Thailand attack: British family 'vow never to return' after savage street attack

[tezzainthailand]

Whichever version of the video you watch, people around the world will be left with one lasting image. That of the woman being kicked in the face. I know it's been said before, many times but Thailand really does need to be seen to be taking this seriously.

Yes, it is shocking. Fortunately, we didn't have the complete vision of those two young British lads back in the early 90's taking the young toddler on the railway tracks to have his life end in the most appaling way. But we didn't blame all British people for it did we?

Any sort of violence needs to be taken seriously, whatever the country.

[Bluespunk]

Every single days, we read stories about tourists in thailand who get

murdered,

raped,

stabbed,

heavily assaulted

thrown by the balcony

etc...

The only difference this time, we have a video.

thailand is a dangerous country, share this information with your friends and family. Because the thai govt and thai police dont care. These people just want our money!

Yes, but don't those sort of violent activities go on in most countries around the world?

Mass shootings (at least one a year in the U.S)

Heavy assaults (on the streets of most Australian capital cities, and like the goons in HH, alcohol fuelled)

The tennis player (her name escapes me) who was stabbed.

Rapes (what country doesn't have rapes?)

oh..and you left out young kids being lured onto railway lines (after being assaulted) to meet their death.

There is danger just about everywhere squire, not only Thailand.

Oh well, that makes it ok then. Cowardly scum can beat the shit out of pensioners because bad things happen elsewhere. Thanks for clearing that up.

[Brizo]

The pensioners acted like a pair of rseholes so they got treated like a pair of rseholes

Not exactly rocket science.

I'm guessing most of the outraged posters on here didn't watch or understand what happened in the video...instead just read the lies in the British media looking to push buttons to shift copy.

[Bluespunk]

The pensioners acted like a pair of rseholes so they got treated like a pair of rseholes

Not exactly rocket science.

I'm guessing most of the outraged posters on here didn't watch or understand what happened in the video...instead just read the lies in the British media looking to push buttons to shift copy.

Yeah right, that's why we think the beating of pensioners is the action of low life scum.

[Johpa]

EGO on both sides

should have just walked away

Easier said that done. A rather confusing scene but what I see is a Thai in a light shirt and shorts looking for a confrontation with another Thai who is trying to walk away. The man then has incidental contact with the first tourist, I assume the son, and blindsides him and knocks him down hard to the curb. The mother then tries to protect the fallen son and perhaps tries a bit too hard causing some loss of face and some other Somchais to pile on the elderly mother and father to save the face of the Thais, or perhaps out of hatred of Farangs. Chaiyo! I am not sure where the ego of the mama bear comes into play here nor where the ego of the young man who enters the fray who was not involved in the original incident.

The ego of the TAT staff does seem to come into play in the attempts to save the face of, first, the police in the carefully staged photo op with the police who attempted to avoid the incident for 24 hours, and then, second, the flowers and the the same type of photo op in the hospital. Chaiyo again!

[Cockwomble]

The pensioners acted like a pair of rseholes so they got treated like a pair of rseholes

Not exactly rocket science.

I'm guessing most of the outraged posters on here didn't watch or understand what happened in the video...instead just read the lies in the British media looking to push buttons to shift copy.

What amazes me is that you are able to even push the on button to your tablet/phone/computer. It might not be rocket science to most, but to you it probably is.

How was Remedial class?

[choff56]

Whichever version of the video you watch, people around the world will be left with one lasting image. That of the woman being kicked in the face. I know it's been said before, many times but Thailand really does need to be seen to be taking this seriously.

Yes, it is shocking. Fortunately, we didn't have the complete vision of those two young British lads back in the early 90's taking the young toddler on the railway tracks to have his life end in the most appaling way. But we didn't blame all British people for it did we?

Any sort of violence needs to be taken seriously, whatever the country.

As long as the "Thai people" allow the police and the judiciary to continue with their sham,scam whatever you want to call , you can blame all the Thai people. Their kowtowing mai pen rai attitude allows the corruption and violence to happen on a daily basis in Thailand. Oh I forgot to mention the Army.

