Gun battle at Songkran celebration in the north - residents flee in terror.

[Foodie]

Nice peaceful Buddhists, This county lost its way along time ago.!

Still a rare occurrence here but almost daily in the States. So much safer in Thailand!

[diehard60]

Before it used to be just the drunks getting killed driving but now things have changed so much. This is I guess the worst Songkran ever.

[ThailandNo1]

Yap yap yap...is what I hear reading this. Same same.

So what do you want the cops to do--------- come out and shout at these young boys and endanger their own lives standing in the line of fire.Leave it for 24hrs and do a local house search---much safer

It would be nice if the cops helped protect the innocent bystanders. This was not out in the boondocks, it was in the center of the city.

About 5 years ago, not more than 100 meters from where this happened, we were in the middle of something similar. Picture a 4 lane road where the pickup trucks filled with people are not moving since everyone is water playing. A bottle was thrown, severely cutting one of the young lads. Out comes a gun and everyone scrambles for cover. Understand that the people playing water include many little kids. There were many hundreds of people in that section of road.

IMHO, the cops should try to prevent this from happening, and if something does happen, they should try to protect the innocents.

How, exactly, should the cops prevent this from happening.

Well, for a start owning firearms in Thailand is Illegal. Doing something about the illegal ownership of guns would be a manner of preventing such things from happening. Doing something about the drug abuse and drug trafficking could be another - just saying.

Oh wait, T.I.T, lets just wait until someone populist politician come in with "60 days to zero gun violence/zero drugs on the streets". We all know what happened with that!

Quite one thing saying Thailand's gangland shootings and deaths by gun related violence is parallel or 2x that of USA but in USA guns are easily accessible and citizens have the right to bare arms, and then you have all of them school shootings that happen every couple of months in the states. Thailand and Thai people have no right to bare arms and there is really no high school/public place shoot out and mass killings..make the stat presented quite scary if you consider those facts!

[Dumbastheycome]

Yap yap yap...is what I hear reading this. Same same.

So what do you want the cops to do--------- come out and shout at these young boys and endanger their own lives standing in the line of fire.Leave it for 24hrs and do a local house search---much safer

It would be nice if the cops helped protect the innocent bystanders. This was not out in the boondocks, it was in the center of the city.

About 5 years ago, not more than 100 meters from where this happened, we were in the middle of something similar. Picture a 4 lane road where the pickup trucks filled with people are not moving since everyone is water playing. A bottle was thrown, severely cutting one of the young lads. Out comes a gun and everyone scrambles for cover. Understand that the people playing water include many little kids. There were many hundreds of people in that section of road.

IMHO, the cops should try to prevent this from happening, and if something does happen, they should try to protect the innocents.

I believe there was an attempt this year with the call to not use vehicles laden with water drums and people. In my area the army and police stopped and prevented any water activities on the road or roadside before the 13th . From the 13th on I saw few utes like in years past. And on the few occasions I have travelled to the nearest town I have seen not one place on the main road where people were throwing water.It appeared to be restricted to the side roads so not a problem to the traffic flow which is now in major reverse .Nobody around here seems disappointed.

And also noticed a lack of drunken teens on the roads. Maybe the heat helped this year. Sad to see the excuse of Sonkran being used as a venue for rival youth. And 2 police up against ? number? I think maybe they did the wiser rather than the braver thing.

[Dumbastheycome]

''Gun Battle at Songkran Koral''

guns drawn at high noon,,

the bullets went that a way

and i'm going to sell up in my country and move

permanently to Thailand N-0-T

3 times i have been to festivals where long knife

wheeling fights broke out, kids chopping into each

other, now put your beer down, turn off the tv and

go see what the real Thailand is like, i avoid many

festivals now.

And how many school massacres have there been in the good ole......? Maybe should not send kids to school there either !

[TPUBON]

Nice peaceful Buddhists, This county lost its way along time ago.!

Because these few represent all of Thailand and further, all of Buddhism.

Got it.

And all Christians are peace loving.

[Dario]

Yap yap yap...is what I hear reading this. Same same.

