Thai PM says Professor Wanchai's suicide "a lesson for Thai society"

[Mangostin]

Was that really another of this guy lessons??? Geez this man couldn't take even his very own last day, off from work....RIP

[crazykopite]

What about the poor people this guy murdered , the PM should be speaking about the sorrow and grief there families will be going through RIP to the deceased who were murdered I cannot say the same about the murderer what he did was an outrage and inexcusable!!!!

[fvw53]

I cannot find anything on the internet about the root of the conflict.

According to my Thai wife she heard something on a Thai TV channel that the conflict was about 'status' and that the two murdered profs had a degree from a US university while the murderer was angry that his degree from a Philippine University was considered as inferior.

Any confirmation of this?

I can only say there is a lot of snobbism in Thailand on the value of a university degree : I have Thai friends of the older generation with Philippine degrees who are brilliant company managers and I know there are Thais of a younger generation with a US degree who can hardly speak English.

My university degree comes from one of Europe's oldest universities but when I got it I was reminded that I had not "arrived" and that in fact it was only a start and performance in professional life would make the difference. In Thailand this performance has of course other standards in the private sector (based on results) and in the government sector (based on connections).

[Mangostin]

RIP to the deceased who were murdered I cannot say the same about the murderer what he did was an outrage and inexcusable!!!!

Between the 3 of hem, in all honesty, he looked as the one who needed to find some peace first, as from his actions, he looked just a bit as being sort of nervous?

Unless it has become the new way to meet and greet people around here, given the widespread killings we read about everyday

[lvr181]

Not bad coming from someone with a reputation for a hair trigger temper and who regularly explodes in public and isn't above making threats to people, especially journalists, who annoy him.

OMG, the pot calling the kettle black?

[RatchadaMan]

1 - DON'T ATTACK TOURISTS (especially with Smartphones everywhere)

2 - DON'T SHOOT COLLEAGUES (and then die on TV, - DO IT SOMEWHERE QUIET)

3 - DON'T SEEK gratuities and back-handers

OK, maybe just 1 and 2 for now.

Back to business as usual.

[hgma]

The question should be raised......in saving face ......WHAT face?

[Mook23]

The head has spoken... Zardoz anyone ? ? ?

[gemguy]

People, not guns, are responsible for killing!

This is true....

However that does not change the fact that guns are the most favored instrument of death used by the "People"...."who are responsible for the killing"..... as guns are the most effective way with the least amount of risk to the person "responsible for the killing"...as you state.

If those instruments of death are readily available and in the hands of millions of people...well ...you see what happens...all too often.....and, if anything, the guns just make the problems concerning violent behavior all the worse relative to the amount of innocent people killed with guns verses other means

I do not own a gun and if I am really pissed at someone and wanted to kill them I have several other means to do so...but they involve getting up close and personal with the victim while I risk bodily harm to myself if I attack that person with a knife or club or some other item to be used as the tool or weapon to assault them with....while their effectiveness has limitations.

But a gun???....well that turns the tables nearly 100 percent in favor of the person with the gun and is the most effective "person to person" killing tool available and, as often seen, used effectively and obviously preferred.

Without the gun and its ease of accessibility I would surmise 90 % of the people bent on killing someone ( as in premeditated murder) are going to second guess their ability to effectively do the dirty deed and do it quickly with far less risk to themselves while no matter what the circumstances are the person wielding the gun has the upper hand in nearly every aspect of the violent situation.

I am well aware that many people are murdered or killed by other means such as knifes, that are everywhere and far more easily available than a gun, or a baseball bat or a crow bar or a length of metal or wood or anything that can be used as a weapon.

However...if a gun is readily available then probably 98 % of the time all other possible weapons will be ignored in favor of the gun because of the reasons explained above and additional reason depending on the circumstances.

Without the wide spread availability of the guns I can only surmise there would be significantly less dead people if other weapons were the only means of killing other people....as in, with the other means the would be victims have a much better chance of surviving an attack perpetrated upon them with a knife or baseball bat or what ever weapon the assailant is using while the victim has a chance to run away or out run the assailant or defend themselves in a manner and survive the attack.

