Five children slain in Chiang Mai

[Konini]

Saddest to read about this whole story to me is that - even for a most despicable atrocity like this one - at least one apologist stands up and babbles something about "sickness" and "having to understand" such people should receive the same sentence the culprit they try to defend gets.

I sincerely (and I'm not being facetious) that no member of your family ever suffers from a mental illness. I think your attitudes would change quite quickly.

[Acharn]

Clearly not well enough to be released.

So why was he?

I imagine he seemed well enough as long as he took his meds, and when they released him he had no one to remind him to take them, and he stopped. Seems we have some posters here like that. It's unfortunately common.

[ozyjon]

The house i live in here in Europe, a 5 bedroom, 4 bathrooms has had iron bars

put on every window and doors, there are many, it's an alien lifestyle i'm not

accustomed to, back in my farung country we always left the door open, why

bother using keys,, now the world is certainly changing, RIP little ones, my heart

cries for you.

[Nemesis7]

Sick bastard.

[metisdead]

A flaming post has been removed as well as the replies.

[Mot Dang]

FACT: Mental illness in Thailand is growing

Its also very shunned and much like the UK no one likes to talk or dwell about it much, psychiatrists here are virtually non existent and those that do exist are just too Thai to be good at their job.

When people get mental problems they are told to go to the temple for a few days to meditate or let some monk cast a spell of protection on them...

There is also a lack of nurses or professionals that want to look after them. There are psychiatric units here in Thailand that resemble Insane asylums from the 1920's, its basically lock them in a cell and throw away the key.. there is no rehabilitation. the problem needs to be addressed as society becomes more and more stressed and capitalist.

Wow, so you've made a medical breakthrough, linking schizophrenia with stress and capitalism.

When will you be publishing your paper?

Actually mental illness due to excessive consumption of home distilled Lao Kow is increasing in villages all over Thailand. This is because of the increased levels of methanol, aldehydes and ketones are coming across the stills. In my village, in the Buriram panhandle, a large proportion of males have died because of this. In all age brackets. Those who survive are just plain unemployable because of both physical and mental disabilities.

On one other point, there is a huge problem in Thailand with kids inhaling solvent vapors (chroming). That also is leading to the same types of physical and mental disabilities. A young nephew of my wife was made almost paraplegic due to this insidious habit. And it is NEVER reported in the media. Why lose face if it can be swept under the carpet, out of sight ?

[Craig krup]

What we think about mental illness is baloney, and it doesn't become any more coherent by being repeated. The McNaughton standard in the UK is that if you i) know what you are doing, and ii) know that it is wrong, then you are criminally responsible. Lord Denning parsed it as follows - if you throw a child on the fire thinking that it is a log you aren't responsible, but if Satan himself appears and tells you to throw the child on the fire then you are responsible - her Britannic Majesty, who trumps Satan in this jurisdiction, has told you not to. It's hard to perform a deliberate and purposive act and not know what you are doing. This guy plainly was engaged in purposive activity. Did he know that it was wrong? He certainly did. Therefore he's responsible.

The alternative is to have a female murder a guy by hitting him seventeen times with a fire axe while he is handcuffed and shackled because she felt she was in an abusive relationship, and you have her sentenced to five years, then acquitted altogether and now deleted from Google thanks to her right to privacy.

Humans aren't machines. Psychosis - where you literally don't know what you are doing - is rare, and precludes complex actions. We're far too quick to subscribe to a bunch of ill-considered loony tune "progressive" notions. Hang him.

[Craig krup]

Actually mental illness due to excessive consumption of home distilled Lao Kow is increasing in villages all over Thailand. This is because of the increased levels of methanol, aldehydes and ketones are coming across the stills. In my village, in the Buriram panhandle, a large proportion of males have died because of this. In all age brackets. Those who survive are just plain unemployable because of both physical and mental disabilities.

On one other point, there is a huge problem in Thailand with kids inhaling solvent vapors (chroming). That also is leading to the same types of physical and mental disabilities. A young nephew of my wife was made almost paraplegic due to this insidious habit. And it is NEVER reported in the media. Why lose face if it can be swept under the carpet, out of sight ?

