Leaking Hua Hin attack footage "damaged the country" say authorities

[Tonlondon]

Had the Brits involved prevailed, this foul-mouthed battleaxe would have been hailed as some sort of hero.

As it happened, they got their asses kicked, so now she is an "elderly woman".

Get your facts right. Kicking someones ass doesn't threaten their life, kicking someone full in the face [especially a weak female] most certainly does. The lady is very lucky to be alive, a little more power behind that kick, and she wouldn't be. Their neighbors describe them as a kind and well loved couple.

Have some respect mgjackson69. It is someones Mother. Respect please. You are embarrassing yourself by writing such immature nonsense. Jeremy50 is 100% correct. She is lucky to be alive. And I also have seen photos of the couple smiling sitting with Thai people. They are loved and liked by their neighbors and any one who knows them. You do not know them but insult them. Have some respect. Adults do not talk like that. Oh deary me.

[tuanku]

foot-in-mouth disease noun, Informal: Facetious.

1.

the habit of making inappropriate, insensitive, or imprudent statements.

Reaching epidemic levels in this country. started at the top of the armed forces and police and is working its way down through all levels of the bureaucracy.

The only cure is to eradicate the vector - anyone above NCO rank in the police and armed forces.

[OldPedro]

An apology rather than these defensive comments might be more appropriate....

[KamalaRider]

Got friends in Hong Kong and Sweden asking me if the story was true, haven't shared this story, they contacted me and when I told them it was, they said they wouldn't visit Thailand EVER again, I have to visit them in the future.

This post stating the province spokesman believe the leak has hurt Thailand tourism, bloody hell YEAH, but reading this post will put the final nail in the coffin.

[mesterm]

They don't care about anyone but themselves. Humanity isn't important, only tourism, money and face are.

Selfishness, arrogance, vanity.

Why am I still here...

[MikeTexas]

If the video hadn't been leaked nothing would have ever been done. And in all probablity the police wouldn't have even known about it.

[jaiyen]

Hope the English press picks up the video of the girl being kicked unconscious by a bunch of bikers sent by some guy's wife that demonstrate that an attach, like the British one, is very common ..

Yes, saw it in the Daily Express today

[KamalaRider]

But the elephant-in-the-room in all these threads about the state of things in los, is not what will be done about IT, but how MUCH of IT each of you will take before you decide enough-is-enough, and take the decision to pack up and leave ? There is after all, something deranged about ranting on and on about how awful it all is and at the same time volunteering to remain.

I AM actually packing up and leaving this "lovely" country, just have to put closure to some things and finalize my company the legal way.

I have had enough now, it's not the whole reason but if things with corruption wasn't so bad as it is now, I would probably have stayed and fought this recession, but I don't see any point of doing that, not in a rogue country like this.

Will be gone in July the latest.

Despite having an IT company with some success in LOS (Land of shajt), I made the decision to leave and start over in another country with my Thai wifes blessing, mind you.

Our daughter will get a better future for sure as the decay of humanity and decency in Thailand have gone from bad to worse.

I came for the sake of the climate, not the women, it didn't hurt meeting my very nice and lovely Thai wife though, but the only decent people left here are 30% (maybe too high number) male Thais, 70% (maybe too low number) female Thais and then 50% or more, decent farangs.

[ggt]

This behavior...going after the person/persons who are responsible for leaking information the government deems damaging...is not at all unusual...this present US government...while claiming to be the most transparent in US history...quietly goes after whistle-blowers...destroying their lives...getting them fired and making it almost impossible to get another job...sending the IRS to find a tax problem...and doing their best to harass and threaten jail time...

Governments do not like their dirty undies being exposed to the public...

[ataloss]

I am glad that i saw the video and i post to some other network..because is disgusting and they have to put their house in order and go on TV to tell these bastard their day are counted

Yes I am glad to have seen the video, a cautionary tale of what can happen to any of us here in the LOS.

But I too am pleased to see the clarity and coverage of this high quality video; it's so pleasantly unlike the dismal ghost-like recordings of standard video CCTV cameras one sees.

[Apostate]

Looked like granny started it - she don't be doing that again in a hurry.

[KhunOr]

If the video hadn't been leaked nothing would have ever been done. And in all probablity the police wouldn't have even known about it.

I've been reading the world reports and found this in the British press:

"A spokesman for the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said Thai cops arrested six people and charged them with grievous assault on April 17.

