Do you feel there is an increase in violent behaviour in Thailand?

[Walter Travolta]

And as for generalising, My intention was to not tarr all Thais the same, all farangs the same or all people in power the same.

I hope your confusion about me being confused, has left you much less confused

[stevenl]

Reading through this thread it's the usual;

1. Racist victim blaming.

2. Irrelevant statements like "it's way worse in the West." Guess what? In "the west" you have at least some human rights. You can't compare Thailand when it compares favorably and then not compare it when it the comparison is unfavorable.

<deleted>

You may disagree with some opinions, no need for the aggression. Especially in a thread like this.

[JDGRUEN]

Last year I had a friend who made the mistake of keeping a Thai guy from bashing his own g/f - wife even more. And my Swedish friend got bashed ... and alcohol was involved. Intervening in domestic disputes is not a good idea.

About last October, a friend of mine moved a sign about 1/2 meter to park his g/f's car at a public park. This sign marked off parking spots for Samlor Tuk Tuk's. Six of the drivers immediately surround him and started a verbal barrage. My friend speaks Thai quite well and understood the threats being yelled at him and tried to calm them down. Then at full speed a guy with a big traffic cone jumped through the six guys and bashed my friend on the head with the hard plastic edge. This cut a 4-5 inch gash down to his skull and blood spurted everywhere. Well the hot headed drivers made a mistake. My friend is martial arts trained and the whack on his head did not phase him - only pissed him off. He then was attacked by the drivers one after another - with Muay Thai kicks ... My friend just grabbed their leg - then their throat and choked them out - put a thumb in the eyes of two of them and he then bashed their heads on a passing taxi and song taew. Three were down and my friend challenged the rest - they backed off. I was witness to this as I was running across the park and car park to get to him and calm him down. Police came -- several were arrested after they got out of the emergency room. They were later fined and given suspended sentences ... My friend was paid 20K baht for his medical bills - collected from the drivers by the Phuyaiban and the town attorney... Amazing Thailand.

Seems like a lot of trouble for a parking space.

A different place, a different day, different cops, a different weapon, a different Phuyaiban, and we may be reading about your deceased friend, or your friend in prison.

Sometimes I'm glad that mopping the streets with a bunch of thugs isn't even an option for me. I'd just have to find a different place to park. I can live with the shame.

My friend had no intention of disturbing anyone -- the movement of the sign did not displace even 1/10 of a parking space. No driver was displaced. My friend attempted in as calm a manner as possible to talk through the problem. But he had no choice but to fight back - he was viciously attacked just like the folks in Hua Hin ... You seem to have the odd take of the story that my friend intentionally went out looking for trouble. He has been in Thailand for 16 years - speaks Thai near native and was trying to defuse the situation. Your take that he was a foolish fist slinging cowboy is way off base. He had no choice but to fight his way out of it ... they had him surrounded and would not let him leave... Good Grief - all the keyboard know it alls --- you weren't there...

So, let me ask you. Taking out all the judgement, the good and evil, the right and the wrong of it, how do you figure it would have gone had he parked across the street and not moved their sign?

[/quote

*************************

It was very crowded, my friend had gone around looking for a space. And of course nothing would have happened. What Lame position you again take. What you are saying the simple non aggressive non violent action by my friend justifies a violent attack upon him for such a minor transgression. Please note the police have ordered the use of all such signs marking reserved parking for the Samlor tuk tuk taxis to stop and I checked yesterday and they have stopped. Doesn't it seem to you that the arrests, the fines, the payment for hospital bills, an apology from the Puuyaiban, the actions by the police to stop the practice of reserved parking spaces all indicate that my friend did nothing of a serious nature to deserve a gang beating attempt? I think your standards and silly judgemental thinking are ass backwards.

[Cook my sock]

There is a change of attitude towards foreigners since Thailand became more prosperous and modernised.

I guess there was a time that foreigners felt 'God like' in Thailand. Westerners had more money and were looked after. Apart from rich gangsters in Phuket, this is not the case now, almost the opposite.

Look at a city like Bangkok now it's unrecognisable to 20 years ago. Shopping malls, everyone worships brands and phones.

I've only been coming to Thailand since the late 90s but I do miss the old days before smart phones!

[dageurreotype]

I do think if there's an opportunity to hurt a 'farang',a few Thais will take that opportunity.

Such a situation took place in Khaosan during songkran. I witnessed an English guy who was picked out to go through the security tent. Feeling bullied he refused, the security got heavy, he pushed them away and they beat the crap out of him. This was the official security at Khaosan!!

