Dead boy's family in Phuket 'mob' against Russians

[fonsboy]

A 16 Y.O. wandering about at 1.A.M. No Crash Hat.If the Lad was mine id feel some resposibility.Perhaps im just Old Fashioned.

You putting the blame on the boy , not on the driver , who no doubt fled the scene of accident because she was well over the d&d limit . I have other words to describe you "old-fashioned" is not amongst them .

God rest the poor boys soul . And commiserations to his next of kin.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I feel sad for the family. No matter how negligent they were as parents they have still lost their love.

The irony in this article is painful. I hope that this serves as a lesson to the Thai populace that this HAS to stop. Whether it be a Thai driver or foreign driver they should all be held responsible....unless the victim isn't wearing a helmet.

The whole thing is farcical when you look at it that way and you have to understand why the police have thrown their hands in the air over this one.

It is a sad situation all the way around, but also, it's indeed a case of the shoe now being on the other foot.

How often in the past have we seen where Thai bus drivers involved in fatal crashes run away in the aftermath, or the Red Bull kid doing a runner to escape prosecution for killing the police motorcycle officer, or various government officials fleeing abroad, including the biggest one, to escape prosecution. And the list goes on and on.

It seems more than a bit disingenuous for the Thais to complain about this kind of thing (doing a runner), when they've made it almost a national artform themselves.

If the Russian car driver was drunk driving and killed the kid in the process, she's to blame in part and deserves to be prosecuted. But the 16-year-old riding around late at night without a helmet certainly bears some responsibility.

As for the police and the witness(es), that's an interesting question. I'm not sure the police would have the legal authority to confiscate the passports of foreigners not accused of any crime, in this case, the witness(es).

Heck, oftentimes, the courts here don't even seem to confiscate the passports of the actual accused criminals, whether they be Thais or foreigners. So I'm not sure what the police could have done different in this case regarding the witness(es).

Edited April 11, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[drand11]

The child was legal. The Russian killed a child. The husband also fled the scene. How the hell do people try to make this the child/ parents fault! Get a grip on reality folks. These Russians fled the country. Sad for the psrents/ family. Shame on the Russian friends that gave the culprits "Cover".

[lensta]

I feel for the boy's parents but what the Russians did is the norm in Thailand. Lets face facts the kid was not even old enough to have a drivers license not to mention not wearing a helmet. We all see how these idiots on motorcycle break every rule of the road. The accident would have been treated as a lottery win for the parents and police.

The Russian did the right thing IMHO they would have received no justice and would have been automatically at fault for being foreigners. The police would have ignored the fact that the rider was under aged and not wearing a helmet.

The Russians would have been in jail until their life saving were in the hands of greedy police and the kid's parents.

I agree, if you don't have a license, you are automatically in the wrong. Perhaps if he was wearing a helmet, he would still be alive.

As for the Russians doing a runner, this is the norm for Thais that are involved in a serious accident. I've lost count how many times

that I have read a Thai van driver, bus driver, or truck driver has fled the scene of an accident. However, if they did this in Aust, they would

be in a whole heap of trouble.

[ttthailand]

What percent of Thais leave an accident ? I would bet it is 90% or higher.

Set the example and people will follow !
In America you would go to jail if you leave, your fault or not.

[oldsailor35]

A 16 Y.O. wandering about at 1.A.M. No Crash Hat.If the Lad was mine id feel some resposibility.Perhaps im just Old Fashioned.RIP.

Wrong wrong Pop, the kid did have a crash helmet on. Be more careful before you type crap in future.

[robblok]

I feel for the boy's parents but what the Russians did is the norm in Thailand. Lets face facts the kid was not even old enough to have a drivers license not to mention not wearing a helmet. We all see how these idiots on motorcycle break every rule of the road. The accident would have been treated as a lottery win for the parents and police.

The Russian did the right thing IMHO they would have received no justice and would have been automatically at fault for being foreigners. The police would have ignored the fact that the rider was under aged and not wearing a helmet.

The Russians would have been in jail until their life saving were in the hands of greedy police and the kid's parents.

