Drive by Shooting in Pattaya. Taxi Drivers Target American National

[Buzzz]

"Despite this evidence they have advised Mr Short, an American Military Veteran, to apologize to Bang Bang and the matter would be over. Regardless of serious damage to his property, and loud & clear threats to his life, it would seem no action will be taken.

The condo manager and Mr Short’s own Thai wife, of ten-years, have also advised him to apologize to Bang Bang and forget about the assaults and threats to his life or it will always be a ‘problem for him.’

sounds like he needs to say sorry, & quietly sell his condo

Throw the monkey a banana. You're living in the Nigeria of Asia.

[dunroaming]

Life in Thailand. Surely nobody who lives in Pattaya is surprised by this story. You have to look at the positives and negatives of living there and decide whether the up's outweigh the downs.

[jeca22]

Is police waiting for him to be shot and then take an action???

Action:

1) Order ambulance to take Shorty to the morgue.

2) Get something to eat.

[Squeegee]

Mr BangBang needs stringing up by his tongue and testicles in front of everyone.

This is the sort of person who affects Thailand's reputation. Prayuth, what are you doing about behaviour like this?

Thai police, threats to kill are not OK. It's your job to protect and prevent, not to guess the cause of death after you let someone die at the hands of a dirty thug.

Who in Thailand isn't dirty, stand up please.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Squeegee

[Rayk]

The American should buy a gun of his own and if he ever feels that his life is being threatened use the gun and defend himself.

Bang bang to bye bye.

If only I lived in Pattaya.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Rayk

[SidJames]

Might be an idea to send the story to US press of how a retired US veteran is being treated & bullied in his autumn years.

If they run with it then pressure from above will be applied quite abruptly

[Rayk]

I'm willing to bet Mr. hotshot Bang Bang wouldn't try that on a 30 year old foreigner. But on a 60 year old senior he feels like he's the man.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Rayk

[kinmaew]

Again lack of rules?

"someones personal spac" <deleted>? Does he actually own a space at Tesco?

Same goes for "Dont park in front of my shop" - That is public space, unless they own the right to that property?

If any Thai seriously threatened me with murder, he would face dire consequences, then I would just flee the scene, going to the police is pointless.

[onemorechang]

Might be an idea to send the story to US press of how a retired US veteran is being treated & bullied in his autumn years.

If they run with it then pressure from above will be applied quite abruptly

+1

Maybe the Foreign police volunteers can help. ?

( that was a joke )

Edited July 21, 2016 by onemorechang

[hohososo]

I'm willing to bet Mr. hotshot Bang Bang wouldn't try that on a 30 year old foreigner. But on a 60 year old senior he feels like he's the man.

In front of that mini tesco, there is a fake taxi guy with a highend car who always parks in that spot with his hood up to show off his engine I presume. It has been like that for years and that is HIS spot and nobody ever parks there except him.

I assume this American was lippy, drunk and pissed that connected guy off while perhaps being macho due to his military background... Then his mototaxi friends then retaliated..

I know the locals on that corner and to piss them off, I guarantee the farang did something way worse than the article alleges.

[onemorechang]

I'm willing to bet Mr. hotshot Bang Bang wouldn't try that on a 30 year old foreigner. But on a 60 year old senior he feels like he's the man.

In front of that mini tesco, there is a fake taxi guy with a highend car who always parks in that spot with his hood up to show off his engine I presume. It has been like that for years and that is HIS spot and nobody ever parks there except him.

I assume this American was lippy, drunk and pissed that connected guy off while perhaps being macho due to his military background... Then his mototaxi friends then retaliated..

I know the locals on that corner and to piss them off, I guarantee the farang did something way worse than the article alleges.

Your lack of knowledge of what can happen in this town

is staggering.

Blame the victim, what a load

But if some people just stay in there homes all day , odds on, they will be fine

[hohososo]

I'm willing to bet Mr. hotshot Bang Bang wouldn't try that on a 30 year old foreigner. But on a 60 year old senior he feels like he's the man.

In front of that mini tesco, there is a fake taxi guy with a highend car who always parks in that spot with his hood up to show off his engine I presume. It has been like that for years and that is HIS spot and nobody ever parks there except him.

I assume this American was lippy, drunk and pissed that connected guy off while perhaps being macho due to his military background... Then his mototaxi friends then retaliated..

I know the locals on that corner and to piss them off, I guarantee the farang did something way worse than the article alleges.

Your lack of knowledge of what can happen in this town

is staggering.

Blame the victim, what a load

But if some people just stay in there homes all day , odds on, they will be fine

We have heard only one side of the story.. I am sure the Thais have a different version of events with the truth somewhere in the middle.

