Dog Attack

[burhou]

My Thai wife (met and married in UK 12 years ago) finally persuaded me to visit Phuket. 3 days into our holiday she is walking back to the house we rented (on a secure estate) and she is attacked from behind by a pit bull. The owner rushed out and managed to drag the dog off but was unable to hold it resulting in yet more bites. Finally the dog was dragged back into the house from where it escaped. By now several frantic Thais were shouting for me to come and help. By the time I got there my wife was on the ground bleeding heavily. Two people helped me get her into my car and we rushed to hospital with me in the back stemming the bleeding as best I could. She is now in hospital on drips, pain killers, injections etc and in a pretty grim state. The dog owner has been to hospital and volunteered to pay all bills. I have since discovered this dog has attacked other pet dogs on the 'estate' and several other people have been bitten. The owner has promised to get rid of the dog on a number of occasions in the past after such events but has not done so. I do not know how long my wife will be I hospital and apart from being in a great deal of pain her (our) holiday is finished. Would I have any influence as a foreigner in attempting to get this dog removed/destroyed so that this cannot happen to someone else?

[inzman]

Pretty much no,there is very little personal responsibility in Thailand. I am sorry to hear of your situation, unfortunately nobody is held accountable for their actions in this country.

[olddoc]

With the help of a friendly Thai person you can make a report to the local "Tessa Ban" (local authority.

They will ensure the problem is resolved.

(We have just had some nasty feral dogs removed from the area in which we live)

[LivinginKata]

Talk to the owner of the house you are renting, assuming he/she wants to help then go with the house owner to the local police station AND the tessabaan and file reports/complaints. Not much else you can do.

[burhou]

Thank you for your reply 'old doc'. Please, what is the Tessa Ban? I know nothing about Phuket. Is it easy to find this organisation. I have been very moved by the kindness of the Thai people over this incident. I know the ones who witnessed this event were horrified and frightened and will help me if they can. I have just asked one of them about the Tessa Ban but he doesn't understand me. Any further info would be very much appreciated.

[LivinginKata]

Tessabaan is the local government office - like a municiple office. Might help is we knew the area you were staying.

[olddoc]

Don,t know where you are but in Patong the Tessabaan location is near (adjacent to) the fire station . But you will need a Thai person to assist you.

The local people will know --I expect you are experiencing a communication/understanding/language/pronunciation issue.

Don't worry it happens to us all even those of us who think we can speak Thai !

Edited February 22, 2014 by olddoc

[Somtamnication]

Well, first off, I hope your wife is ok. She should get rabies shots as well. Never trust what the dog owner says.

I am surprised the owner has agreed to pay the bills, as this is a rare thing in Thailand.

I would involved the local kanam (sp...the local village chief) and get the dog removed.

[simple1]

OP: You will likely need a few Thai witnesses to make a complaint. Unfortunately it speaks volumes that even though the dog has previously attacked people nothing was done.

Best wishes for you and wife

[burhou]

Thank you to you all for replying. I am going to try and track down the Tessabaan location today. The house we have rented is very close to Wat Chalong so I imagine I may need to go to Phuket Town. First though back to hospital. Somtamnication...thank you for your advice regarding the Rabies jabs. Yes, she is having those. She had the first one as soon as she was admitted into the hospital. Other people have also told me it is unusual for costs to be covered but I have to say the Thai owner (of the dog) is doing this and the bill is already well,over 100,000 Baht. They phone my wife everyday so far as well. What I don't understand is why they have kept this dangerous dog when there appear to have been a number of incidents. This estate has many little children on it and sometimes I see them playing outside their houses and thus vulnerable to a similar attack. There is no way a small child would survive the attack my wife has endured.