I agree, if you don't have a license, you are automatically in the wrong. Perhaps if he was wearing a helmet, he would still be alive.

As for the Russians doing a runner, this is the norm for Thais that are involved in a serious accident. I've lost count how many times

that I have read a Thai van driver, bus driver, or truck driver has fled the scene of an accident. However, if they did this in Aust, they would

be in a whole heap of trouble.

Still that just means the Thais should be prosecuted too.. not that the Russians should be excused.. fleeing the scene is repulsive and totally irresponsible. Stuff like that should mean extra punishment. I really can't excuse fleeing the scene no matter who flees.

But not wearing a helmet is bad too and a helmet might have saved his life so some blame to the boy too. There is a reason helmets are mandatory. I feel not wearing a helmet is doing the same as driving dangerously.

[ATF]

It doesn't take long for Thai's to label a foreigner now Russians are labelled as <removed>

[astanhope]

The photo leads me to think that "Larisa the Russian" may actually be "Larisa the Thai married to Valentin the Russian and now the holder of a Russian passport."

[shaurene]

A 16 Y.O. wandering about at 1.A.M. No Crash Hat.If the Lad was mine id feel some resposibility.Perhaps im just Old Fashioned.RIP.

What a pathetic comment, wondering about at 1am, so that was ok to kill him?????? he went for some mossie repellent probably for a family member.

I could think of few other names for you besides Ace of Pop.

[peterb17]

Wow there are some pretty nasty people on TV, they seem to forget a 16 yr old lad has died, they seem to hate everything about Thailand- why not go back to live where ever they came from and see what living in Europe is like these days.

It is highly likely if the Russians had been to a party they were drunk - knowing their love of alcohol.

Have some feeling for the family- they have lost their son.

[JohnP1752]

Seems to be more about them missing the money they believe they are entitled to. Sad that they don't say much about the life of their son.

Thais will always run away if they can, which seems to be acceptable.

[unanimosity]

Boot on the other foot....and what not.

Yep, how dare those pesky Farusky people behave like locals.

[Equalizer]

Typical! Blame someone else. The family should first realise that their son was riding a bike at odd hours of the night without a crash helmet. That in itself is irresponsible and should go down to poor guidance from the parents. Societies acceptance of a lack of helmet does not help either. Yes, the Russians should have made a police report (it did not state if they did), and stayed back to closed up the loose ends of this accident. That is what it was an accident.

Either way, even if they had stayed back the end result would still be the same. A senseless death, why? because of clear disregard for safety.

This is more of the family not having the opportunity to milk money off these Russians for the loss of their child. IMHO.

So, let me get it straight. According to the article, the woman did a U-turn and hit a teenager on a bike. The husband was following her in another car, they saw the kid was dead/dying and they decided to flee the scene.

In Western countries, that right there would be enough to get her in jail for fleeing the scene and for not providing assistance to the kid.

In addition, the article doesn't say anything about the kid being at fault, besides him failing to wear a helmet. And, yet, you turn that into "an opportunity for the family to milk money out of those poor Russians???" That is widely uncalled for. They're the ones who now have to live without their child while those Russians just took the first flight home.

Edit: The article actually says he was driving in the same direction than the woman. Since she was making a U-turn, the kid had the priority over her (he was driving straight on), at least based on what has been reported.

Your edit has blown your argument out of the window. Actually NO you are wrong. It indicates the driver of the bike was unable to stop in time when the vehicle in front was slowing down to make a legitimate turn. In any road accident case i have experienced the vehicle behind running into the vehicle in front is at fault because if you kept the safe distance and driving at the speed limit, in all circumstances you will have time to stop. Unless of course it is thick fog!!! maybe you can try that one but it will sound just as stupid as the first post you made.

[Just1Voice]

Who is to blame here? Probably enough to go around for everyone involved. The boy for not wearing a helmet, apparently in the fast lane where he shouldn't have been. No helmet, and perhaps no headlight, which is typical here as well. The Russians? Obviously. They hit the boy, then drove off. But how many times every day do we see the same thing with Thai? The RTP? Overall, yes, for never enforcing driving rules here in LOS other than checkpoints to line their pockets. Boys parents? Of course, for not teaching the boy to ride with proper safety equipment.