Unless they're drinking what Scottish distillers would call the "shots" and "feints" - the first and last bit - or making a complete hash of the process, I wouldn't have thought that would be the reason. Just drinking wood alcohol and similar seems more likely. In the west even menthylated spirit is actually ethanol with added emetic - if you could keep it down it might not do too much harm.

[Mot Dang]

Actually mental illness due to excessive consumption of home distilled Lao Kow is increasing in villages all over Thailand. This is because of the increased levels of methanol, aldehydes and ketones are coming across the stills. In my village, in the Buriram panhandle, a large proportion of males have died because of this. In all age brackets. Those who survive are just plain unemployable because of both physical and mental disabilities.

On one other point, there is a huge problem in Thailand with kids inhaling solvent vapors (chroming). That also is leading to the same types of physical and mental disabilities. A young nephew of my wife was made almost paraplegic due to this insidious habit. And it is NEVER reported in the media. Why lose face if it can be swept under the carpet, out of sight ?

Unless they're drinking what Scottish distillers would call the "shots" and "feints" - the first and last bit - or making a complete hash of the process, I wouldn't have thought that would be the reason. Just drinking wood alcohol and similar seems more likely. In the west even menthylated spirit is actually ethanol with added emetic - if you could keep it down it might not do too much harm.

Your assumption that they are making a hash of it is the most correct. Because of the crap process (the still being too short), a large amount of methanol comes across. At certain points its very high, high enough to cause blindness and brain damage. And the low boilers coming across are very damaging. I am a Industrial Pharmacist/Chemist, and have lived in Thailand for 34 years, I do consultancy work here in Thailand and Australia. I have given samples to business friends to do Gas Chromatography, and the results indicate most home distillations are dangerous. Not only because of the bad fermentation, but the stills are very poorly designed. The percentage of methanol (wood alcohol) is very high. My wife several years ago tried making Lao Kow out of curiosity, after watching her grandfather. Got hold of the home grown yeast and fermented the sticky rice. It stunk, the wild yeast contamination was evident. The distillate, using a neighbor's still, was horrendous. Showed me what can go wrong.

Methylated Spirits is a generic name for ethanol denatured with a compound to prevent consumption. It used to be denatured with methanol or isopropanol (IPA), but not much now because of its poisonous nature. These days most "Methylated" Spirits are denatured with bitter agents that makes it unpalatable. One compound is call Bitrex.

This is not a light subject for village people all over Thailand, hundreds are dying or being incapacitated. Assumptions should on by drawn on fact.

[farangmick]

Does his family have enough influence/money for him to become a monk for a few months?

RIP little ones.

The afterthought RIP does not excuse your post or emoticon. Hope I never end up like you.

[farangmick]

Konina

You would'nt say that if it where your kids

I would.

I would never condone "the state" murdering anyone.

If they were mine, I'd save the state the trouble. All you bleeding hearts could blame me. And I wouldn't give a toss.

[farangmick]

Death penality only

Rest IN Peace Litle Angel <3

This is a horrible tragedy and my heart goes out to the families.

Please bear in mind though that it's called mental illness for a reason. This is not the dark ages.

oh yeah he sick so why they let him out last month ? kill him much better

Of course this is heinous but the guy has a mental illness.

Are you suggesting the death penalty is correct for mentally sick people who are convicted of such crimes?

It is certainly not going to be a deterrent and only about revenge.

Revenge you have no association with.

If it were my kids, I'd settle for revenge.

[farangmick]

As usual, tons of idiotic posts. Mental illness is a tough one to grasp for people who have never witnessed it first hand. If you're not familiar with schizophrenia, you can google it for your own research.

From knowing someone with schizophrenia, I will say it's a tricky one. They can be quite fine and functioning within society, but then the symptoms will show up later, and you're dealing with a different person.

Obviously this is a terrible tragedy, but the typical thai visa posts of recommending he get a medieval torture treatment are beyond stupid.

Folk with kids are bound to feel anger and post their rage. Perhaps visions of coming home to find their loved ones mutilated would be a worse nightmare. We can all make excuses for someone who is mental but...................

For me the bloke should be sent to meet his maker to ask a few questions. The ISIS mob are now being given that opportunity......