Not sure calling the police was wise. On that soi you must drive by where that incident happened as there is no alternate route.

[Asiantravel]

Another good arguement for renting and not buying a condo.

For mine it sounds more like an argument not to buy and drive a car.

Easy target of thugs in brown, risk your life amongst crazy drivers, risk of road rage

and now risk of getting killed by nutters when parking

what next

So you reckon that's a good advert to not buy a condo here and then someone concurs that the renting of a car is a dangerous pastime here. <deleted> are you doing living here if its really considered to be that bad? I would leave.

why would you have to leave? You can still have a great time here by just keeping a low profile but not surrounding yourself with " trinkets " and valuable assets which are far better left in your home country - where usuallyat least there is a level playing field regarding justice and law and order.

Robert De Niro playing Neil McCauley said it so perfectly in the 1995 movie " Heat "

"Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner."

[WhizBang]

As usual the police do nothing, they are waiting for the brown envelope.

I was reading yesterday about reforming the RTP well it cannot come quick enough.

The police are a total waste of time. Sack the lot of them and start afresh.

That is the only way police reform would actually work, and even then, I have my doubts. Corruption just runs too deep in this country.

[gandalf12]

Pity it isn't the USA you could shoot the prick if it was. What was the reaction of the police to all of this? I see no mention of their reaction.

That is just the point. The police acknowledged the bulletholes in the Brits car, threats made against him, harrassment. etc

but they didnt even approach the thug...rather they told the Brit to apologise to him.

Speaks volumes

[bodymassagemyfriend]

Another good arguement for renting and not buying a condo.

For mine it sounds more like an argument not to buy and drive a car.

Easy target of thugs in brown, risk your life amongst crazy drivers, risk of road rage

and now risk of getting killed by nutters when parking

what next

People, I think that you have probably lost/changed priorities living to long in Thailand...

Normal person can't buy condo or car just because of fear that some criminals can target him ??? In this case the best solution is not to live here... it's better than live in fear.

Or maybe this is another good argument to notify higher authorities (if local cops doesn't want to act) about whole situation... Try to report accident to embassy so they can use some influence as this was life threat at the end of the day. Try to make this case more public via social media... make some video with hidden camera etc... They don't really like this kind of stuff and they usually act after that.

If we will just stay and watch and do nothing they won already.

Lately I had accident - policeman's wife hit my car and was really sorry about that. She apologised on the place of accident, gave me her ID, allow to take pictures etc. She promised that she will cover costs of repair etc etc.

Next day at police station she completely changed story and says that this was my fault or at least I was partially guilty of this accident. Police tried to say something that we should sorted things out between ourselves. But then my girlfriend started to shout at this women together with police officers that they don't want to do their job because she have police husband and if they will not act she will go up to authorities in Bangkok. At the same time I started to make video by my phone. Well... it's enough to say that things has changed immediately - they appointed officer to take care about our case, he checked pictures from accident, took our testimonies, went to the accident place with us and at the end decided that the women was 100% guilty and punished her with 1000 THB fine. This was all what we needed... We took copy of police documents about who was guilty and go home

So you think you have been given justice for a false testimony with a 1000 bhat fine ? 1000 bhat is nothing , that is no money. It even does not cover the prejudice if her lies had worked.

Have you ever read in this forum the numerous cases where Thai driver flew after he crashed a van. You just refuse to see the truth , they dont take responsability for anything so a natural consequence is that

nobody will concede their wrongdoing with you ,when there is a loss of face or money involved.

Justice is not a right in this country , its a favor a Thai does to you. And you have just been given peanuts. Sorry about that.

Edited July 21, 2016 by bodymassagemyfriend

[Bender]

there is nothing you can do. Just dont forget to tell you friends and family

As a foreigner, they threat us like stray dog here.

Edited July 22, 2016 by Rimmer
Slur removed

[ClutchClark]

there is nothing you can do. Just dont forget to tell you friends and family

As a foreigner, they threat us like stray dog here.

I don't see stray dogs getting kicked here so maybe the stray dog is treated a bit better ;-)

[HLover]

there is nothing you can do. Just dont forget to tell you friends and family

As a foreigner, they threat us like stray dog here.

I don't see stray dogs getting kicked here so maybe the stray dog is treated a bit better ;-)

True, I see them being fed and taken care of by Sharkey. Oh well, maybe next life....

[hgma]

Thais won't testify against these thugs, police have little options, if the US guy doesn't press charges with a lawyer!!

And thee usual scenario is that the Bib will come and pose with a corpse citing....suicide or personal conflict.(if not drunk!)

TIT

[Buzzz]

My friend had an incident with another farang recently.