[Mark123456]

Bad element everywhere they are making out it is really unsafe no more than here in the UK. Thailand for me has been safe for over 30 years just my view on it. I have friends that got mugged and beaten up on the streets of London they are over 70 never did see anything in the Press . So you see it happens all over the world.Best thing to do is if you feel unsafe pick a different holiday destination if you can find one anywhere in the world that will be safe. So yeah sticking to my Guns still don't think it's fair. Daily Mail hates Thailand always looking for bad press for it's own reasons if that had happened anywhere else it would not have been the headlines in the paper for sure. Oh sorry for the spelling mistake slip of the finger you must be a teacher.

The Daily Mail hates Thailand? I think it's the other way around actually, for reasons you are probably already aware of. What about the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Mirror and the hundreds of other newspapers that have run the story - do they all hate Thailand too?

[choff56]

One thing that is typical and not surprising is how people nearby were watching arms folded. I seen it before in Thailand. When someone is in distress and attacked its a case of "nothing to do with me"

And thats true of women and children attacked. Says something about the place!

No, it says something about the world.

No, it says something about Thailand. This barbaric incident did happen in Thailand, right?

[idannyb]

I am going to offer a perspective that may be un-popular as the brutal beatings suffered by the Owen family make it hard to find them at fault for anything. Before I do so… let me state emphatically that what happened to the Owen family was completely unjustified, horrific and done by cowards who deserve severe punishment and/or imprisonment, and not just a few thousand Baht fine.

While this beating was horrible and unjustified, I think it was avoidable. And after watching the unedited video a few times, you can see how/when the situation escalated.

Re ‘how could this have been avoided?’, I think there are a few common sense rules to consider, particularly when out at night and in bar zones or amidst crowds:

1. Don’t drink to excess (even a light buzz can markedly diminish your capacity to defend yourself).

2. Don’t ‘argue with’ or provoke strangers.

3. Walk away before verbal sparring escalates into something much worse.

4. Never start or continue to exacerbate something you are not fully prepared (or capable) to finish. In other words, know when its best to de-escalate and walk-away, even when you might be ‘in the right’ and fully capable of crushing a wrongdoer.

Rules number #1 and #4 likely do NOT apply to the Owen family. Rule #1: The Owens’ stated that they had not been drinking and no evidence to the contrary. Rule #4: Rosemary Owen (age 65) may have continued her spat with the Thai man a tad ‘too long’, but she was absolutely zero threat to them, and I hold the Thai men fully responsible for the hostility escalation.

I do think Rules #2 and #3 apply to the Owen family’s encounter.

Rule #2: The Owen’s 43-year-old son initially (albeit very mildly) initiated the altercation. He did so by ever so slightly tweaking or pushing the drunken Thai man’s chest area. Perhaps the Owen son felt the Thai man was about to bump into him? Perhaps he was aggravated by the barker at the just passed bar who tired to pull him into the establishment? Impossible to know. But, what you can see on video, is the Thai man was touched or mildly pushed and evidently intentionally by the Owen son. Most people would (and should) just brush this off and let it go. But the Thai man was drunk (so admitted to police) and in a belligerent mood (he’d just been arguing and pushing another Thai man) and he chose to push the Owen son in the back, causing him to fall hard and hit is head. It was not a forceful push, but enough to cause a loss of balance and a hard stumble/fall/injury.

Rule #3: Rosemary Owen (age 65) saw her son go down, and the Thai man who perpetrated this act, and she understandably took exception. Like a mother protecting her cub (that instinct never goes away) she immediately chastised the Thai man, and so began the verbal sparring. You cannot blame Rosemary for lambasting the Thai man. But in such a circumstance, there is a time to back down and deescalate. Yet she was further provoked, perhaps even handled/touched (hard to see on video) and she reacted by slapping the Thai man (her slap was edited out of the video clip in the Mirror UK article). Let me say clearly, notwithstanding Rosemary slapping the Thai man, THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR A MAN TO HIT A WOMAN, MUCH LESS AN ELDERLY WOMAN! But that moment seemed to further rile the Thai man and cadre of young thugs in his orbit. This quickly turned into Thai men coming from several different directions to coldcock and brutally punch/stomp all members of the Owen family… leaving them all unconscious and clearly defenseless. Very cowardly acts by the assailants!

