Top brass police gather in Hua Hin as final suspect apologises for brutal attack

[Broeno]

My Thai friends really believe this.

They said to me last night "These guys were on tv, gave a Wai and apologised, saying they were drunk. All is ok now"

I asked if they really meant that. They replied yes of course. Thais accept their apology.

Untill it happends to them.

I really can't believe Thai mentality.

[Gandtee]

' Four suspects would face charges of dangerous assault '. I hope so, and a sentence meted out to deter other would be thugs. Too much leniency is shown to young hooligans, and even old ones here.

[Tywais]

Post with unrelated photo plus reply removed.

[little mary sunshine]

Nice you are sorry and apologized with a "Wai".

Now, for the savage attack you and your coward friends

Inflicted on the Tourists 10 years in prison is the penalty

With a "Wai" to you

[BKKBrit]

I don't know if the TVF members can't read but they have been charged and will face upwards of 10 years jail. The wai is standard procedure..as you all should know.

What I find offensive are the gifts to the police station in Hua Hin. These are the same folk that didn't even know there had been incident until the next day? Wai-ing the cops for being reactive and not proactive is crass.

[djjamie]

Looking forward to seeing them spend 10 years in prison.

Where they will no doubt become addicted to harder drugs and then come out with an addiction.

[Gandtee]

Does anyone remember the incident where the son of a well known diplomat shot and killed a police officer in a pub because the victim had accidentally kicked his foot? The killer was then admitted into the army and then the police force. Does this not say it all?

[djjamie]

I don't know if the TVF members can't read but they have been charged and will face upwards of 10 years jail. The wai is standard procedure..as you all should know.

What I find offensive are the gifts to the police station in Hua Hin. These are the same folk that didn't even know there had been incident until the next day? Wai-ing the cops for being reactive and not proactive is crass.

It is amazing that some cannot even comprehend a simple article where it is clearly stated they could face 10 years jail.

[bmanly]

The only thing that matters is what will be the sentence they get. All the flowers and apologies don't mean a thing. A proper sentence in prison is the only outcome the rest of the world will be happy with. Lets hope they report that once it has been dealt with the courts. I bet they won't though, you rarely here about the court results, I wonder why.

[stander]

We were duped for two weeks with the tale that it was an unprovoked attack, but now that the video is out the we can see that it was far from unprovoked.

There is far less sympathy now for this so called innocent family and they should accept their behavior contributed to their downfall and issue an apology.

[klauskunkel]

assuring the public that everything would be done to try and ensure the safety of tourists

The Thai police had to assure the public so many times over the last 5 years, that I think they should start to automate the statement and just have it played publicly at 8am and 6pm just before the national anthem: "The Thai police assures the public that Thailand is safe", ...la la la ding-a-dong.

[edko]

"He told Wuthi that it happened because they were drunk. "

Try again. I have been drunk many times in my life and never ever was involved in beatings. It happened because they are psychopathic violent losers who figured no punishment would happen for their night of fun.

10 years in Thai prison might give him time to come up with real reason, not lame excuse. Slim chance of that.

The family claimed that they were not drunk. Yet Mother threw the first punch to the face of a Thai. Later son held that man's arms behind his back while dad punched him again in the face. These were the violent events that led to the even more violent retribution from the Thais. Who are the "psychopathic violent losers" in all of this? All of them are to blame.

Unfortunately the video evidence of the above violence perpetrated by the instigators (the family) has been edited out of the foreign news. Why is that? And why is it that posters on TV who have seen the full video persist in making out that the family were innocent victims? I see racism and it is sickening.

You have it correct. Thai Visa should apologize for their extremely poor choice of sensational headline formation when they brought this to the worlds attention by characterizing it as a "mob attack". This is a much better video posted in the first update http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/british-family-attacked-in-hua-hin-thailand/news-story/18a5b6ab08e34c865dd121d1d83a6a35 . It begins not with a little bump between the Brit son who is following at some distance behind his parents but a little shove of his own to the Thai man who Rosemary eventually pushes and slaps, and the Thai man turns around and pushes the son, who falls, not so much from the push by the Thai man, but by the backhand by his mom! And sonny boy gets up and holds the guy in the black shirt and the elder Brit takes advantage of that situation to throw the first punch...who is the coward? The Thai man or the elder Brit?

You're right about it being racism...drunken aggressive falang characterized by about 95% of the users on this site as being the poor victims and the Thais were just to take it. As I said previously, I saw only 2 Thais who should have been charged and that was the man in the black shirt for the kicks he delivered and the kid who wasn't involved to begin with who kicked two of the Brits in the head after they were down. There was no "mob" attack and the Brits were the instigators.

[SpeakeasyThai]

'Wuthi said that this was an important case as it involved tourists and police had worked hard to resolve the matter quickly and efficiently.'

Very smug and self congratulary!

'Following a news conference in which tourist organisations and business leaders presented floral tributes to thank the police for their work on the case'

Thai Police don't want flowers, they always want money.

[RichB]

If someone robbed a bank in Thailand, got away with a 10 million baht, got caught, found guilty they would be sentenced to between 10 and 20 years in prison.

These guys who attacked the British tourists have in effect stolen tens of millions of dollars in cancelled travel bookings from potential tourists all over the world.

Hope the Police throw the book at them and hope the government declares tourists a protected species as they have done in other countries in the past, one could get life in prison for attacking tourists, there were no assaults, no muggings, no robberies and tourists felt safe any time day and night .