[LivinginKata]

Unhelpful/bad advice posts removed

[simple1]

Thank you to you all for replying. I am going to try and track down the Tessabaan location today. The house we have rented is very close to Wat Chalong so I imagine I may need to go to Phuket Town. First though back to hospital. Somtamnication...thank you for your advice regarding the Rabies jabs. Yes, she is having those. She had the first one as soon as she was admitted into the hospital. Other people have also told me it is unusual for costs to be covered but I have to say the Thai owner (of the dog) is doing this and the bill is already well,over 100,000 Baht. They phone my wife everyday so far as well. What I don't understand is why they have kept this dangerous dog when there appear to have been a number of incidents. This estate has many little children on it and sometimes I see them playing outside their houses and thus vulnerable to a similar attack. There is no way a small child would survive the attack my wife has endured.

Are you saying the Thai dog owner has paid the medical bills to date or has 'promised' to do so?

[LivinginKata]

Have you filed a police report ?

[Somtamnication]

OP. You gotta get the local headman headwoman (pardon the pun) involved. Forget the phuket town people.

This is in a village, so keep it Thai, contact the local head whatever (not a ladyboy ) and they act as intermediary. Usually far safer to do so than get the police involved (last resort if mediation does not fail, you threaten them with police report).

So near Wat Chalong, get the abbot involved.

But those bills gotta be paid NOW.

[sam sen]

typically thai aversion to taking responsibility for and being proactive in resolving a problem;

- the owner has a dog biting others and does nothing

- people in the area know there is a dog repeatedly biting people and other pets and, guess what, no one does anything.

[burhou]

The Thai owner has actually been in hospital with us and gave the hospital all their banking details. Both the owner and the hospital assure us that all costs are being met. Whilst I appreciate this gesture, it is not the costs that are my main concern. My concern is that the dog has been kept despite this sort of thing having happened before, It appears that the the owner has a maid. She is a small lady. She does not have the physical strength to hold on to this dog. She is sent out on to the estate with the dog on a leash to give it a walk. The dog has simply dragged the lady over and then rushed off to attack either other dogs or people in the past. Promises have been made to remove the dog but these have not been upheld. When I asked the owner why she had not got rid of the dog she just smiled and then burst into tears....and that was the end of that conversation. The police have been to where I am staying along with several Thai people and statements have been made. This is certainly a very compressed insight into Thai society/culture or whatever. Having talked to a few ex Pats who live here, I am told I have had more dealings with Thai people in 4 days than they have had in many years of iving here. My plan though is as soon as my wife is given to all clear from the hospital...whenever that may be....is to get back to UK. the care at the hospital here has been amazingly good and the Thai people I have met have been extremely concerned and caring....but I have very limited understanding of what is being said or what is happening as I cannot speak any sensible level of Thai. But I genuinely appreciate the advice given here and am very grateful to the Thai people that have got things moving over this. I do hope the result will be the removal of this dog for the benefit and safety of other people living here.

Edited February 23, 2014 by burhou

[keestha]

Sorry don't want to play mister know it all, but the place to file complaints about things like this is not the Tessaban, but the local OrBorTor (อ.บ.ต), they will accept complaints about neighbors, noisy entertainment places and so on.

[eezergood]

Throw some meat laced with paracetamol over the fence! Sorry to hear about your wife, imagine if this was a small child!

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[nkg]

What a horrible thing to happen to your wife. I hope she is making good progress in hospital. All the best.

[Elfin]

Throw some meat laced with paracetamol over the fence! Sorry to hear about your wife, imagine if this was a small child!

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Unless it was a large dose of pannadol, which would cause liver failure, what effect would the pannodol have on a big dog.

A famous expression is: "A bullet only costs 20 cents......" Pitbulls and other fighting breeds should not be allowed to exist-full stop.

[eezergood]

6 paracetamol 100mg should work!

I believe it truly is the owners that are wrong!

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[olddoc]

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Sorry don't want to play mister know it all, but the place to file complaints about things like this is not the Tessaban, but the local OrBorTor (อ.บ.ต), they will accept complaints about neighbors, noisy entertainment places and so on.

I bow to superior knowledge.

All I can say is that a complaint to the Tessa Baan resulted in the rapid removal of several nasty dogs from where I live.