So what do you want the cops to do--------- come out and shout at these young boys and endanger their own lives standing in the line of fire.Leave it for 24hrs and do a local house search---much safer

It would be nice if the cops helped protect the innocent bystanders. This was not out in the boondocks, it was in the center of the city.

About 5 years ago, not more than 100 meters from where this happened, we were in the middle of something similar. Picture a 4 lane road where the pickup trucks filled with people are not moving since everyone is water playing. A bottle was thrown, severely cutting one of the young lads. Out comes a gun and everyone scrambles for cover. Understand that the people playing water include many little kids. There were many hundreds of people in that section of road.

IMHO, the cops should try to prevent this from happening, and if something does happen, they should try to protect the innocents.

@1 rule for Songkran: no water containers - large or small - should be allowed on any pick up truck for water throwing in Thailand! No water throwing from any vehicles should be allowed. This little measure would eliminate already a lot of accidents. Why doesn't our present military government think of such a rule?

[Enoon]

Nice peaceful Buddhists, This county lost its way along time ago.!

Nice to see that the simple minded, "guide book", two dimensional expectation of Thailands people is alive and well.

What did they stamp on your papers when you were born?

[mickyboy]

i think the average cop here who has to buy his own stuff is sad , and low pay for what they risk. if that was in us swat would have been there in a flash and a lot of other cops . as well . here they know there will be little or no response to this kind of action . the police here are under funded, as a force. and i know all will say they make good behind closed doors . but the average beat cop ?

well your lucky because it happened in the uk and the police could not cope with it and stood and watched as they looted and burnt down shops houses and if i remeber you in the us have had your fair share of gang murders and masacres police done some thing after the event these young men have no respect for anyone or anything high on cheap drugs crack and a loaded gun that sure a recipe for disatster

[Classic Ray]

As an ex-UK unarmed cop, we always knew to hang back when there was a large pub fight, for example, as 1. You become the common enemy if you steam in 2. You want people to use up some energy before you, in the minority, go in and start fighting and arresting. 3. All the damage is covered by insurance.

So I have every sympathy for cops who realise they can't cope with a major incident like this and make a strategic withdrawal.

What they do need is the ready availability of backup heavily armed Army/Police resources to jump in and quell the trouble before someone, especially an innocent, gets killed. Sadly that takes planning and financial resources, and well TIT.

Hope I don't get caught in any future crossfire.

[sambum]

Are the cops pointing in the direction the bullets went?

Yes, thought we'd lost it for a while, but the old "pointing finger" is back! The chief photographer must have been on holiday for a few weeks!

Regarding another point, the cops here are underpaid (in a civilised country, the cost of their uniforms, motor bikes, guns etc would all be paid for out of taxation - surely here the brown envelopes could do the job?) And if only 2 cops are on duty at a given time, then they should be provided with more heavy duty armaments (after adequate training, of course!) - maybe a couple of machine guns and stun grenades? Could make a good line for a film don't you think i.e. "Call that a gun? THIS is a gun" - and a short sharp burst over their heads would probably be enough to disperse the cowardly "Men in Black"!

[Ace of Pop]

Rather cheap backpacker type place to live anyway, .

[FarangRimPing]

Rather cheap backpacker type place to live anyway, .

It has the highest per capita GDP of ANY province in North Thailand. Definitely richer than Thailand average and definitely not a backpacker place.

It is a UNESCO Heritage site. Many temple ruins.

Has the major in land oil fields of Thailand. etc etc

You can research more yourself.

[gandalf12]

I was in the Sai Mai area of Bangkok for Songkran and I have to say the people were a credit to Thailand. They never threw water over motorcyclists, instead they stopped them then put a sprinkle of water on them and the white powder. They were an example of how Soogkran should be celebrated.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts have been removed.

[Roomuck]

Yap yap yap...is what I hear reading this. Same same.

So what do you want the cops to do--------- come out and shout at these young boys and endanger their own lives standing in the line of fire.Leave it for 24hrs and do a local house search---much safer

It would be nice if the cops helped protect the innocent bystanders. This was not out in the boondocks, it was in the center of the city.