"Feeling bullied he refused, the security got heavy, he pushed them away and they beat the crap out of him" - how is he at airports in the West with the security people, does he refuse security staff instructions and push security staff away and then what happens! It's actually laughable when posters try to use those types of examples as a justification to support Thai people wanting to hurt farangs at any opportunity.

Coincidentally, a report of an English mother and her daughter being attacked by a bunch of ladyboys on KSR was linked in with the Hua Hin story. The daughter had gone to the aid of a man being savagely beaten by this band of er, brothers and they'd turned on her and then her mother when she went to her daughter's aid. Therefore it does appear that violence is escalating in predominantly tourist areas.

I'd really want to understand the detail a little better before I could pass judgement or even comment on the KSR incident.

If memory serves, this was linked to a newspaper banned in Thailand, unless you have a VPN. hint hint.

[chiang mai]

"Feeling bullied he refused, the security got heavy, he pushed them away and they beat the crap out of him" - how is he at airports in the West with the security people, does he refuse security staff instructions and push security staff away and then what happens! It's actually laughable when posters try to use those types of examples as a justification to support Thai people wanting to hurt farangs at any opportunity.

Coincidentally, a report of an English mother and her daughter being attacked by a bunch of ladyboys on KSR was linked in with the Hua Hin story. The daughter had gone to the aid of a man being savagely beaten by this band of er, brothers and they'd turned on her and then her mother when she went to her daughter's aid. Therefore it does appear that violence is escalating in predominantly tourist areas.

I'd really want to understand the detail a little better before I could pass judgement or even comment on the KSR incident.

If memory serves, this was linked to a newspaper banned in Thailand, unless you have a VPN. hint hint.

If it was reported in that "newspaper" then the answer is clear, the report was highly biased in favour of the women who did no wrong and against anyone Thai, as was the case in the Hua Hin incident. Next case!

[MockingJay]

"One can see the rolled down window and the erected middle finger more often these days, I see road fights, drivers cutting each other off on purpose, arguments that get out of hand and a decrease in general friendliness. To me it seems, that the old land of smiles that I knew, is quickly fading."

I've only been here 15 years and

Never have seen a rolled down window with the erected middle finger;

Never have seen road fights;

Have seen one or two drivers cut each off purposefully BUT far less than I've seen in the West;

Never have seen arguments that get out of hand

Not saying it doesn't happen........Guess I live in a different Thailand than you do

A few years of living at or close to Phuket will teach you a different lesson. Maybe you are living somewhere in Udon-Ruralistan where everyone still rides on buffalos or bicycles...

I live on Phuket and don't see it.

Good for you then, Stevenl, good for you!

[Nasrullah]

Have to say never seen bad violent behavior where ever I've travelled in Thailand only bad manners mainly.

Friends & family that ask me about coming to Thailand if their concerned about certain things they are told, I just say stay away from Bangkok, and places like Pattaya & Phuket and now Hua Hin, come straight to me and we will sort your trip.

Going on that post,you would of been better to advise them not to come.....if they were true friends.

[impulse]

It was very crowded, my friend had gone around looking for a space. And of course nothing would have happened. What Lame position you again take. What you are saying the simple non aggressive non violent action by my friend justifies a violent attack upon him for such a minor transgression. Please note the police have ordered the use of all such signs marking reserved parking for the Samlor tuk tuk taxis to stop and I checked yesterday and they have stopped. Doesn't it seem to you that the arrests, the fines, the payment for hospital bills, an apology from the Puuyaiban, the actions by the police to stop the practice of reserved parking spaces all indicate that my friend did nothing of a serious nature to deserve a gang beating attempt? I think your standards and silly judgemental thinking are ass backwards.

It may be totally legal, and I may be absolutely wrong.

But I'm still not going to move the sign. Not after what happened to your friend.

You guys do want you want.

[Walter Travolta]

And as for generalising, My intention was to not tarr all Thais the same, all farangs the same or all people in power the same.

But you are a racist, there are plenty of foreigners in Thailand that aren't white.

And they are just as likely to get a beating, as shown by the 'Lao gik' thread, video in Bangkok.

Wrong, in my world farang means foreigner. Farang includes anyone from outside Thailand to me, whatever colour they are.

If my definition of the word farang is incorrect, then my bad for not realising that, slap my wrists.

People like you disgust me in the way that you think you can just shout racist at any opportunity, even if there isn't one, like here? Ther is absolutely NOTHING racist in my comments, so put your magnifying glass away.