Spot on. I was rather older than most when my sons were born. Seven years ago, I could have looked at this dispassionately, possibly, but now my gut reaction is kill the bastard. (And I have been through a mild mental illness.)

[LarryBird]

The problem with the hang 'em high folks is that you add absolutely nothing to the discussion. I'm sure it makes you feel better about yourselves to come on here and say what you'd do if it happened to your family and how you would take care of business right there, but it's not anything that anyone who has spent 5 minutes on a forum hasn't already read. Congratulations, you're the Mel Gibson character in a movie that takes matters into his own hands to seek justice. But really, if it makes you feel like more of a man or a father to let everyone know that you're ready to get out your battle axe and go to town, go ahead, and let us all hear about it.

The real story here is that the person had spent some time at the psychiatric hospital here, and was discharged. Governments and societies need to decide on the proper handling of people like this. My own country fails in this matter, and a lot of people suffer as a result. As I have posted before, mental illness is a reality, and it's not something you can expect someone to just 'try a little harder' or something to overcome. Asking a schizophrenic not to be paranoid is like asking a blind person to hit a baseball, it's just not going to happen.

It is also my understanding that schizophrenia is hereditary and is relatively proportional across all ethnicities, which leads scientists to believe it dates back to the beginning of mankind.

[Craig krup]

The problem with the hang 'em high folks is that you add absolutely nothing to the discussion. I'm sure it makes you feel better about yourselves to come on here and say what you'd do if it happened to your family and how you would take care of business right there, but it's not anything that anyone who has spent 5 minutes on a forum hasn't already read. Congratulations, you're the Mel Gibson character in a movie that takes matters into his own hands to seek justice. But really, if it makes you feel like more of a man or a father to let everyone know that you're ready to get out your battle axe and go to town, go ahead, and let us all hear about it.

The real story here is that the person had spent some time at the psychiatric hospital here, and was discharged. Governments and societies need to decide on the proper handling of people like this. My own country fails in this matter, and a lot of people suffer as a result. As I have posted before, mental illness is a reality, and it's not something you can expect someone to just 'try a little harder' or something to overcome. Asking a schizophrenic not to be paranoid is like asking a blind person to hit a baseball, it's just not going to happen.

It is also my understanding that schizophrenia is hereditary and is relatively proportional across all ethnicities, which leads scientists to believe it dates back to the beginning of mankind.

Yes, but the freewill/determinism problem goes back 2,500 years. The insanity (pardon the pun) of the progressive left is that they think that they can casually and publicly make claims based on an answer to that question and not change behaviour. I know a psychiatrist who was working in a secure hospital when a patient "lost it". he was throwing male nurses around the room like toys, went to grab her, saw that she was heavily pregnant, and grabbed someone else. More people are more responsible than most "progressives" realise, and their claims and arguments change the world they think they are describing. I know someone who broke a guys arms and legs with a piece of wood and the prosecution service didn't proceed with the case because the perpetrator had low potassium levels and his brief was prepared to run a defence that taking a bag to work with rope and bats, crippling someone, holing yourself up so that it takes the gun squad to get you out - he surrendered when he was to be shot - is somehow the behaviour of someone too psychotic to be responsible. The prosecutors knew that juries are stupid enough to believe this bunkum, so 19 stone of steroid user walks free. You think that doesn't alter his behaviour, and that of his pals?

[tony5150]

Does his family have enough influence/money for him to become a monk for a few months?

RIP little ones.

Hey everyone.... I got my new thesaurus today.

An odious comment not ameliorated by faux concern for the dead.

[Maggusoil]

Konina

You would'nt say that if it where your kids

I would.

I would never condone "the state" murdering anyone.

Then, get the State out of the way. What would you have done with him if they were your kids?

[Maggusoil]

That's what juries are for. Isn't it? To get to the truth of the matter according to right and wrong.

Children, even babies and animals know the difference between right and wrong.

Adults certainly do.

This person, once incarcerated, was freed by the state. Someone made a bad mistake with that one.

There are others out here. You may be sitting next to one.

It is not possible to account for the mood changes in every potential murderer.

This is a horrendous crime, I guess the State will not let him out again. Will they?