About 5 years ago, not more than 100 meters from where this happened, we were in the middle of something similar. Picture a 4 lane road where the pickup trucks filled with people are not moving since everyone is water playing. A bottle was thrown, severely cutting one of the young lads. Out comes a gun and everyone scrambles for cover. Understand that the people playing water include many little kids. There were many hundreds of people in that section of road.

IMHO, the cops should try to prevent this from happening, and if something does happen, they should try to protect the innocents.

@1 rule for Songkran: no water containers - large or small - should be allowed on any pick up truck for water throwing in Thailand! No water throwing from any vehicles should be allowed. This little measure would eliminate already a lot of accidents. Why doesn't our present military government think of such a rule?

They are a military government, not the fun police.

[Thaidream]

Thailand is truly in trouble like so many other nations including those in the West.. One of the things that has always saved massive unrest is almost full employment. However, with the drought and the greed of the wealthy and huge companies buying up the land- farming is no longer the fallback position. Couple this with an education system that is abominable and the disintegration of families, it does not look favorable for the Thai Nation. It's time fora unity government to come together and educated people of all backgrounds to defeat corruption and put the country back on track. Easier said than done.

[Jeffkp]

I'm not sure I can blame the two cops. When a coked out, drunk wealthy kid runs over a cop in Bangkok and drives on; few consequences. Why should they care?

[Ace of Pop]

I'm not sure I can blame the two cops. When a coked out, drunk wealthy kid runs over a cop in Bangkok and drives on; few consequences. Why should they care?

We dont, They dont .Who gives a......................... but ,ill get banned again..

[FolkGuitar]

The lowest gun crime rates in the world are in the UK and Japan where regular police do not carry firearms!!!! sadly beneaneath the propaganda of T.A.T. the 'land of smiles ' is not so good under the surface!!!

You're aware, of course, that the Japanese police only publish 'Solved Crimes,' rather than crimes reported? And that often the Japanese police refuse to respond to crimes that they don't think they can solve? I lived and worked there for 15 years, and saw this often. Even Organized Crime organizations (Yakuza groups) are legal, so long as they are registered with the government. 'Yamaguchi Gummi' and 'Sumioshi Kai,' two of the largest Yakuza 'families' in Japan have offices (complete with signs over the doors) in every major city. Japan is NOT the crime-free place people imagine.

[Kiwiken]

The lowest gun crime rates in the world are in the UK and Japan where regular police do not carry firearms!!!! sadly beneaneath the propaganda of T.A.T. the 'land of smiles ' is not so good under the surface!!!

UK Gun ownership only 6.7% Thailand I believe much higher(somewhere around 13 million firearms). NZ Police also not armed and despite 22.6% ownership also a low rate. Maybe because of relative ease to get a firearm in LOS that these things happen a little more often

[metisdead]

Off topic posts have been removed.

[pegman]

i think the average cop here who has to buy his own stuff is sad , and low pay for what they risk. if that was in us swat would have been there in a flash and a lot of other cops . as well . here they know there will be little or no response to this kind of action . the police here are under funded, as a force. and i know all will say they make good behind closed doors . but the average beat cop ?

Yeah, all them S.W.A.T. Teams and 33,000 gun deaths per year. Lecture on.

[pegman]

Yap yap yap...is what I hear reading this. Same same.

So what do you want the cops to do--------- come out and shout at these young boys and endanger their own lives standing in the line of fire.Leave it for 24hrs and do a local house search---much safer

It would be nice if the cops helped protect the innocent bystanders. This was not out in the boondocks, it was in the center of the city.

About 5 years ago, not more than 100 meters from where this happened, we were in the middle of something similar. Picture a 4 lane road where the pickup trucks filled with people are not moving since everyone is water playing. A bottle was thrown, severely cutting one of the young lads. Out comes a gun and everyone scrambles for cover. Understand that the people playing water include many little kids. There were many hundreds of people in that section of road.

IMHO, the cops should try to prevent this from happening, and if something does happen, they should try to protect the innocents.

How, exactly, should the cops prevent this from happening.

Well, for a start owning firearms in Thailand is Illegal. Doing something about the illegal ownership of guns would be a manner of preventing such things from happening. Doing something about the drug abuse and drug trafficking could be another - just saying.