On the moral side, I fault the Russians for not stopping to try and help the boy, yet, on the other hand, if they were the least bit familiar with the Thai "justice system", they also knew they would be milked for every stand that could be drained from them, simply because they were farang involved in an accident, regardless of whether they were at fault or not. That's the "Thai way".

The loss of a young life is unfortunate, regardless of the circumstances, but until Thai law is changed and brought up to date with 21st Century standards, this type of thing will continue to happen.

[shockwave]

What I would like to know is why Thai Police do not enforce traffic laws . It seems to me that if people had some sort of order to how they were supposed to drive it would reduce traffic accidents.

[ATF]

A 16 Y.O. wandering about at 1.A.M. No Crash Hat.If the Lad was mine id feel some resposibility.Perhaps im just Old Fashioned.RIP.

What a pathetic comment, wondering about at 1am, so that was ok to kill him?????? he went for some mossie repellent probably for a family member.

I could think of few other names for you besides Ace of Pop.

At 16 I was doing a lot more than just wandering around at 1.00am. Hell I was drunk. Russians have had Christian values bleached out of them.

[fatdrunkandstupid]

Blah blah blah...angry Thai mob...if farang not in my country my boy not die...farang very bad...blah blah...someone must pay...farang have big money...farang bad run away not pay money...Russian very bad but other farang not come Phuket anymore...blah blah blah

Blah blah blah...shoe is on the other foot...Russian do exactly same as Thai...boy not wearing helmet and out after midnight...but Russian drunk...blah blah blah.

So much energy wasted on racism and blame shifting when the ONLY issue is money.

So stop wasting your energy posting meaningless dribble and take a look at the GIGANTIC elephant in the room:

Insurance in Thailand attaches to the car NOT the driver.

So if the family of the dead boy want compensation, then they need to pursue the Thai owner of the rental car company. If theThai owner does not have insurance, then the mob can beat him to death. Case closed.

[bino]

100% that these guys need to be held accountable.. its just the anti foreigner part of this that I dislike they don't seem to get rattled when Thais do it and they do quite often.

I agree with robblok that these people need to be held accountable... if they are in fact accountable.

Many posters seem to be cocentrating on Thai driving which I agree is far from safe and bloody dangerous most of the time.

I do believe this had a large part to do with it.

I am trying to visualize how the accident happened, because the report says they were traveling in the same direction.

If the motorcycle was in front of the car, the accident would not have happened because the motorcycle would have kept traveling down the road when the car made the U turn.

If the motorcycle was behind the car, logic dictates that the motorcycle would have slowed down to allow the car ahead of them which had also slowed down to make the U turn. If the motorcycle ran into the car directly from behind, it is his fault.

How I see it happening is that the motorcycle did not slow down at all, and actually attempted to pass between the car and the centerline of the road. The car might have eased slightly into the curb lane to increase its radius for the U turn and opened up a gap that the motorcycle tried to drive through, making the motorcyclist believe that the car was actually changing to the curb lane instead of preparing for a U turn. When the car started its U turn, it hit the motorcyclist.

It is possible and even probable that the car did not signal, and gave no warning to the motorcycle. However, if the motorcycle was traveling at speed, the driver of the car may not have expected a motorcycle to appear in the small amount of space between their car and the centerline of the road.

This is Thai motorcycle driving at its finest - cutting lanes, and a tourist would not have anticipated this.

In any case, if they were traveling in the same direction, and the motorcycle approaching from behind the vehicle, some of the fault would be with the motorcycle for not being able to control or stop their vehicle, or making a dangerous pass.

The only way I can see this being 100% the fault of the car is if they started their U turn from the curb lane and crossed the motorcycle's path.

[luis888]

Just because he wasn't wearing a helmet doesn't mean he died of head injury. Regardless of nationality a young life was lost due to a reckless driver. That is the crux of the matter . RIP condolences to the family

[oldsailor35]

Traffic accidents in Thailand are not the fault of Thai's. Is everyone clear about that??