Suphatra Baithong and Yingyai Saengkham-in, both aged 32, and Siwa Noksri, 20, were apprehended within days of the assault while Chaiya Jaiboon, 20, was apprehended on Thursday (29 April)."

This may be completely false information of course, as the same articles also fabricate rubbish like:

"...knocked out and left for dead in a Thai bar" (and) "the brawl which was sparked over a spilled drink."

Anybody have any proven info about when arrests were actually made?

[KamalaRider]

Looked like granny started it - she don't be doing that again in a hurry.

YOU HAVE NO IDEA what the man said to the lady before she slapped him. DON'T try to apologize the others from throwing a fist punch to her head and also kicking her in the face. DON'T YOU DARE!

The only reason man exists is to make babies and after to protect their women and children.

[RichB]

Leaking the video footage did not damage the country it was six Thai men who savagely beat and kicked the foreign tourists in the head.

Thai young men have a history of gang beatings of defenseless persons. Thailand needs tougher punishment for crimes of violence.

[gaijinsomchai]

Thailand is a completely failed state at this point. Punishment for those who show the ugly truth and rewards for those who hide the truth or obfuscate. I left the country two years ago when I thought Thailand had reached its nadir. However it appears there is no bottom for Thailand's capacity to disgust. Why are the powers that be so terrified of the truth? Rise up decent Thai people. Your country is swirling the drain.

[churchlh]

Thai thugs damage the countries image.

Stupid and corrupt police and Gov officials that try to cover up this violence damage the countries image.

A useless and corrupt justice system that does not show any consistent examples of accountability and punishment for criminal actions (unless you take a mushroom from a national park) damages the countries image.

Stop pissing around and worrying about tourism and do something concrete to punish the violent offenders that literally get away with murder in this country!!!

That will do more to improve the sullied image of Thailand that any coverup will ever do.

Stupid........corrupt. There have to be stronger words....maybe there is a huge mental health virus that has a hold on the country and the doctors have not picked up on it yet.

Drunk drivers at the morgure...how about these 4 you boys become workers for the injured people on their recovery or even show up and stand there saying they are sorry and they have to listen to victim's statements everyday.

[alanferdi]

10 years in jail and a 500,000bht fine for leaking the video.

Bail and a 500bht fine for kicking granny and grandpa unconscious.

Amazing Thailand!

yeah leaking footage...oh so there is more like this that is on municipal cameras, but are not made public so that the guilty ones can go scot free.... this seems to be implied here. Well... The publice, Thai and International need to be made aware of this.... putting on a show for the news with smiles and jokes and opinions is not news...its just an intepretation of what is really happening. This shows authorities as well as the public where justice should take place...... OH LOST FACE.... perhaps now this explains why some cameras do not work in Bangkok....Face saving or evidence stacking authorities who are afraid of being pulled up or getting exposed. Common get your act together. Take responsibility and do your job. Let justice take place.... That is the reasonable explaination.

[Pawpcorn]

Further on in the Khaosod report...

"The four Thai men, now free on bail, are accused of causing grievous bodily harm by punching and kicking the British family until they were knocked out in the street."

NOW FREE ON BAIL :-()

[dirtycash]

well there you have it from the horses mouth, if video hadnt of been released then all of this would of been kept hush hush and the scum would have walked of into the sunset.

the thai way

[alanferdi]

Looked like granny started it - she don't be doing that again in a hurry.

Oh so I suppose that justifys a thai flying kick... sick in the head ........Thai boy on booze.....Perhaps we should warn all grannies and grandpas not to come to Thailand and visit the neighbouring countries which are much safer and friendly and hospitable.... Thailand you amaze me.... Grinning lot....

[jesimps]

But the elephant-in-the-room in all these threads about the state of things in los, is not what will be done about IT, but how MUCH of IT each of you will take before you decide enough-is-enough, and take the decision to pack up and leave ? There is after all, something deranged about ranting on and on about how awful it all is and at the same time volunteering to remain.

Because a lot of us are married to Thais. I'd have been off my marks years ago if I'd been single. My respect for the locals diminishes by the day. Land of smiles my aris.

[ataloss]

Every single baby born in Thailand is brainwashed from birth to believe that Thailand is not only the finest country in the world but it is also the largest. This is the literal teaching they receive every day in school and is enforced by the press and the TV. Along with this is the implication that all foreigners are somehow not quite human, and to be tolerated, at best. At worst, particularly with young Thai men (who have a mental age of an adolescent out of control with an excess of testosterone) farangs are to not to be tolerated, given the slightest excuse. Add to this cultural belief any kind of loss of face concerning a farang, and the hatred and fear bursts out.