Oh wait, T.I.T, lets just wait until someone populist politician come in with "60 days to zero gun violence/zero drugs on the streets". We all know what happened with that!

Quite one thing saying Thailand's gangland shootings and deaths by gun related violence is parallel or 2x that of USA but in USA guns are easily accessible and citizens have the right to bare arms, and then you have all of them school shootings that happen every couple of months in the states. Thailand and Thai people have no right to bare arms and there is really no high school/public place shoot out and mass killings..make the stat presented quite scary if you consider those facts!

Murder rates by gun in USA and Thailand are the same. Not 2 times as you state. 3.43 vs 3.48 per 100,000

[Stargeezr]

I have a few close friends who work in the Thai police force.

They are not paid very well. They have to live with the corruption that does exist in

the country. They are under armed, as well. The military are better armed, and

they do get involved at times, and do a great job with their numbers when they get

involved. I believe that Britain will be arming their police force if they have not already

done so. How long has it been since you have been in Briton Mr. Parker?

I have heard that there are even areas in that country that look more like the ME

with the Arabic signs and people walking about. I have 2 British friends who live in

Thailand full time as they are disgusted with the conditions back where they came from in

Britain. They told me that the multi-cultural idea there is crap, and they can't barely

stand to go back and visit their family and friends in their home town.

What a shame. This gun battle would likely have been deadly for the police of 2, if

they had tried to stop the thugs without help.

Geezer

[eddie61]

They need to end his inhumane treatment with one of there firing squads......

beautiful stylish pointing, with a graceful poise.

Rather than useless crackdowns on everything, the BIB should initiate a best point of the year, to be handed out at the end of Songrahn, when they have done their years work

[gandalf12]

The lowest gun crime rates in the world are in the UK and Japan where regular police do not carry firearms!!!! sadly beneaneath the propaganda of T.A.T. the 'land of smiles ' is not so good under the surface!!!

UK Gun ownership only 6.7% Thailand I believe much higher(somewhere around 13 million firearms). NZ Police also not armed and despite 22.6% ownership also a low rate. Maybe because of relative ease to get a firearm in LOS that these things happen a little more often

I reckon guns are used a lot more in Thailand as there are no real consequences when they are used

[sambum]

Yap yap yap...is what I hear reading this. Same same.

So what do you want the cops to do--------- come out and shout at these young boys and endanger their own lives standing in the line of fire.Leave it for 24hrs and do a local house search---much safer

It would be nice if the cops helped protect the innocent bystanders. This was not out in the boondocks, it was in the center of the city.

About 5 years ago, not more than 100 meters from where this happened, we were in the middle of something similar. Picture a 4 lane road where the pickup trucks filled with people are not moving since everyone is water playing. A bottle was thrown, severely cutting one of the young lads. Out comes a gun and everyone scrambles for cover. Understand that the people playing water include many little kids. There were many hundreds of people in that section of road.

IMHO, the cops should try to prevent this from happening, and if something does happen, they should try to protect the innocents.

@1 rule for Songkran: no water containers - large or small - should be allowed on any pick up truck for water throwing in Thailand! No water throwing from any vehicles should be allowed. This little measure would eliminate already a lot of accidents. Why doesn't our present military government think of such a rule?

Perhaps another rule should be no water throwing at people on motor bikes? This is a very dangerous practice - especially when the water contains washing up liquid or some other eye irritant - a recipe for an accident to happen.

[TuskegeeBen]

Nice peaceful Buddhists, This county lost its way along time ago.!

Sigh! You, together with the 16 other posters who agree with you, need to give it a rest, for a change. Since the LoS (according to you) lost it's way a long time ago, then what "possesses" the likes of you to remain there, from (apparently) a long time ago, eh? Good morning

[sambum]

Nice peaceful Buddhists, This county lost its way along time ago.!

Sigh! You, together with the 16 other posters who agree with you, need to give it a rest, for a change. Since the LoS (according to you) lost it's way a long time ago, then what "possesses" the likes of you to remain there, from (apparently) a long time ago, eh? Good morning

Sigh! Another one from the "if you don't like it, go home" brigade.