Thai student in Paris hid in basement near attack

[rooster59]

Thai student in Paris hid in basement near attack

PARIS: A THAI student living in Paris has recounted the horror of being just 200 metres from a restaurant when it was attacked by terrorists. He now feels unsafe and wants to come home.

The chilling account came as Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai said that no Thai had been caught up in the attacks - and asked every Thai in Paris not to go outside and inform the Thai embassy there if they need help.

Kantawat Pongriyawattana, a post-graduate student, was working at a Thai eatery when a Cambodian restaurant, Le Petit Cambodge, was targeted.

"It was around 10pm on Friday night. I was serving food when I noticed the customers start panicking when they knew that there was an attack in the city via phone calls and social media," Kantawat said.

"I did not hear the gunfire because I was inside the restaurant. However, all of us were later informed that there were several rampages and bombs in the city and we were told to stay inside."

He said the owner of his restaurant closed it and evacuated all the staff and customers to the basement. He could hear the sirens of police cars and ambulances.

During the two hours he spent in the basement, he admitted that he was scared because on social media it was reported that the gunmen had attacked people at random. It was also reported that the attack at Le Petit Cambodge resulted in 12 deaths.

"I later left the restaurant around 2am. The street was very quiet as people were told to stay inside. Some of the metro [train] lines were suspended, so I had to take an alternative route home," Kantawat said.

He said the Thai community in Paris was shocked by the attacks with people busy checking the safety of friends and relatives.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said more than 1,000 Thais live in Paris.

"The terrorism threat in Paris has been common since the attack on Charlie Hebdo earlier this year, so we are quite familiar with rumours about attacks. But this time the shooting was so close that I was terrified and felt unsafe to live in Paris," Kantawat said.

"Therefore, I plan to return to Thailand soon."

Don said the Thai embassy in Paris had issued the warning for all Thais in Paris to remain indoors and call the embassy if they needed help on the all-day hotline 336 0359-9705.

Apinan Poshyananda, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Culture, and four Thai officials were in Paris at the time of attacks. Apinan said his group had attended a meeting at Unesco.

He said he went to the Louvre museum on Friday night and left at 8pm and returned to his hotel, which was located quite far from where the attacks later occurred. He planned to return to Bangkok yesterday.

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thai-student-in-Paris-hid-in-basement-near-attack-30272964.html

-- The Nation 2015-11-15

[JeremyBowskill]

He's probably in the safest place right now, I don't see lightening striking twice, at least not quickly anyhow.

[trainman34014]

So; he thinks he will be safe 'at home'....where terrorists bomb shrines in the middle of the Capital, political activists kill each other and innocent people on a by-annual basis, the South of his own country is plagued by a Muslim Insurgency and local madmen attack their wives/girlfriend with guns and knives all over the land on an almost daily basis !!

[Somtamnication]

Funny that. A Thai neighbour asked me why this only happens in falang countries. I reminded him of Erawan, of daily bombings down south and the 2010 massacre. He left pissed off!

[Mbaki]

So; he thinks he will be safe 'at home'....where terrorists bomb shrines in the middle of the Capital, political activists kill each other and innocent people on a by-annual basis, the South of his own country is plagued by a Muslim Insurgency and local madmen attack their wives/girlfriend with guns and knives all over the land on an almost daily basis !!

So nothing that is not happening in every other country.

[Fookhaht]

Funny that. A Thai neighbour asked me why this only happens in falang countries. I reminded him of Erawan, of daily bombings down south and the 2010 massacre. He left pissed off!

Of course he did. Lost face. Good luck getting THAT Thai friend back. If you wanted it, that is...

[Fookhaht]

On a side note: My boss (dean of my faculty) and 10 of my Ph.d. students are in Paris. All safe. 170 teachers and 14,000 students of our faculty breathing a sigh of relief!

Most have expressed a sentiment of wanting to quickly get back to safe Thailand. Yeah, right. If you don't get out in traffic.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Fookhaht

[NongKhaiKid]

He might be safer at home as there are no terrorist attacks and that's official !