I hope you, and others like you who loosely label people racists start getting bans on here, absolute joke

I tried my best to word my comments in such a way to avoid comments like yours littering the page, but hey, here you are

[chiang mai]

And as for generalising, My intention was to not tarr all Thais the same, all farangs the same or all people in power the same.

But you are a racist, there are plenty of foreigners in Thailand that aren't white.

And they are just as likely to get a beating, as shown by the 'Lao gik' thread, video in Bangkok.

Wrong, in my world farang means foreigner. Farang includes anyone from outside Thailand to me, whatever colour they are.

If my definition of the word farang is incorrect, then my bad for not realising that, slap my wrists.

People like you disgust me in the way that you think you can just shout racist at any opportunity, even if there isn't one, like here? Ther is absolutely NOTHING racist in my comments, so put your magnifying glass away.

I hope you, and others like you who loosely label people racists start getting bans on here, absolute joke

I tried my best to word my comments in such a way to avoid comments like yours littering the page, but hey, here you are

FWIW Farang refers to white westerner, Jepun for Japanese, Chin for Chinese, Arab for Middle Easterners, Black for African countries, plus others that don't readily spring to mind..

[stevenl]

And as for generalising, My intention was to not tarr all Thais the same, all farangs the same or all people in power the same.

But you are a racist, there are plenty of foreigners in Thailand that aren't white.

And they are just as likely to get a beating, as shown by the 'Lao gik' thread, video in Bangkok.

Wrong, in my world farang means foreigner. Farang includes anyone from outside Thailand to me, whatever colour they are.

If my definition of the word farang is incorrect, then my bad for not realising that, slap my wrists.

People like you disgust me in the way that you think you can just shout racist at any opportunity, even if there isn't one, like here? Ther is absolutely NOTHING racist in my comments, so put your magnifying glass away.

I hope you, and others like you who loosely label people racists start getting bans on here, absolute joke

I tried my best to word my comments in such a way to avoid comments like yours littering the page, but hey, here you are

And to me 'Thai' means anybody living in south east asia.

[ardokano]

Have seen one or two drivers cut each off purposefully BUT far less than I've seen in the West;

Not saying it doesn't happen........Guess I live in a different Thailand

You must never go IN thailand? Stay in your room/house/condo. And its near airport?

So you only "Have seen one or two drivers cut" then you arrive and go your room.

Evry day i see many time drers cut....

[beachproperty]

Have seen one or two drivers cut each off purposefully BUT far less than I've seen in the West;

Not saying it doesn't happen........Guess I live in a different Thailand

You must never go IN thailand? Stay in your room/house/condo. And its near airport?

So you only "Have seen one or two drivers cut" then you arrive and go your room.

Evry day i see many time drers cut....

Sadly, you are wrong and misguided to personally attack another person's view of what he has experienced (or not) in Thailand. You purposefully left out that I drive on Motorway 7 back and forth to Rayong. Have driven over 200,000 kilometers.

I guess you drive like you spell...lousy

Edited May 3, 2016 by beachproperty

[ardokano]

Have seen one or two drivers cut each off purposefully BUT far less than I've seen in the West;

Not saying it doesn't happen........Guess I live in a different Thailand

You must never go IN thailand? Stay in your room/house/condo. And its near airport?

So you only "Have seen one or two drivers cut" then you arrive and go your room.

Evry day i see many time drers cut....

Sadly, you are wrong and misguided to personally attack another person's view of what he has experienced (or not) in Thailand. You purposefully left out that I drive on Motorway 7 back and forth to Rayong. Have driven over 200,000 kilometers.

I guess you drive like you spell...lousy

First

Yes my English very poor.

Sorry about this is

And sorry if you think its personal attack..

It be joking.

Did you se smile?

Ofcouse may be you so lucky and happened miracle when you go to roa in Thailand.

But i see total different

And I'm so confident in the correctness .. even can bet on this is.

You can confirm your words by bet?

You ca

PS

How i drive not important

Its not only me drive on Thai road. We talk about Thailand drivers .. is IT?

Edited May 3, 2016 by ardokano

[BritManToo]

I tried my best to word my comments in such a way to avoid comments like yours littering the page, but hey, here you are

You started it, if you speak English and mean foreigner, just type foreigner.

It isn't hard, just forget the one Thai word you bothered to learn, which means 'white person' and not foreigner.