Thailand used to be the safest country in the world but not today. The Government needs to act fast !

[HarrySeaman]

"The parents, 68 year old Lewis Owen and his wife Rosemary, also in her sixties, are now out of hospital and are staying in a Hua Hin hotel and will go back to the UK (and their home in Wales) on May 3rd."

Apparently they have sworn to never return to Thailand. That means that they won't be able to press charges since they won't be here for the trial.

No charges, case closed, suspects released.

[SpeakeasyThai]

All parties involved should be charged. End of.

[Jonathon]

The apology is worth nothing; only a lengthy jail term will make him think twice about doing it again.

[edko]

We were duped for two weeks with the tale that it was an unprovoked attack, but now that the video is out the we can see that it was far from unprovoked.

There is far less sympathy now for this so called innocent family and they should accept their behavior contributed to their downfall and issue an apology.

You're right. 4 people should be charged. The two Thai men who did the kicking, and both Rosemary and her husband as they were the instigators and the "thugs" were the two British men, one holding the Thai man and his father landing the first unprovoked blow. If anyone should be apologizing, it is the Brit family. They will never return to Thailand? Great, I don't think that those of us who get along just fine with the kind, friendly and hospitable Thai people need them around to give a negative impression of falangs.

[05daytona]

I think the really sad thing is that we all live in a world, where younger generations all of a sudden think it is acceptable to "Gang Bash" people as they seem fit. I am not that old, but i still remember the days when if 2 guys had a disagreement then it was just "those 2 guys" sorted it out. Not their large group of mates, not with knives or sticks, or broken bottles or glasses. It is happenening in all parts of the world, granted some worse than others.

Surely we as a human race must take a look at ourselves and put an end to this scale of violence that exist now.

Nobody has ever won a war

[SpeakeasyThai]

"The parents, 68 year old Lewis Owen and his wife Rosemary, also in her sixties, are now out of hospital and are staying in a Hua Hin hotel and will go back to the UK (and their home in Wales) on May 3rd."

Apparently they have sworn to never return to Thailand. That means that they won't be able to press charges since they won't be here for the trial.

No charges, case closed, suspects released.

Back to Wales then - Rosemary can continue to smack people around the face in miserable Wales as UK law comes down extremely harsh when males react in an equally unhealthy manner.

[CockneyGit]

10 years in prison..??

I'll be amazed if they do 10 minutes..!!

[blistering blue barnacles]

five or six persons gang up to brutally beat up elderly folks.

is this what the world is coming to?

perhaps the Thai laws are too lax.

actions like this should be punished with caning both as punishment and as deterrent to possible future actions.

Sorry is a mockery of the system.

Apologies: Seems that you're damned if ya do! Damned if ya don't!

[minikev]

I don't think it's over yet. The public apology and Wai is just that. It of course means nothing from this horrible specimen.

I am hopeful the police will see this case through. Unfortunately the way the media works the whole of Thailand will be scarred for this, it was a very unfortunate chain of events that led to the assault and could have been avoided if the parents had just got the son away after he lost his footing. At that point it was tit for tat and the son had what he deserved. One push for a return push.

The mother having no or little understanding of Thai culture went into an over the top defensive mode. In films etc in the UK a woman slapping a man's face would probably shock the man enough to stop whatever he was doing. In truth in many other cultures it is a huge insult. Others saw that and it became a public insult to Thai culture.

The father was extremely foolish to think he could finish the problem by punching a man half his age in public and then the whole family attacks.

If the woman had received a slap and both men a punch I would have seen that as fair.

However this is when it escalated into a very shameful state as punching the woman was well over the top and the stamping of heads with the final death kick to the woman showed that the Thai's that did this held hatred and zero fear of what will happen to them for doing this.

This is what the police need to look at they need first to instill fear into the people capable IE real jail sentences for the whole world to see. I don't think all charges should be the same as the level of violence was different IE the man taking the slap and punch and arm lock showed restraint and was pushed and pushed until too far. The young lad with the head kick showed he is an animal and without doubt needs to be punished heavily.

[cyberfarang]

What a disgrace. I feel ashamed, and I'm not Thai, and I don't even live in Thailand. I am ashamed that people can be allowed to get away with this.

You mean these sort of brawls and attacks never happen where you are living at the moment and are ashamed that such things can happen in Thailand?

You`ve either led a very sheltered life or you`re living at the South Pole.

[mesterm]

Maybe I should consider leaving for good... Just sayin'

[Nicolas32]

The night before this attack in Hua Hin a British girl was raped .. Hua Hin isn't a good place to go these days by the sounds of it ,,

[stander]

The night before this attack in Hua Hin a British girl was raped .. Hua Hin isn't a good place to go these days by the sounds of it ,,

Can you provide a link to this or is it just more tittle-tattle

[z42]

The cops got flowers.. For trying to suppress the incident and taking 2 weeks plus to haul all the perps in. Scum

[Nicolas32]

The night before this attack in Hua Hin a British girl was raped .. Hua Hin isn't a good place to go these days by the sounds of it ,,

Can you provide a link to this or is it just more tittle-tattle

https://www.facebook.com/groups/614770915277919/permalink/1019880694766937/

[michael888]

what a farce. we're sorry and thats it?....no justice whatsoever.