Thailand attack: British family 'vow never to return' after savage street attack

[HLover]

the gang was overheard saying they were there to attack farangs.

I wonder if they said it in Thai or English?

they said it in Thai.

there is much more to this story than you know.

i live in Hua Hin and have talked to the farang man who tried to stop it.

I agree, sure there is much more to this story.

[Laughing Gravy]

One thing that is typical and not surprising is how people nearby were watching arms folded. I seen it before in Thailand. When someone is in distress and attacked its a case of "nothing to do with me"

And thats true of women and children attacked. Says something about the place!

I agree it is this attitude of being passive and not standing up for what is right has got this country into the political mess it is in. Basically 'taking it up the Garry' and not doing the morally right thing.

I am also shocked but not surprised some good citizens did not intervene. You don't have to be macho to step in and say stop.

[Laughing Gravy]

the gang was overheard saying they were there to attack farangs.

I wonder if they said it in Thai or English?

they said it in Thai.

there is much more to this story than you know.

i live in Hua Hin and have talked to the farang man who tried to stop it.

I agree, sure there is much more to this story.

One of the British tabloids is saying it was over an accidental spilling of a drink. If so trivial and either way an unjustified response.

[NCC1701A]

the gang was overheard saying they were there to attack farangs.

I wonder if they said it in Thai or English?

they said it in Thai.

there is much more to this story than you know.

i live in Hua Hin and have talked to the farang man who tried to stop it.

I agree, sure there is much more to this story.

<deleted>? Like what?

[jayboy]

R.I.P Thailand. This could be the last nail in the coffin for western tourists. Its a shame because these folks were regular visitors to the Kingdom. Thailand, you can enjoy the low rent Chinese mobs from now on. There's billions of them.

I'm not being unkind but from reports and pictures of the recent appalling incident there is nothing about any of the people involved that could not be described as"low rent".

[kingalfred]

R.I.P Thailand. This could be the last nail in the coffin for western tourists. Its a shame because these folks were regular visitors to the Kingdom. Thailand, you can enjoy the low rent Chinese mobs from now on. There's billions of them.

well deserved Thailand. Only asian tourists. Western tourist number have been falling as total of visitors. Under 10% soon!

[Nicolas32]

Thank goodness the British media and others have well publicized this tragic and brutal attack.

Yes. Let this be a warning to tourists not to push, slap and punch Thai guys because they can be brutal when provoked.

Well what do you expect your mother to do when she getting confronted and her son getting punch its like the Thai guy is distracting her why his friend hits her son ..

[kaorop]

I know one thing I'd spend quite some effort to make sure rough justice was handed out if my mom ever took that kind of kicking.

[Jimi007]

No stopping this one from going viral! It's "trending" on FaceBook now...

[Bluespunk]

Lewis said he was not sure why they were attacked.

“I didn’t know them, it was just random,” he said.

It wasn't 'random', they were beaten up because the mother slapped one Thai man in the face and the father punched another one while the son held him from behind. The clip being shown in the UK edits out all this, but it can be seen clearly in the full clip that the Brits throw the first punches.

Who gives a toss who through the first punch/slap. Attacking elderly people in this manner is the action of low life scum.

[boomerangutang]

"If found guilty, the perpetrators of this incident will face full justice under Thai law...'The men say they are sorry and that they wouldn’t have done this if they weren’t drunk.' "

Well, they apologized. All is forgiven. That IS full justice under Thai law...Even if the victims weren't farang.

What? You were expecting someone to take responsibility and be accountable for their actions? TIT....The land of "It wasn't me".

In the video, there is a savage sucker punch thrown by the Thai perp. He winds up about 3 meters from his target, who doesn't see it coming. ....and then kicking the old folks while they're passed out on the pavement. And about 55 Thais standing around doing nothing to assist for a full minute after the perps trot off, feeling victorious.

Worse than despicable. Absolutely no excuse. Minimum 15 years for each perp, with no chance of parole or early release. With over 30 yrs experience in Thailand, I know they'll get the minimum, and get early release. Thai officialdom absolutely hate to discipline their own.

[HLover]

I know one thing I'd spend quite some effort to make sure rough justice was handed out if my mom ever took that kind of kicking.

Agreed, and hopefully you would fare better than the baseball hat cladded bumbling son.

[DNPBC0]

One thing that is typical and not surprising is how people nearby were watching arms folded. I seen it before in Thailand. When someone is in distress and attacked its a case of "nothing to do with me"

And thats true of women and children attacked. Says something about the place!

Bystander apathy or non-intervention is a well-established feature of social behaviour, and it occurs all over the world. The tendency not to help victims when other people are present seems to be a universal characteristic of human-beings. In general, the larger the number of bystanders, the lower the likelihood that any one of them will help.