Edited May 3, 2016 by BritManToo

[rogeroc]

I (like many other people) have thought about how Thailand needs to change the way its people view farang. It's all about education. In the 1950s many immigrants came from the Caribbean to the UK and many people did not take to them because they were different, were classed as untrustworthy, or simply not wanted for fear of changing the way the 'locals' were used to living. A fear of change maybe? A good number of said 'locals' were indeed racist and carried out attacks.

Dont get me wrong, nothing much has changed as these actions still occur.

I like that you use the word Caribbean as opposed to n'''''r. Offensive / non offensive arguments aside surely much better to use 'Foreigner' than plaster your Post with 'f....g'

[Rhys]

It is just getting more play in the press to sell the rag...

[ChristianBlessing]

No more than normal,it's just becoming more visible due to an increased use of social media and the like.

Agreed, in the US on the other hand there's a definite increase

Care to offer some evidence? By every metric crime in all categories is as low as it was back in the 60s.

[Colabamumbai]

Yes, a woman purposely blocked me on my walking path last week while a second woman came over to talk to her, I politely moved the second woman out of my way. I have never done anything like that before in Thailand. Some times I just get sick of the rudeness displayed.

[ehs818]

I'm not sure that there is more violence here. Seems like over the past 14 years I've lived here there is plenty of it. In the recent past it just wasn't given the attention in Farang news or certainly not over the internet. The world is much better connected so perhaps we are just finally seeing the true extent of "Amazing Thailand"? If this continues, they can just kiss tourism goodbye! People don't go to war zones or street brawls willingly.

[pkspeaker]

There is always more violent behavior during the middle of summer, when it's hot people get angry.. ie: the manson killings happened in middle of august.. we are in the middle of the hot season here just after songkram so expect less temperment

Edited May 4, 2016 by pkspeaker

[mike324]

No more than normal,it's just becoming more visible due to an increased use of social media and the like.

I agree, only more visible due to how fast news travel through social media and how everyone is connected to the world via their mobile phones.

[Shadychris]

"One can see the rolled down window and the erected middle finger more often these days, I see road fights, drivers cutting each other off on purpose, arguments that get out of hand and a decrease in general friendliness. To me it seems, that the old land of smiles that I knew, is quickly fading."

I've only been here 15 years and

Never have seen a rolled down window with the erected middle finger;

Never have seen road fights;

Have seen one or two drivers cut each off purposefully BUT far less than I've seen in the West;

Never have seen arguments that get out of hand

Not saying it doesn't happen........Guess I live in a different Thailand than you do

A few years of living at or close to Phuket will teach you a different lesson. Maybe you are living somewhere in Udon-Ruralistan where everyone still rides on buffalos or bicycles...

15 minutes or so research would have told you that violent crime statistics are on the rise pretty much everywhere in the world...

No need to start a click bait topic here that will only encourage the usual suspects to post in a manner suggesting that only Thailand and Thai people are capable of violent acts.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Shadychris

[citzofwrld]

No more than normal,it's just becoming more visible due to an increased use of social media and the like.

You are very uninformed. The fact is that this phenomena is vastly increasing world-wide as the pressure of life is becoming unbearable for the 99% of non-elite. To say its normal is totally wrong (and dangerous for unsuspecting visitors), and Im surprised that so many equally ill-informed people agreed with you. However, I do agree that it is becoming more visible as taking a video of an atrocity is seen as "popular and cool and funny" rather than intervening as an individual/group/community as it detracts from the enjoyment of watching an innocent family being brutally mugged. But, more importantly, changing the culture of many Thais of being so aggressive and hateful toward innocent foreigners is necessary. As long as the culture of corruption (both financial and moral) prevail in Thailand the problem will never be solved. Clearly as there has been a very long hideous history of this in Thailand, I can only surmise that many Thais (particularly the authorities) just don't care and probably get off on it.

Yes, violence is increasing worldwide all by design, not accident, to keep working class/poor people at each others throats so they're not focusing on those at the very top who are causing all the economic hardships to benefit them.

[The Deerhunter]

No more than normal,it's just becoming more visible due to an increased use of social media and the like.

There is more violence here now than there was 10 or 20 or 30 years ago, but previously much violence (and other undesirable things) were simply brushed under the carpet and not reported. The recent incident in Hua Hin also went unreported for many days.

As you point out, with the increase of social media it is becoming increasingly more difficult to hide things, and that's good news for everyone (except those who would prefer to hide things).