[dotpoom]

Personally...I think there should be a news "blackout" on all events such as what happened in Paris and all over the world.........Isn't this what these organizations thrive on?

[NoshowJones]

So; he thinks he will be safe 'at home'....where terrorists bomb shrines in the middle of the Capital, political activists kill each other and innocent people on a by-annual basis, the South of his own country is plagued by a Muslim Insurgency and local madmen attack their wives/girlfriend with guns and knives all over the land on an almost daily basis !!

So nothing that is not happening in every other country.

No one is safe anywhere in the world anymore. Except maybe in countries where there are no Muslims, if that's possible of course.

[EnglishJohn]

So; he thinks he will be safe 'at home'....where terrorists bomb shrines in the middle of the Capital, political activists kill each other and innocent people on a by-annual basis, the South of his own country is plagued by a Muslim Insurgency and local madmen attack their wives/girlfriend with guns and knives all over the land on an almost daily basis !!

So nothing that is not happening in every other country.

No one is safe anywhere in the world anymore. Except maybe in countries where there are no Muslims, if that's possible of course.

Thailand (except in the South) is about as good as it gets these days.

[gandalf12]

So; he thinks he will be safe 'at home'....where terrorists bomb shrines in the middle of the Capital, political activists kill each other and innocent people on a by-annual basis, the South of his own country is plagued by a Muslim Insurgency and local madmen attack their wives/girlfriend with guns and knives all over the land on an almost daily basis !!

So nothing that is not happening in every other country.

No one is safe anywhere in the world anymore. Except maybe in countries where there are no Muslims, if that's possible of course.

Japan apparently wont give visa's to muslims

[NoshowJones]

So; he thinks he will be safe 'at home'....where terrorists bomb shrines in the middle of the Capital, political activists kill each other and innocent people on a by-annual basis, the South of his own country is plagued by a Muslim Insurgency and local madmen attack their wives/girlfriend with guns and knives all over the land on an almost daily basis !!

So nothing that is not happening in every other country.

No one is safe anywhere in the world anymore. Except maybe in countries where there are no Muslims, if that's possible of course.

Japan apparently wont give visa's to muslims

Yes, I read about that, any other countries sensible enough to follow Japan?

[Colonel Klink]

possum1931 said

No one is safe anywhere in the world anymore. Except maybe in countries where there are no Muslims, if that's possible of course.

US schools are none too safe either. Oh, I guess there are Muslims there too..... Edited November 15, 2015 by Colonel Klink

[Usernames]

So; he thinks he will be safe 'at home'....where terrorists bomb shrines in the middle of the Capital, political activists kill each other and innocent people on a by-annual basis, the South of his own country is plagued by a Muslim Insurgency and local madmen attack their wives/girlfriend with guns and knives all over the land on an almost daily basis !!

So nothing that is not happening in every other country.

No one is safe anywhere in the world anymore. Except maybe in countries where there are no Muslims, if that's possible of course.

Japan apparently wont give visa's to muslims

Muslims are carping because apparently Angola has just outlawed Islam and mosques. http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/163865/angola-bans-islam-shuts-down-mosques

[aslimversgwm]

Neither does Japan have any of its missions such as embassies in Islamic countries I'm told. Way to go: isolate them and freeze them out of any contact with democratic society. Oh dear! I forgot: oil. The only reason we need to have anything to do with them.

[aslimversgwm]

Have any senior Muslim clerics openly declared their abhorrence for what has happened in Paris yet?

[Tom89]

Japan apparently wont give visa's to muslims

That's a myth. I live in Tokyo. There's a mosque here and quite a few Turks and Iranians.

[hugh2121]

Report on BBC 1 is that one of the terrorists had a Syrian passport and had entered the EU via Greece as an asylum seeker. This should be a wake up call to all politicians to close the borders to these people and expel those that have already arrived. I doubt it though, the politicians have been blind to the threat for so long that I can't see the blinkers being removed now. Meanwhile, more people are going to die due to their inaction and continued policy of letting them in.