[HLover]

In the video, there is a savage sucker punch thrown by the Thai perp. He winds up about 3 meters from his target, who doesn't see it coming. ....and then kicking the old folks while they're passed out on the pavement. And about 55 Thais standing around doing nothing to assist for a full minute after the perps trot off, feeling victorious.

Worse than despicable. Absolutely no excuse. Minimum 15 years for each perp, with no chance of parole or early release. With over 30 experience in Thailand, I know they'll get the minimum, and get early release. Thai officialdom absolutely hate to discipline their own.

Actually, the Thai was returning the punch to the Dad, who punched him first. Not saying it was correct; but that is what the video showed.

[HLover]

One thing that is typical and not surprising is how people nearby were watching arms folded. I seen it before in Thailand. When someone is in distress and attacked its a case of "nothing to do with me"

And thats true of women and children attacked. Says something about the place!

Bystander apathy or non-intervention is a well-established feature of social behaviour, and it occurs all over the world. The tendency not to help victims when other people are present seems to be a universal characteristic of human-beings. In general, the larger the number of bystanders, the lower the likelihood that any one of them will help.

Bad night out for many.

[tukkytuktuk]

the gang was overheard saying they were there to attack farangs.

I wonder if they said it in Thai or English?

they said it in Thai.

there is much more to this story than you know.

i live in Hua Hin and have talked to the farang man who tried to stop it.

The farang man in the video with a white T-shirt, black trousers and wearing a black baseball cap. Was he with the other man wearing a baseball cap too wearing black? They were out numbered, happened so quick. Will this guy you know testify in court, has he made a statement to the police? Anymore information that would be helpful?

Please help bring justice to this family.

[MorristheRunt]

Try and sweep this one under the carpet General, this wont be like the Koh Tao case.

Thailand is getting back it's Karma for ripping off and taking the urine out of it's tourist guest.

Reap what you sow.

[Mook23]

I see British clowns and Thai clowns. The kicking while down is wrong but TIT. it's their culture to fight like that and as proven in the clip it's highly efficient...

[jamesbrock]

I'd say the tourists started it and I'm not an idiot.

I beg to differ

I agree with him, however the Thai's response was absolutely disgusting behaviour that is totally unjustifiable.

The tourists certainly did themselves no favours at all.

What started out as an argument between the Thai in the white shirt and the Thai in the black t-shirt with red square (the same guy that floored all three tourists) escalated when the white shirt walks into the son, who literally pushed him out of the way - at 23 seconds - but apart from being pushed, stumbling and smashing his face into the step, no punches were thrown up to this point.

When the mother confronted white shirt, black t-shirt was out of the picture having a conversation with friends letting a farang walk through their group without a second thought. This farang stopped to watch the exact moment the mother slapped white shirt - at 55 seconds - and smartly decided to walk away.

Black t-shirt walks back of to put his arm around white shirt—the same time as son gets to his feet and joins his mother—and the mother went straight for him - even though up to this point he had been uninvolved and was not even aware the mum had slapped white shirt.

The son walks around and grabs black t-shirt while a little weed appears to headset mum. The dad then punches black t-shirt to the face while son holds him - at 1:18. At this stage a black cap wearing farang intervenes and appears to try to advise the mum to let it go. By this stage, it was too late; son had let black t-shirt go and he walks around the group coward-punching the dad, the knocking mum to the ground followed by the son.

I'm certainly not saying the tourists deserved to be set upon, but they're definitely not the innocents most people are making them out to be.

Edit: before I get flamed, let me just reiterate nothing justifies kicking someone to the head and stamping on people while they're down, especially to an elderly lady.

[marcusd]

Lewis said he was not sure why they were attacked.

“I didn’t know them, it was just random,” he said.

It wasn't 'random', they were beaten up because the mother slapped one Thai man in the face and the father punched another one while the son held him from behind. The clip being shown in the UK edits out all this, but it can be seen clearly in the full clip that the Brits throw the first punches.

Do you have the video? We would like to see this because The USA news also shows the Thais chased and pursued the Brits

[jamesbrock]

Lewis said he was not sure why they were attacked.

“I didn’t know them, it was just random,” he said.

It wasn't 'random', they were beaten up because the mother slapped one Thai man in the face and the father punched another one while the son held him from behind. The clip being shown in the UK edits out all this, but it can be seen clearly in the full clip that the Brits throw the first punches.

Do you have the video? We would like to see this because The USA news also shows the Thais chased and pursued the Brits

Timing and description from my post above is taken from this video:

[Broken Record]

To all the ThaiVisa commentators advising that people stay away from Thailand, how many of you will follow your own advice and either leave Thailand, or if like most, you don't live here, will never come back to Thailand again ?

Thought so.

[z42]

Pathetic that people are trying to justify this appalling attack. Anybody have any idea what "full justice" entails. Surely not only a fine

[marcusd]

Songkran, friends, is a free ticket for a small percentage of xenophobic hateful thugs to attack foreigners at will to let out all their pent up hostilities.