[Cockwomble]

I am going to offer a perspective that may be un-popular as the brutal beatings suffered by the Owen family make it hard to find them at fault for anything. Before I do so let me state emphatically that what happened to the Owen family was completely unjustified, horrific and done by cowards who deserve severe punishment and/or imprisonment, and not just a few thousand Baht fine.

While this beating was horrible and unjustified, I think it was avoidable. And after watching the unedited video a few times, you can see how/when the situation escalated.

Re how could this have been avoided?, I think there are a few common sense rules to consider, particularly when out at night and in bar zones or amidst crowds:

1. Dont drink to excess (even a light buzz can markedly diminish your capacity to defend yourself).

2. Dont argue with or provoke strangers.

3. Walk away before verbal sparring escalates into something much worse.

4. Never start or continue to exacerbate something you are not fully prepared (or capable) to finish. In other words, know when its best to de-escalate and walk-away, even when you might be in the right and fully capable of crushing a wrongdoer.

Rules number #1 and #4 likely do NOT apply to the Owen family. Rule #1: The Owens stated that they had not been drinking and no evidence to the contrary. Rule #4: Rosemary Owen (age 65) may have continued her spat with the Thai man a tad too long, but she was absolutely zero threat to them, and I hold the Thai men fully responsible for the hostility escalation.

I do think Rules #2 and #3 apply to the Owen familys encounter.

Rule #2: The Owens 43-year-old son initially (albeit very mildly) initiated the altercation. He did so by ever so slightly tweaking or pushing the drunken Thai mans chest area. Perhaps the Owen son felt the Thai man was about to bump into him? Perhaps he was aggravated by the barker at the just passed bar who tired to pull him into the establishment? Impossible to know. But, what you can see on video, is the Thai man was touched or mildly pushed and evidently intentionally by the Owen son. Most people would (and should) just brush this off and let it go. But the Thai man was drunk (so admitted to police) and in a belligerent mood (hed just been arguing and pushing another Thai man) and he chose to push the Owen son in the back, causing him to fall hard and hit is head. It was not a forceful push, but enough to cause a loss of balance and a hard stumble/fall/injury.

Rule #3: Rosemary Owen (age 65) saw her son go down, and the Thai man who perpetrated this act, and she understandably took exception. Like a mother protecting her cub (that instinct never goes away) she immediately chastised the Thai man, and so began the verbal sparring. You cannot blame Rosemary for lambasting the Thai man. But in such a circumstance, there is a time to back down and deescalate. Yet she was further provoked, perhaps even handled/touched (hard to see on video) and she reacted by slapping the Thai man (her slap was edited out of the video clip in the Mirror UK article). Let me say clearly, notwithstanding Rosemary slapping the Thai man, THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR A MAN TO HIT A WOMAN, MUCH LESS AN ELDERLY WOMAN! But that moment seemed to further rile the Thai man and cadre of young thugs in his orbit. This quickly turned into Thai men coming from several different directions to coldcock and brutally punch/stomp all members of the Owen family leaving them all unconscious and clearly defenseless. Very cowardly acts by the assailants!

I just wasted 10 seconds of my life reading that drivel. You make less sense than Joey Deacon talking underwater.

[Brizo]

The pensioners acted like a pair of rseholes so they got treated like a pair of rseholes

Not exactly rocket science.

I'm guessing most of the outraged posters on here didn't watch or understand what happened in the video...instead just read the lies in the British media looking to push buttons to shift copy.

Yeah right, that's why we think the beating of pensioners is the action of low life scum.

If the "pensioners" had acted their age instead of like a pair of violent thugs ...none of this would have happened!

Violence begets violence.

All 3 family members were being violent toward the Thais......the Thais then kicked their asses. Case closed!

[Brizo]

Rule #2: The Owen’s 43-year-old son initially (albeit very mildly) initiated the altercation. He did so by ever so slightly tweaking or pushing the drunken Thai man’s chest area. Perhaps the Owen son felt the Thai man was about to bump into him? .....and he chose to push the Owen son in the back, causing him to fall hard and hit is head. It was not a forceful push, but enough to cause a loss of balance and a hard stumble/fall/injury.

You must be watching a different video as the son had to stretch his arm to make contact with the Thai guy & he fell because he tripped over his own leg probably because he was drunk.

