soi41]

Fair warning!! Then live ammunition!! Time to get the thugs of the streets. Enough is enough!!

[dru2]

Something I wonder about as the country slowly descends into mob rule, will farangs become targets for their rage? I keep hearing that many Thais hate us and only put up with us because we spend money. I don't know how true this is or even what percentage hate us if it is true but something to think about perhaps.

Some 25 years ago I participated in an international history conference at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. I was an Dr in Asian Studies at the University of Aberdeen at the time.

One particularly interesting paper that was presented concerned Thai perceptions of foreigners. It was long and inevitably rather academic, but in the conclusion there was a table indicating Thai respondents rating of their likes and dislikes of foreign nationalities.

The long and the short of it was:

The two nationalities most disliked and mistrusted by the Thais were (1) The Burmese and (2) The Vietnamese, both scoring less than 10 percent approval ratings.

The two national groups (both being more than just representatives of a single nation) most favoured by the Thais were (1) Westerners and (2) Chinese. Both scored in the upper 90s.

Things may possibly have changed. I certainly hope the Burmese and Vietnamese rate much higher today - after all, after several generations in Thailand, Vietnamese refugee settlers have at last been given Thai nationality.

I guess it is also possible that Westerners and perhaps even Chinese are less popular or less trusted - but I rather doubt it. These are visceral responses rooted in the Thai education system and years of warfare.

So I think you can put your mind at ease. An anti-Western pogrom is most, most, most unlikely. Unless against me by my wife, of course.

Edited December 26, 2013 by dru2

[MJP]

som nom na .... find it hard to feel sorry for a taxi driver after seeing one of his own kill a man with a sword for a couple baht.

Last year a taxi driver stopped and helped me change a flat tyre on petchburi and wouldn't accept a single baht for his trouble so yeah some nam nah to this poor bastard. And some folks on here consider thais to be dumb shits.

Yup. Couple of years back, taxi driver taking me to Morchit 2 bus station tried to refuse the fare because he found out I lived in the next village to his home in Issan.

[blaze]

So I think you can put your mind at ease. An anti-Western pogrom is most, most, most unlikely. Unless against me by my wife, of course.

Uh huh.

Wait- you claim to an education- hasn't your education prepared you for the xenophobia that accompanies all fascist movements?

What Nutocracy that your PhD lilluminated did NOT include blaming the 'other'.?

Edited December 26, 2013 by blaze

[Centrum]

Something I wonder about as the country slowly descends into mob rule, will farangs become targets for their rage? I keep hearing that many Thais hate us and only put up with us because we spend money. I don't know how true this is or even what percentage hate us if it is true but something to think about perhaps.

Fairly weak attempt at trolling.

I hear many Thais love us. Especially 'long time'!

[citizen33]

I'm reminded of the words of the taxi driver who took me to the airport last Saturday: 'Why don't they respect the law?' The 'neutrality' of the army is completely bogus: they don't dare stage the coup because of the Americans, but they don't support the elected government (or the Royal Decree) either.