NO ! it is not clear at all. If the Thai's and their lazy police were really concerned about traffic accidents, they would have training and regulations in place. At the present, there really are no road rules, most drive around without licences having no idea whatsoever how to behave in traffic. Just arrive at a round about and see how Thai drivers behave. Its either " out of my way, i am coming through" or they just stop without warning and let anyone go. Also for those Thais who pretend that they care, why do they allow their untrained immature kids to race around on motorbikes with out crash helmets sometimes with multiple passengers. When will Thai's wake up and show some responsibility to their kids. And the motoring population in general. YES ! Thais are to blame because they allow these habits to happen. Its their country, they alone allow all to do what they like as far as traffic is concerned, and then scream and wail when one of their kids get killed. Shame Shame.

[robblok]

Typical! Blame someone else. The family should first realise that their son was riding a bike at odd hours of the night without a crash helmet. That in itself is irresponsible and should go down to poor guidance from the parents. Societies acceptance of a lack of helmet does not help either. Yes, the Russians should have made a police report (it did not state if they did), and stayed back to closed up the loose ends of this accident. That is what it was an accident.

Either way, even if they had stayed back the end result would still be the same. A senseless death, why? because of clear disregard for safety.

This is more of the family not having the opportunity to milk money off these Russians for the loss of their child. IMHO.

So, let me get it straight. According to the article, the woman did a U-turn and hit a teenager on a bike. The husband was following her in another car, they saw the kid was dead/dying and they decided to flee the scene.

In Western countries, that right there would be enough to get her in jail for fleeing the scene and for not providing assistance to the kid.

In addition, the article doesn't say anything about the kid being at fault, besides him failing to wear a helmet. And, yet, you turn that into "an opportunity for the family to milk money out of those poor Russians???" That is widely uncalled for. They're the ones who now have to live without their child while those Russians just took the first flight home.

Edit: The article actually says he was driving in the same direction than the woman. Since she was making a U-turn, the kid had the priority over her (he was driving straight on), at least based on what has been reported.

Your edit has blown your argument out of the window. Actually NO you are wrong. It indicates the driver of the bike was unable to stop in time when the vehicle in front was slowing down to make a legitimate turn. In any road accident case i have experienced the vehicle behind running into the vehicle in front is at fault because if you kept the safe distance and driving at the speed limit, in all circumstances you will have time to stop. Unless of course it is thick fog!!! maybe you can try that one but it will sound just as stupid as the first post you made.

Not really.. U turn should always give away to everyone else as its a special movement.. guess they never taught you how to drive.

[TPG3]

I understand that we speculate all about how this happened. Reading the report "...they were both going to the same direction..." leaves me puzzled how this happened.

Every finger pointing on the one or the other part is useless as we will not find out whose fault it was. Besides that, it is useless anyway as the participants died or fled.

The only part which I really feel sad about is the irresponsibility of the the Russians. Sorry... it might be stupid. But if I cause an accident, then I have to face the consequences.

[chrissables]

I find the comments about "poor parenting" and "he wore no helmet" to be really at odds with the fact that a car with passengers struck and killed a lad and then left the scene. And in fact there was a second car as well. How callous is that? They left his body there and drove off, probably pissed.

That the Russians did something morally repulsive and should be held accountable is without question. But if he had worn a helmet things would have been much better so some blame also falls on him.

I drive a big bike and a scooter and a car in Thailand, I just feel that if you hit a bike with a car and they have no helmet or license they should be partly to blame as a helmet could have saved his life.

This of course does not excuse the Russians but not wearing a helmet has certainly contributed to the severity of the accident. I find it unfair to car drivers in general if they are being punished extra because someone did not wear a helmet.

I would never ride my bikes without a helmet.

But what these drivers did and fleeing the scene is unforgivable.

You are talking crap. If a car hits you and you are riding in a safe and legal way, the car driver is guilty, not the biker, not 1%. Also you have no idea if a helmet would have helped or not. Unless you were there and saw what happened.

You are talking crap.. without a helmet your not riding legal.

I am sure you understood the context of legal, as in sober, not speeding or riding in a reckless way. If you don't please don't drive, as maybe you would be the idiot who thinks crashing into me is ok, i i was not wearing a helmet! Pathetic!