The Thai guy touched him with no more force than he touched the Thai guy to begin with.

Watch the video again.

[Brizo]

The pensioners acted like a pair of rseholes so they got treated like a pair of rseholes

Not exactly rocket science.

I'm guessing most of the outraged posters on here didn't watch or understand what happened in the video...instead just read the lies in the British media looking to push buttons to shift copy.

What amazes me is that you are able to even push the on button to your tablet/phone/computer. It might not be rocket science to most, but to you it probably is.

How was Remedial class?

Your sole contribution to the discussion appears to be name calling.

I think that means I won before we even got started.

It's Amazing the things you learn in remedial class, you should try it sometime.

[dcnx]

The number of apologists in this thread is sickening.

It doesn't matter who started it, at no time should anyone kick an elderly woman, who is on the ground already, in the head! Period. There is no apologizing for that.

[citzofwrld]

One thing that is typical and not surprising is how people nearby were watching arms folded. I seen it before in Thailand. When someone is in distress and attacked its a case of "nothing to do with me"

And thats true of women and children attacked. Says something about the place!

The U.S. is like that too. Most would have their cellphone out taping the whole thing to entertain family and friends later.

[Brizo]

The number of apologists in this thread is sickening.

It doesn't matter who started it, at no time should anyone kick an elderly woman, who is on the ground already, in the head! Period. There is no apologizing for that.

At no time should anyone of any age/gender behave violently towards another! Period.

Maybe you should take your own advice and stop being an apologist for this violent family who thought they could act how they liked in someone else's country.

[idannyb]

Rule #2: The Owen’s 43-year-old son initially (albeit very mildly) initiated the altercation. He did so by ever so slightly tweaking or pushing the drunken Thai man’s chest area. Perhaps the Owen son felt the Thai man was about to bump into him? .....and he chose to push the Owen son in the back, causing him to fall hard and hit is head. It was not a forceful push, but enough to cause a loss of balance and a hard stumble/fall/injury.

You must be watching a different video as the son had to stretch his arm to make contact with the Thai guy & he fell because he tripped over his own leg probably because he was drunk.

The Thai guy touched him with no more force than he touched the Thai guy to begin with.

Watch the video again.

We were watching the same video... I agree with you and so stated ... "the Thai man was touched or mildly pushed and evidently intentionally by the Owen son"

And also noted "it was not a forceful push" (Thai man push of Owen son) ... but enough to cause him to trip & fall ... it happens ... My point was/is the Owens did not deserve what they got ... but they made mistakes and Owen son's intentional tweak of Thai man's chest was the first one. Rule#2 Don't 'argue with' or provoke strangers

[Brizo]

We were watching the same video... I agree with you and so stated ... "the Thai man was touched or mildly pushed and evidently intentionally by the Owen son"[/size]

And also noted "it was not a forceful push" (Thai man push of Owen son) ... but enough to cause him to trip & fall ... it happens ... My point was/is the Owens did not deserve what they got ... but they made mistakes and Owen son's intentional tweak of Thai man's chest was the first one. Rule#2 Don't 'argue with' or provoke strangers

The son tripped over his own leg, so his fall had nothing to do with the Thai guy lightly touching his back.

Yes, he shouldn't have tweaked the Thai man's chest( if that is what he did ).

The mum shouldn't have struck the Thai man in the face.

The mum shouldn't have pulled the hair and raked the face of another Thai man who was actually trying to de-escalate the situation.

The dad shouldn't have then sly punched the Thai man in the face who was actually trying to help.

The son shouldn't have put in a head lock the Thai man who was actually trying to help.

All these things happened before the first Thai punch was thrown.

Even when the Thais had jabbed a few of them ...the family were still trying to advance on the Thais with violence in mind.

That was when the heavy violence started.

You might want to review the video again if you disagree with any of the above.

[farang000999]

The lao gik attack was much worse imho.

Especially since the police are already admitting they are willingly to do nothing despite knowing exactly who ordered it.