Reported to Pattaya Police. They were not too interested, then somebody "suggested" a 50,000bt donation to the chiefs charity foundation.

The perp then got locked up and deported.

I suppose if the criminal had 60,000bt he would still be in town doing his criminal mischief like many do.

[Watchful]

And thee usual scenario is that the Bib will come and pose with a corpse citing....suicide or personal conflict.(if not drunk!)

TIT

I'm sick of people maligning the Pattaya Police. These professionals have a difficult job. Arresting the 80 year olds who play bridge takes enormous resources. Further it's those bridge players who are destroying the reputation of Pattaya, not the Bang Bangs!

Seriously, you need some "local" help. Go to Retox and share your problem with some regulars. Sometimes just showing bullies that you are not alone will cool things down.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Im not tangling with anyone nicknamed "bang-bang." ???

[manarak]

What can honestly be expected if you park in someones personal space in a Tesco CarPark.

Thainess at its best !!

"Thainess at its best !!"

What a clever and original comment.

Do you really think "Bang Bang" is representative of all Thais? He's apparently a thug and a criminal. Are the people of your country typified by people like that ... or do you think such petty criminals don't exist wherever you come from?

In America where Mr. Short is from it seems the majority of people feel the need to be armed to the teeth in their homes and on the streets and an alarming number of them are gunned down by other Americans, including by their shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later police. I guess that's American-ness at its best, although as an American I'd hope that's not really true.

Tou have a point regardig Americans, and the poster has a point regarding Thais - not all Thais are guilty of thuggish behavior but I think we can all agree that this kind of thug is given too much leeway in Thai society.

The death threats made before witnesses should be enough to land the pondscum in prison for a couple of weeks.

And the "personal parking space" at Tesco... one way to show the turd who is the boss, the Tesco store manager should have banned him from the premises and reported him to whatever authority is responsible for suspending a taxi license for a month.

Many of Thailand's problems with that small pondscum mafia stems from everyone being too lenient with criminals for petty crimes.

[Watchful]

Im not tangling with anyone nicknamed "bang-bang." ???

No one said that you should, OMGImInPattaya. Given your bold statement, however, perhaps an avatar change would be appropriate. Maybe Minnie Mouse or Daisy Duck.

Trump just doesn't back down!

[JayBird]

1) The simplest solution is to apologize in some manner. Can even do the: Let's talk about this over some beers, let me buy you a few rounds, oh you have a sun in school, let me slip you some money to help his education. Blah blah. Because police could not do anything if they wanted to. Bang Bang won't be jailed for life for this (so he'll get out soon enough) and his friends would be around to cause trouble.

2) As an American ex-military, he should know how to handle a gun. So why doesn't he just sort this out himself? I'm not encouraging violence despite it being a resolution

3) For this reason one should have good relationships with someone in the police force (ideally through his Thai wife).

[OMGImInPattaya]

And to think, all this sturm and drang could have been avoided if this long-term resident had absorbed a little Thai culture and understood that some taxi and moto-taxi drivers are a little unhinged and had the courtesy to acknowledged not knowing about the parking arrangements within the soi. One suspects this isn't the first time there has been a confrontation between this resident and the taxi brigade. I'm sure all it would take to set things right would be a fruit-basket with a couple bottles of Chivas tucked inside...I'm reminded of a high Thai official saying big problems can become small with the right approach. Splashing stories in the media and filing police reports are rarely the best course of action in these situations.

[pattayahenry]

motorbike taxi drivers have to pay a lot of money for a good place lake lotus. even if it seems to be a public parking space, it is NOT.
often i have been told, not to park my bike somewhere, and of course i did not.
what is the point of being stubborn, if you even dont know the thai rules.
everybody in thailand, including the police, will view this problem as caused by the stubborn american. it would be very easy to kill him, the police would call it suicide or accident, whatever.

[manhood]

So PM Prayut is cleaning up beaches in Phuket , land in the NP's and and and: but for me Pattaya is the worst placo e in Thailand that should be cleaned up from TOP to BOTTOM as all is in the hand of mafia sturcture. And very sure Police and local Administration is involved into that very deeply. That's why nothing happens to clean up this city!!!!!!!!

[jeca22]

motorbike taxi drivers have to pay a lot of money for a good place lake lotus. even if it seems to be a public parking space, it is NOT.

often i have been told, not to park my bike somewhere, and of course i did not.

what is the point of being stubborn, if you even dont know the thai rules.

everybody in thailand, including the police, will view this problem as caused by the stubborn american. it would be very easy to kill him, the police would call it suicide or accident, whatever.

I drove past the Lotus on soi 16 Naklua and parked at the 7-11 next door. There was nobody at Lotus. What a let down....