[sanuk21]

Personally I would start with the "Poo Yai Baan".......

The "Poo Yai Baan" is the head of the Moobaan, the village sub-division.

He usually takes care of security, village monies and general daily issues.

The "Kamnan" is the village or Tambon boss who usually supervises several "Poo Yai Baan".

The "Or Bor Tor" is the Tambon official who takes care of the water supply, roads and construction.

They all report to the "Nai Amphur" (District officer) who is located in Phuket city in this case.

(Chalong is this case has no Tesabaan or Municipal Office such as Rawai at the Tesabaan Tambon level)

Hope this helps

sanuk

[BlueSkyCowboy]

Pretty much no,there is very little personal responsibility in Thailand. I am sorry to hear of your situation, unfortunately nobody is held accountable for their actions in this country.

Bite the owner first and then the dog

[Keesters]

First my sympathies to you and your wife. I hope she gets better soon and that she is not left physically or mentally scarred by this horrific incident.

I believe Thai people do generally take responsibility for their misdeeds as seems to be the case of this dog's owner. What they don't like is paying for insurance to cover themselves against such responsibilities and then not be able to make a claim. Many here will remember the public's objection to the now compulsory car/motorcycle insurance. Only the other week a dog jumped up and snatched from me a plastic bag containing 3 eggs I was carrying. The dog's owner appeared promptly and offered me 20 baht for the eggs and an apology.

As this was a physical attack by a dog I would say that it should be reported to the police. It must be a criminal act to have a dog attack someone just as it would be if you were attacked by a human. And as in this case the dog has an owner the owner is responsible for his/her dog's actions. Consider a driver-less car rolling down a hill that hits a baby in a pram. Is no one responsible or is the car's owner responsible? I think you'll find the car's owner equally responsible just as if he was sitting in the driver's seat.

I commend you for wanting to take some action to ensure that this does not happen again by this dog in the future. The fact that it has happened before and nothing has been done about it is appalling. Talk to anyone that will listen. Tessaban, public health, amphur office, Poo Yai Baan, Kammnan etc etc. Rally as much support from local residents as you can. Though from their previous apathy in doing nothing I wouldn't expect much.

As a last resort I'm sure a private method to deal with the beast could be found.

Edited February 24, 2014 by Keesters

[jcgodber]

I would imagine that since Thailand is a Buddhist country the people are reluctant to kill anything. I have a friend that wanted to have his suffering dog put down and went to a Vet but was told no. Makes you wonder though, as they are killing people in the streets of Bangkok at the moment.

Very very sorry for your wife's suffering.

[eezergood]

I would imagine that since Thailand is a Buddhist country the people are reluctant to kill anything. I have a friend that wanted to have his suffering dog put down and went to a Vet but was told no. Makes you wonder though, as they are killing people in the streets of Bangkok at the moment.

Very very sorry for your wife's suffering.

Lots of vets will perform the operation......

[lucifer666]

A neighbour's child was attacked by a dog, a couple of years ago. The neighbour bought the local BIB a nice bottle of Hong Thong. Ahem, 2 days later, the local BIB had a dead dog in the back of his van.

[SDM0712]

I'm sorry to hear about this, it sounds like the dog is more of a guard dog then a pet and if it's a pitball probably expensive. The owners won't admit it if that is the case but that's why they haven't got rid of it. It's sounds as if you are on one of the big Land and House estates in Chalong. Some of the owners there are quite wealthy professionals but even though you have bank details I would inform your holiday insurance people, just in case. Perhaps you should contact the British Honorary Consul here in Phuket. Martin Carpenter has been here a long time, is a very nice chap and might be able to give some good advice/moral support. SDM

[Khun Loong]

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Well, first off, I hope your wife is ok. She should get rabies shots as well. Never trust what the dog owner says.

I am surprised the owner has agreed to pay the bills, as this is a rare thing in Thailand.

I would involved the local kanam (sp...the local village chief) and get the dog removed.

"Agreed to pay bills" is different to "Has paid bills" Good luck.