[drgoon]

In the US, the gun nuts would say, "take away all the knives". What this issue really highlights is mental health, and the lack of available help. Such a shame this happened to those poor children, but good on the vigilantes to beat him AFTER they knew their own safety wasn't in jeopardy any more. Real heroes they are....

And what would you do...?

[cookee68]

It seems to me that it is clear how they died, and to why, RIP

[SunsetT]

Good to see that the Thai police are keeping up their usual wonderfully professional standards by dragging this poor obviously very sick guy out to get a beating.

I have noticed that there are many schizophrenic homeless people wandering the streets of Thailand. I have worked with many over the years in the UK, but be reassured, 99% of them are harmless.

Edited September 28, 2015 by SunsetT

[jacko45k]

This is a horrible tragedy and my heart goes out to the families.

Please bear in mind though that it's called mental illness for a reason. This is not the dark ages.

oh yeah he sick so why they let him out last month ? kill him much better

Of course this is heinous but the guy has a mental illness.

Are you suggesting the death penalty is correct for mentally sick people who are convicted of such crimes?

It is certainly not going to be a deterrent and only about revenge.

Revenge you have no association with.

If it were my kids, I'd settle for revenge.

Yes, I am sure.

But justice is the responsibility of others and should be impartial.

[wanderingstray]

Good to see that the Thai police are keeping up their usual wonderfully professional standards by dragging this poor obviously very sick guy out to get a beating.

I have noticed that there are many schizophrenic homeless people wandering the streets of Thailand. I have worked with many over the years in the UK, but be reassured, 99% of them are harmless.

And I looked after the 1% that weren't.

[wanderingstray]

Schizophrenia can also be drug induced and trauma induced (eg blow to the head) as well as it being hereditary.

[uniquefarang]

Does his family have enough influence/money for him to become a monk for a few months?

RIP little ones.

The value of a human life seems to be appraised differently in various cultures. I honestly don't know what HG had in mind with his post. However, I took his comment to mean that regardless of the circumstances of a person's death that influence or money seem to be able to buy people impunity in some societies.

[Gonzo the Face]

in a case like this, the people should have the right for instant justice, beating him to death

From the stand point of thinking emotionally you may be correct in your statement. Be it fortunate or unfortunate, the real world does not and cannot operate or condone such action. If you think it through rationally it reduces us to being barbarian and taking this instance as an example, could appear to reduce us to the level or lower than the slasher in this instance.

If we did as you and others seem to suggest you would do, then we are doing it as premeditated , irrationally, not the result of rational thinking.

No one loves small children more than a grampa, and I hold them as very special. Not saying I may not feel the same urges as many of earlier posters, but it is still wrong. I would sincerely hope that many of the such posters are just reacting emotionally, boastfully, macho, like or whatever term one would choose to put on it,,,,,,, and am sad to see so many vent the way they have. Not clearly nor rationally.

Yes , the man was in the mental hospital for treatment and was released. Doctors are not perfect either. How many hundreds or thousands of patients has this hospital released and none other has committed such atrocity. Judging now is judging by hindsight , like a Monday morning quarterback. Studies of the mind and its working is not an exact science like math.

Having said all this , I do feel that this individual should have his day in court, and if in fact is determined to be in such a mental state that he could possibly be of harm to others, should be put away and removed for whatever duration judged by the court.

May God have a special place for these innocent young children. RIP

Edited September 29, 2015 by Gonzo the Face

[DLang]

Remember the monk that did similar about 5-6 years ago, but with a machete in the middle of BKK.

The family thought his mental illness was just bad spirits, so sent him off to the temple to become a monk.

Decapitated about 5 people walking down the street.

Any updates on him and that story?

[SunsetT]

Good to see that the Thai police are keeping up their usual wonderfully professional standards by dragging this poor obviously very sick guy out to get a beating.

I have noticed that there are many schizophrenic homeless people wandering the streets of Thailand. I have worked with many over the years in the UK, but be reassured, 99% of them are harmless.

And I looked after the 1% that weren't.

.....Good on you.

[siam2007]

Clearly not well enough to be released.

So why was he?

Are you aware that this is Thailand, where mentally challenged folks do not get any proper care / treatment, and not a developed country ?

But how unbelievably sad a story that is..... makes me just speechless

[Chicog]

He was being held. Someone made the decision to release him. Will they even investigate?