[Deaw]

“Of all the [foreigners] who live in Thailand, the Russians cause the most problem.''

Where's all the self-righteous indignation by the usual TV types who lose their minds when some farang says this? A Thai in a position of authority now says it, does THAT carry any weight here?

[TomJoad]

Typical! Blame someone else. The family should first realise that their son was riding a bike at odd hours of the night without a crash helmet. That in itself is irresponsible and should go down to poor guidance from the parents. Societies acceptance of a lack of helmet does not help either. Yes, the Russians should have made a police report (it did not state if they did), and stayed back to closed up the loose ends of this accident. That is what it was an accident.

Either way, even if they had stayed back the end result would still be the same. A senseless death, why? because of clear disregard for safety.

This is more of the family not having the opportunity to milk money off these Russians for the loss of their child. IMHO.

She rode away without knowing if the boy was dead or alive. I'd call that pretty heartless...

[F4UCorsair]

It seems to me that Russians are figuring disproportionately in crime/incidents in Thailand recently, or is it just that there are a lot more there than other nationalities?

Any other observations?

[greenwater]

While the loss of life is tragic these Russians DID EXACTLY WHAT THAIS DO EVERYDAY and its laughable that the police call them heartless because WE LEARN FROM THAIS to not stop and just continue and do a runner.

A friend of mine was going to 7-11 for cigarettes at 11 at night stone cold sober and was hit from behind the guy then proceeded to reverse back over him breaking both of his legs the only reason he survived was that passers by screamed at teh driver who then proceeded to drive off and was never found.

Makes me laugh when they blame foreigners for only doing what thais do every day.

I recently had an accident and hit a motorcycle head on doing 100kph I STOPPED even though I was advised by my wife not to stop because I would be harmed i thought these 2 people were dead I hit them so hard but miracoulously they got up and walked away just shook up. I was found not at fault on the scene and allowed to go.

I agree with you 100%. Thai driver always try to run off. In 5 years I have had two road accident with no fault from me (one car hit my back car and a motobike, coming from the wrong side, hit my left car side....both run off like a rats). The newspaper news is full of hit and run by thais. Also, if you are farang the thais always point of you, no matter if you are 100% right: a friend of mine killed a drunk motorbike driver coming from wrong side in dark. My friend make the big mistake to stop and the police arrested him and he had to pay a lot of money........

[Kalbo]

Maybe a bit difficult to say, as I was not in their situation, but I imagine if it was me, the only thing different I would have done, would be to leave the country sooner.

[chrissables]

I find the comments about "poor parenting" and "he wore no helmet" to be really at odds with the fact that a car with passengers struck and killed a lad and then left the scene. And in fact there was a second car as well. How callous is that? They left his body there and drove off, probably pissed.

That the Russians did something morally repulsive and should be held accountable is without question. But if he had worn a helmet things would have been much better so some blame also falls on him.

I drive a big bike and a scooter and a car in Thailand, I just feel that if you hit a bike with a car and they have no helmet or license they should be partly to blame as a helmet could have saved his life.

This of course does not excuse the Russians but not wearing a helmet has certainly contributed to the severity of the accident. I find it unfair to car drivers in general if they are being punished extra because someone did not wear a helmet.

I would never ride my bikes without a helmet.

But what these drivers did and fleeing the scene is unforgivable.

You are talking crap. If a car hits you and you are riding in a safe and legal way, the car driver is guilty, not the biker, not 1%. Also you have no idea if a helmet would have helped or not. Unless you were there and saw what happened.

How can you be riding "in a safe and legal way"? No helmet illegal. No licence illegal. Under age illegal. No insurance illegal?

I am no fan of Russian manners, but the posters who point out that this is another case of blame the farang when Thai drivers do worse every day are right. The Russians could not expect a fair treatment. Double standards.

The Royal Thai Police are a shambles and an international disgrace to the Kingdom.

I meant in way that was not dangerous, as in drunk or speeding (as far as i know) Having no helmet made no difference regarding the cause of the accident.