Because of small aggressions I experienced some 20 years ago, I learned to not go out during this "holiday".

It is a shame the small number of xenophobes is rapidly increasing

[Dibbler]

You need to watch this video very closely to see that all is not as it seems. The son, who appears drunk, doesn't bump the Thai guy, he grabs him, but the most telling section comes in at 50 secs when the mother, who clutches the Thai guy's shirt and has been haranguing him for 30 seconds, hits him in the face. He does nothing though she drags him across the laneway and the crowd starts to swell. The guy in the black shirt (the main attacker) then moves in at 1:00 apparently to break up the scuffle. The son (in the baseball cap) and the father (in the floral shirt) then move in on him. The son grabs him from behind in a head lock and if you watch closely, and it may take replays, the father quickly and violently punches the black shirt guy in the face while he is being held. As the son releases him, the father goes and stands behind his wife, but the black shirt guy comes at him and the rest is history. This is an appalling attack, especially the cowardly kicking when they are down, and the perpetrators will and should go to jail, but this family escalated the situation, initiated the violence, and this is a lesson of how not to behave when in a foreign country.

[jamesbrock]

You need to watch this video very closely to see that all is not as it seems. The son, who appears drunk, doesn't bump the Thai guy, he grabs him, but the most telling section comes in at 50 secs when the mother, who clutches the Thai guy's shirt and has been haranguing him for 30 seconds, hits him in the face. He does nothing though she drags him across the laneway and the crowd starts to swell. The guy in the black shirt (the main attacker) then moves in at 1:00 apparently to break up the scuffle. The son (in the baseball cap) and the father (in the floral shirt) then move in on him. The son grabs him from behind in a head lock and if you watch closely, and it may take replays, the father quickly and violently punches the black shirt guy in the face while he is being held. As the son releases him, the father goes and stands behind his wife, but the black shirt guy comes at him and the rest is history. This is an appalling attack, especially the cowardly kicking when they are down, and the perpetrators will and should go to jail, but this family escalated the situation, initiated the violence, and this is a lesson of how not to behave when in a foreign country.

Be careful, some people don't want to know the truth otherwise the justifications for their hated might be somewhat diminished.

[BritManToo]

To all the ThaiVisa commentators advising that people stay away from Thailand, how many of you will follow your own advice and either leave Thailand, or if like most, you don't live here, will never come back to Thailand again ?

Thought so.

I'm leaving next week, haven't bothered to renew my 1 year retirement extension.

[marcusd]

R.I.P Thailand. This could be the last nail in the coffin for western tourists. Its a shame because these folks were regular visitors to the Kingdom. Thailand, you can enjoy the low rent Chinese mobs from now on. There's billions of them.

well deserved Thailand. Only asian tourists. Western tourist number have been falling as total of visitors. Under 10% soon!

I see Thailand really with a BAD image problems now. Too many incidents lately (this year alone). There is huge marketing for Philippines. That will be the next FAVourite place to go.

Cheaper too

Thailand deserves a kick in the guts and sorry but so do the people who stand by and say Sollee I can do nothing.

If everyone did that attitude nothing, anywhere in the world would change

[jayboy]

You need to watch this video very closely to see that all is not as it seems. The son, who appears drunk, doesn't bump the Thai guy, he grabs him, but the most telling section comes in at 50 secs when the mother, who clutches the Thai guy's shirt and has been haranguing him for 30 seconds, hits him in the face. He does nothing though she drags him across the laneway and the crowd starts to swell. The guy in the black shirt (the main attacker) then moves in at 1:00 apparently to break up the scuffle. The son (in the baseball cap) and the father (in the floral shirt) then move in on him. The son grabs him from behind in a head lock and if you watch closely, and it may take replays, the father quickly and violently punches the black shirt guy in the face while he is being held. As the son releases him, the father goes and stands behind his wife, but the black shirt guy comes at him and the rest is history. This is an appalling attack, especially the cowardly kicking when they are down, and the perpetrators will and should go to jail, but this family escalated the situation, initiated the violence, and this is a lesson of how not to behave when in a foreign country.

I have to say this makes a great deal of sense to me.Nobody comes well out of this including I'm afraid the mother who bears an amazing resemblance to the character in the movie " Throw Mama from the Train".But nothing justifies the violence of the drunken Thai yobs.

[Kaalle]

In any case, a one sided street fight is not going to be the end of tourism in Thailand. Every time something bad happens its the end!

You have to be a paranoid and hysterical person to cancel your holiday because of isolated incidents like this.

Now a bunch of posts will claim its not isolated! Thailand is getting worse by the day! I beg to differ, although its not a 100% safe and cozy paradise but make a reasonable comparison to other travel destinations please.

In my home country people of all ages are being beaten up and robbed every week, doesn't make it dangerous per say.