[sitti]

There is no doubt what happened the family was terrible and nothing they had done deserved that kind of violence. But I wonder how many people here, especially bashers, really care about them other than using this news to accelerate their bashings with over generalizations to satisfy their ego. A small fraction of tourists may had been unfortunate enough to get into troubles, but how many hundreds of thousands of genuine tourists (excluding visa abusers) came here had some nice time and gone home happy. I wonder when will tourists actually stop coming here like bashers have been saying for years. Numbers are telling otherwise. Since Thailand and thai people are so terrible, I'm confused how is Thailand managing to be listed among the world's top tourist/holidays destinations constantly every single year. Last time I checked, all of these world's top destinations had tourists became victims of various crimes. You can easily find bunch of video of tourists or locals getting attacked or robbed in London. So if we go along with bashers' logic and generalization, british are .......

[mazza]

Love him or hate him, Thaksin would not have put up with this.

[Moonmoon]

cause and effect. Without a cause there would be no effect. Dont just look at the effect n ignore the cause. You dont like the effect? Don't cause the effect. Prevention better than cure.

The Thais r unforgivable in their actions. Kicking an old lady on the ground. Jail their asses. Prosecute them to the full extent of the sentence.

For others reading this comment.

If you don't want stuff like that to happen to you or your family. Let it be a kind warning to you.

Behave yourself and don't cause anything or put yourself in a situation like this. Let it be a lesson learnt.

[Moonmoon]

We were watching the same video... I agree with you and so stated ... "the Thai man was touched or mildly pushed and evidently intentionally by the Owen son"[/size]

And also noted "it was not a forceful push" (Thai man push of Owen son) ... but enough to cause him to trip & fall ... it happens ... My point was/is the Owens did not deserve what they got ... but they made mistakes and Owen son's intentional tweak of Thai man's chest was the first one. Rule#2 Don't 'argue with' or provoke strangers

The son tripped over his own leg, so his fall had nothing to do with the Thai guy lightly touching his back.

Yes, he shouldn't have tweaked the Thai man's chest( if that is what he did ).

The mum shouldn't have struck the Thai man in the face.

The mum shouldn't have pulled the hair and raked the face of another Thai man who was actually trying to de-escalate the situation.

The dad shouldn't have then sly punched the Thai man in the face who was actually trying to help.

The son shouldn't have put in a head lock the Thai man who was actually trying to help.

All these things happened before the first Thai punch was thrown.

Even when the Thais had jabbed a few of them ...the family were still trying to advance on the Thais with violence in mind.

That was when the heavy violence started.

You might want to review the video again if you disagree with any of the above.

For anyone who missed the Punch of the British Man who started the fight. Justify this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw4pfwjNis4

Jail all the Thais to the full extent of the law for their retaliation. Nothing can justify their actions for punch n kicking an old lady on the ground.

No excuse.

No excuse for a British Man to punch a Thai man to the ground as well.

[AZBill]

This is headline news in the U.S. today. I just saw it on Fox here. Unbelievable! It's going to hell over there and the social media response here is not good news for Thailand's tourist industry.

[jerojero]

an utterly disgraceful attack on elderly tourists by angry young Thais who lose some 'face' I can understand some anger and abuse but to carry on the cowardly attack after the couple were on the floor was beyond any explanation or apology and any Thais try and help?

..... Further to this, I'm sure we all would like to know what the dear PM would say about this.

[siddv]

This video is getting a lot of play in the USA is this what the PM refers to as Thai happiness and Thainess? Is this what high-quality tourists can look forward to on holiday??

[siddv]

The reason nobody stepped in is because it's common knowledge that you could lose your life being shot by another cowardly drunken Thai .

[KMartinHandyman]

435294-rose-owen.jpg

What some drunken cowardly Thai men can do to a 65 year old woman.

Get well soon ma'am.

photo caption:

"Here are some flowers. Ka. Do you still have double vision? You are so lucky, we have a discount on brain surgery at Bangkok Hospital this week. 30% off. Ka. And next time, use your right arm more to block a kick to the head. Ka."

I never comment on threads where someone died,,I think it's distasteful and none of a strangers business. That said fortunately these people lived and your caption is funny as heck to me sitting in the U.S. having a cocktail at the moment. Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes.

[IAMHERE]

watch the video

don't have to watch all of it, just to the part where the farang woman slaps the Thai guy. If it gets to the point you have to be violent the culture says put the opposition down so as they don't get up and come after you tonight, tomorrow, or ever.