It is difficult to to verify these things. In my country a new police commissioner in a high crime area gave a news conference and said his first priority was to reduce reported crime and to do so he was going to reduce the number of phone lines INTO the police stations in his region. This is true! Was he indulging in black humour? Who knows? My point is that if these crimes were not reported we would all perceive a reduction in reported crime.

We have news people working on Thai Visa news forum whose job it is to scour all media, Khaosod, BKK Post, Nation, TV channel news web pages and even competitors' blogs for newsworthy events. Violence is newsworthy and the man who finds the most violence to report to us gets a bonus, (probably). Nearly everyone would click on a headline about a person beating a 2 year old to death with a broom stick. (I have resisted, just, on this one so far.)

But, if none of us clicked on the violent news posts or commented on them by way of posts, in a few months they would stop looking for violent news stories to print to get us all upset. Maybe cute cat videos or child soprano talent quests would become all the rage. I have a gut feeling it is getting worse lately with more people feeling life difficult for economic reasons and fuses being shorter. But there seems to be a lot who feel false entitlement to committing appalling violence over perceived or imagined slights and offence. Perhaps they have always been there in similar percentages but are reported more lately. I feel its a bit of both! A bit more of it but a lot more reporting of it.

[Emster23]

No more than normal,it's just becoming more visible due to an increased use of social media and the like.

Agreed, in the US on the other hand there's a definite increase

Not so fast. Violent crime down in USA, if you care to look at facts. 1993 747 violent crimes per 100k, 2012 down to 386 per 100k, and 2014 365 per 100k. These are FBI stats, check the links. https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/violent-crime/violent-crime-topic-page/violentcrimemain_final

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/tables/table-1

[alanferdi]

No more than normal,it's just becoming more visible due to an increased use of social media and the like.

violent behaviour is always the response of most Thai people, they cannot have an arguement and walk away, They suffer with a chip on the shoulder and the lost face syndrome. In recent years this arrogance has escalated and the technological and public behaviour is more evident. They still beat up their women, still kill for no reason other than a whim of their understanding. There is also no proper justice system that is implemented to counteract this behaviour.... watching the news...its just the arrest, then the picture for the newspapers and a pat on the shoulder to not do it again and set free... this is not justice... so taking all these into consideration. it will escalate to a point where its no longer regulated by the courts but by the public. Then it would be too late to implement all the talk.

[alanferdi]

No more than normal,it's just becoming more visible due to an increased use of social media and the like.

Welcome to the land of stares and stupidity rampant and where reason is punished and treason upheld......Land of smiles does not exist.... its just a TT plug in... works for an airline....but not for a nation. Sorry... Travel to Cambodia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka....there are smiles there....and genuine!

Edited May 4, 2016 by alanferdi

[Enigmatist]

Of course there are locations that have a higher chance of violent behaviour, and pockets of these locations are a higher chance than others. This does not preclude generally more peaceful locations such as Hua Hin from having an exceptional incident.

Phuket as a whole is just like any other traditionally peaceful location. However head to Bangla Road in Patong any night and hang around until 2am where there are many young men sometimes in groups of friends (I've never seen a dangerous woman on Soi Bangla unless you count some of the ladyboys ), most with some proficiency of Muay Thai, high on alcohol and other substances... and you've got the perfect environment for violence. having said this, go 2 blocks in any direction from Bangla Road in Patong and try another bar, and the chance of violence is greatly diminished. Crowds, loud bars and increased alcohol consumption provide a level of anonymity (those Hua Hin boys would have gotten away with it had it not been for CCTV), and an ability to 'vanish'.

Just be sensible, like a previous poster said, don't get too drunk yourself, if you are out with friends and one of them is getting drunk, put them into a taxi. Stay together. Be respectful. I saw the Hua Hin CCTV and to be honest if the mother had not gotten into the face of some of them, it might not have escalated. For me I just do the 'wai', bow slightly, say 'Ko-Toht' and then move on. I'm not excusing the behaviour of the boys, but pick your battles, when in a foreign culture, play smart. Get street savvy. It's just not worth it to engage in confrontation.

Most of the larger cities have similar locales, Soi Cowboy, Sukhumvit... It's precisely because these areas are what they are that makes them tourist attractions.

The vast majority of Thailand is still the LOS. I've got a few local Thai buddies with whom I share a few LEO with 2-3 nights per week, as drunk as they get (Thais cannot compete with farangs in holding their liqour lol) none of them have ever looked like getting violent.

Stay safe, tone it down a little if you have to, continue to live in a man's and retiree's paradise