If everyone was armed with a gun to defend themselves, as it is believed and argued, then the only really effective way to have a chance to kill another person is by way of the assailant also having a gun or a bigger gun or more guns or... the "surprise attack factor" .....so, in the end all the more guns are in circulation and more deaths by guns ...and all the more so than murder by other means.

I am not talking about the right to own guns and the Second Amendment and or the NRA etc. etc... ...rather I am just pointing out the grim facts involved when there are millions of guns in circulation amongst the public and in the hands of millions of people.

More guns = more deaths by guns and certainly more gun related violence perpetrated upon the citizens.

Cheers

Edited May 21, 2016 by gemguy

[Linden]

He used the C word

Many have it in the world but don't know how to use it

BUT Asia & Common Sense.

I never seen it myself

[Dogmatix]

No mention of whether it was a good idea to let an immature 60 year old professor of Buddhism studies have a gun.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Dogmatix

[DaveinAsia]

Keep calm and move along now. There is nothing to see here.

[anto]

>>I cannot find anything on the internet about the root of the conflict.<<...maybe tomorrows Sundays Bangkok Post will shed some light on it .

[elgordo38]

"He said that what happened was an important lesson for all concerned in Thai society. He said that police dealing with such situations must have proper plans and procedures in place to minimise damaging effects. Negotiators with a background in psychology are needed along with back up plans when things go wrong." - Really? So the police don't have this stuff already??????????

Only the fruits of a fertile mind. The seeds are there. With a little horse manure added they will bear fruit.

[oldsailor35]

The professor decided to solve his problems with a gun. Forgetting that he i not an Army General !

[eddie61]

He understands Thai society, but he did not mention the elephant in the tent.........

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm....a lesson.....sounds like someone would learn something....... Not in Thailand I suggest

[nemrut]

What lesson is there to learn? that you don't solve arguments with a gun? if Thai people have still to learn

such lessons, than they're much worse in human relations than I ever gave them credit for.....

No worse the Americans it seems which is far richer, more developed country with the highest gun fatalities in the world - even more than war torn 3rd world ones.

[Yann55]

Quote : He also reminded the general public about controlling their emotions and resolving disputes effectively.

Priceless ...

[ujayujay]

Mr. "I know everything better" has spoken...&lt;deleted&gt;

[berybert]

He killed himself because he lost out to a job that was given to someone with no right to have it.

I can see why the PM has much interest in this event.

[Artisi]

"He said that what happened was an important lesson for all concerned in Thai society. He said that police dealing with such situations must have proper plans and procedures in place to minimise damaging effects. Negotiators with a background in psychology are needed along with back up plans when things go wrong." - Really? So the police don't have this stuff already??????????

Maybe they have but more than likely on more important projects like ensuring no wet T shirts with nipple showing, pixeling out cigarette and booze, and gun photo's for the news media, etc-- but suicide on TV is OK as is exposing many people to danger as in this case. Bloody pathetic and useless handling of a simple stand-off. The whole area should have been sterile with 1 negotiator and 1 or 2 police advisors, not open to every man and his dog.

[Colabamumbai]

I watched the whole episode on cable T.V, the Nations News channel.

[nausea]

I think I need the whole story. Why he was pissed off with this other guy. Why he felt violence was the only way to resolve it. He was 60, the retirement age for Thai academics. Did he have debts he needed to pay, why all this fuss over one lost job.

[jlwilliamsjr18]

The PM is a prophet.

[kaorop]

In a star trek episode it described humans as a "savage child like race", (which we all are), many Thais, it seems are at or about the top in this area.

[anto]

I think I need the whole story. Why he was pissed off with this other guy. Why he felt violence was the only way to resolve it. He was 60, the retirement age for Thai academics. Did he have debts he needed to pay, why all this fuss over one lost job.

Well ,thats why i for one want to hear the whole story .Maybe then we can learn some life lesson from it .

[Jonmarleesco]

'... viewers looked on at the body in a pool of blood.' Only in Thailand. Chastising the media is a waste of time; the RTP should have kept them away, though presumably money came into it.

[ggt]

The horrendously violent Thai Soaps...get their inspiration from everyday life in Thailand...

[Dumbastheycome]

In line with the genuine sentiment and "heads up" attempt to issue a poignant comment in recognition of this tragedy Prayut has also identified an issue endemic in so many posters here on TVF.