I've seen Thai women, supposedly adult, in a childish tantrum, beating their children almost senseless - this is with their own kind. And you only have to watch the video of this savage and brutal attack (in Hua Hin) to glimpse the fury and hatred that is under the surface of so many people in Thailand.

This wasn't just someone pushing back to save face. This was an outburst of hatred and rage - coming back again and again to punch and kick the old people who were already semi-conscious on the ground.

If further argument is needed, the same culture teaches Thai people to venerate the aged. Which they do. Unless the old people are less than human and somewhere between an animal and a person - a foreigner.

It is totally irrelevant who pushed first or if the farangs started it or not. This incident is yet another example that Thailand is not a civilised nation in the way the rest of the world understands the concept. This is a country where there is so much dissatisfaction and aggression that the name of the daily exercise for everyone is to make everything *appear* wonderful and keep things in line with way that the Thais like to perceive themselves - smiling and gentle. In other words - do absolutely anything at all to save face.

Unfortunately for Thailand, again and again and again, the instantaneous nature of social media and its world-wide coverage is revealing the lies and cover-ups almost daily to the rest of the world. And the more it happens, the more laughable the Thai reaction, as they panic and flap about pathetically with implausible explanations and responses which only serve to dig them deeper in the shit, as they desperately try to save some last despairing shred of face, like senseless schoolkids babbling blatant lies to the teacher.

Very sadly, I think it's all going to get a lot worse before it begins to get any better.

Rob, while I understand and agree with much of your post, and am disgusted by the cowardly treatment of the Welsh tourists, particularly an elderly lady, to say that all Thais are painted with the same brush is a rather extreme form of generalisation and stereotyping. Last year, my brother (Australia, 62) was king hit by his son-in-law (40) and then kicked while he was laying on the ground. Some people get drunk, and some people get violent when drunk. Perhaps Thailand has a higher than average proportion of this personality type, I'm not sure. Surely, neither are you!

Ref:"Some people get drunk, and some people get violent when drunk."

This is an oft quoted belief / excuse the premise of which, I believe, is false. Violent people are just that - violent; they use the excuse of being drunk in an attempt to mask their savagery.

[realenglish1]

Police spokesman Kasana Jaemsawang has no idea what Transparency is and I guess believes in no communication about the problems Thailand has

If you cannot talk about them then you will never fix them

This is reality Live with it

[alanferdi]

Leaking the video footage did not damage the country it was six Thai men who savagely beat and kicked the foreign tourists in the head.

Thai young men have a history of gang beatings of defenseless persons. Thailand needs tougher punishment for crimes of violence.

Sure the footage did not damage Thailand.....that was perfect reporting worldwide.....not some representation of some one explaining a cock and bull story. Look at the the idiots ....the ones who brought shame on the country, look at the justice that is pronounced on them, look at the way this is all would have been handled if the video was in the hands of censorship....ill representation and corruptness will only prevail as long as people do not take responsibillity for actions and pronounce judgement. The way the wind is blowing...the authorities are probably looking to prosecute and punish the person who put the video or took the video and made it known... rather than taking action against the four foul idiots who would have killed if they were provoked further.....yes...kill...and hide.. wipe the smile off your face and work with the law. Ask any child and they will tell you what is wrong. Shameful on those who think they can hide such savage, primitive behaviour.

[ujayujay]

What a miserable setting: The bringer of bad news should be punished.Shame on Thai Justice!

[realenglish1]

And don't blame the CCTV footage Blame the thugs who beat up the tourists They are ruining the reputation Get it straight

[Linden]

They just dont realise hiding the facts/ videoas a Country as Government is more damaging than admiting theres baddies out there..

Thailand uses media as does the rest of the world

Imagine the court / trial if that video was not released ...

now some poor Burmah Kids might have been roped in..This video would not have been produced as evidence..

[AlphaSoiDog]

The person who leaked it deserves praise. Those who tried to suppress it need shooting.

Probable be jailed like the guy who told the Yanks where Bin Laden was hiding.

Yes, but he deserved to be jailed. He spoilt the whole "we're still looking" game!

[Bobobirdiebuddy]

No worries! I will forget all about it - including the young man kicking the old woman squarely in the face.

[Gandtee]

Why are there so many outcries condemning what happened in Hua Hin. It has already been spelt out by the powers that be, that if you are not Thai, you will not understand Thainess. So there you have it. We just don't understand.