[DrTuner]

Funny that. A Thai neighbour asked me why this only happens in falang countries. I reminded him of Erawan, of daily bombings down south and the 2010 massacre. He left pissed off!

Hindu shrine, muslims down south and cambodian mercenaries. Not Thai, no wonder he was pissed, you insulted his noble nationality.

[thailanddogerator]

The monkeys and their democrazy will never wake up.

Only Russia and China are a chance for a free world because they will exterminate every single terrorist even in their own country !

Report on BBC 1 is that one of the terrorists had a Syrian passport and had entered the EU via Greece as an asylum seeker. This should be a wake up call to all politicians to close the borders to these people and expel those that have already arrived. I doubt it though, the politicians have been blind to the threat for so long that I can't see the blinkers being removed now. Meanwhile, more people are going to die due to their inaction and continued policy of letting them in.

[Artisi]

So; he thinks he will be safe 'at home'....where terrorists bomb shrines in the middle of the Capital, political activists kill each other and innocent people on a by-annual basis, the South of his own country is plagued by a Muslim Insurgency and local madmen attack their wives/girlfriend with guns and knives all over the land on an almost daily basis !!

Not forgetting the daily massacre on the roads.

[Artisi]

Personally...I think there should be a news "blackout" on all events such as what happened in Paris and all over the world.........Isn't this what these organizations thrive on?

Actually that raises a good point, I think it should be reported as important information but not glamorised to the extent it is. Then of course should we glamorise the retaliation if it ever eventuates along with the removal of all non native citizen of the country as payback or just do it and shut up about it. Edited November 15, 2015 by Artisi

[Yann55]

Funny that. A Thai neighbour asked me why this only happens in falang countries. I reminded him of Erawan, of daily bombings down south and the 2010 massacre. He left pissed off!

Perhaps what he meant was : why do Paris bombings happen only in France ?

[Artisi]

Funny that. A Thai neighbour asked me why this only happens in falang countries. I reminded him of Erawan, of daily bombings down south and the 2010 massacre. He left pissed off!

Perhaps what he meant was : why do Paris bombings happen only in France ?

Of course that's what he meant - anyone would or should know that

[cyberfarang]

This should never have been reported in the news, because this may scare Thais from visiting France and hurt the French tourist trade, not to mention that the Thai student was not in the proximity of the area at the time and only heard about it by listening to people`s phone conversations.

[Briggsy]

Thai "student" working at a Thai restaurant. Who would've thunk it?

[farangmick]

So; he thinks he will be safe 'at home'....where terrorists bomb shrines in the middle of the Capital, political activists kill each other and innocent people on a by-annual basis, the South of his own country is plagued by a Muslim Insurgency and local madmen attack their wives/girlfriend with guns and knives all over the land on an almost daily basis !!

So nothing that is not happening in every other country.

No one is safe anywhere in the world anymore. Except maybe in countries where there are no Muslims, if that's possible of course.

Sadly, I wouldn't know, since the UK has doled out passports to Pakistanis and Bangladeshis on demand since I was a small child. The elder generation actually came to work. Their descendants are a somewhat different kettle of fish. Now there is the new invasion. Not going back to England anytime soon.

[Thongkorn]

Funny that. A Thai neighbour asked me why this only happens in falang countries. I reminded him of Erawan, of daily bombings down south and the 2010 massacre. He left pissed off!

Of course he did. Lost face. Good luck getting THAT Thai friend back. If you wanted it, that is...

Loss of face aload of <deleted>, just an excuse not to accept responsibility one's actions,

[razer]

Look ... we all know terrorism doesn't exist in Thailand. There was no Islamic agenda behind the Erawan bomb.

I know this because the police said so.

BUT

I've been thinking ... with all the success of the non-terrorists in Paris what's to keep the boys in the south from hopping in a pick-up with their AKs and heading north to BKK?