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Video: Aussie pensioner sets fire to his house in Surat after row with his Thai girlfriend

webfact

By webfact
in Thailand News

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webfact Grand Master Member

webfact

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Video: Aussie pensioner sets fire to his house in Surat after row with his Thai girlfriend

 

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Picture: Video screenshot

 

SURAT THANI: -- A video was posted on Facebook as a 65 year old Australian man set fire to a bed and a sofa at his rented house in central Surat Thani.

 

It was the national day of his country - Australia Day.

 

Police and firemen were called by neighbors who said that Edward Woodward had gone berserk.

 

As firefighters arrived he greeted them with a large kitchen knife at the gate but soon gave this up. As the blaze was extinguished a pointing and slanging match ensued as Thais on the scene warned him to be quiet and wait for police to arrive and sort it all out.

 

Soon after his girlfriend arrived on the scene. Forty year old Juttamas (no surname given) said that she had lived with the Australian for five years. They had only been renting at this present address in the Makham Tia sub-district for a month.

 

Juttamas said that her two sons had moved in and there were frequent rows recently as a result. She said that Mr Woodward threatened to kill one of her sons.

 

So fearing for her life and that of her sons she decided to leave with her children and fled to the sanctuary of her elder sister's place.

 

While she was gone Mr Woodward set fire to the bed and sofa in a garage area of the house.

 

"He must have been stressed," said Juttamas,"so he tried to burn down the house".

 

Police are talking to the couple to get to the root of what happened.

 

 
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-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-01-27
 
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Kerryd Diamond Member

Kerryd

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The "root" of the problem was that she apparently got ahold of his ATM card and emptied almost 500,000 baht from his account.

 

(And yes, it's not that hard for someone to do as I found out after my dad's girlfriend had been draining his account of 20,000 a day until he died and then, even though I had his bank book, ATM card and passport, was able to get a new bank book and continue draining his account for 2 weeks days after he died and even scooped a small interest payment that came in 6 weeks later ! I was out of the country working and didn't find out until I got back and by then she was long gone of course. When I asked at the bank how it was possible for her to do this all I got was a shrug and "not my problem" kind of look.)

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ezrider62 Newbie

ezrider62

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21 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

The "root" of the problem was that she apparently got ahold of his ATM card and emptied almost 500,000 baht from his account.

 

(And yes, it's not that hard for someone to do as I found out after my dad's girlfriend had been draining his account of 20,000 a day until he died and then, even though I had his bank book, ATM card and passport, was able to get a new bank book and continue draining his account for 2 weeks days after he died and even scooped a small interest payment that came in 6 weeks later ! I was out of the country working and didn't find out until I got back and by then she was long gone of course. When I asked at the bank how it was possible for her to do this all I got was a shrug and "not my problem" kind of look.)

Sorry, real bummer! banking here does get me a bit nervous, bankers seem not to accountable for mistakes or incompetence. I keep my real bulk of money back home in US.

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z42 Advanced Member

z42

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Posted

It's frustrating that the story posted seems to completely gloss over the allegation that either the girlfriend (or someone close to her) basically stole 480,000 baht of this guy's money.
I think it is too hard to pre judge this guy too much. Yeah sure he looks a complete fool on the surface, but when you look a little closer it could be that his life savings, or at least a good chunk thereof has been stolen from him. Now there is almost no recourse for him, he is too old to work & earn it back, and actually retrieving the money through the courts I'd guess would be an equally costly, stressful, and arduous venture for a man of his age, and knowing how the justice system operates here, a complete gamble at best.

I don't for a second condone arson or property destruction. But I can feel a degree of sympathy for a man who probably now feels he is at rock bottom. Some of the comments on the video TV had of this incident on their facebook page were disgusting. Kicking a man when he's down is as immoral as it gets imo. Remember, this could very well happen to any of us living here, and while the going is good it is very easy to lose sight of that fact, and be blinded by it.

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jonclark Platinum Member

jonclark

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16 minutes ago, z42 said:

It's frustrating that the story posted seems to completely gloss over the allegation that either the girlfriend (or someone close to her) basically stole 480,000 baht of this guy's money.
I think it is too hard to pre judge this guy too much. Yeah sure he looks a complete fool on the surface, but when you look a little closer it could be that his life savings, or at least a good chunk thereof has been stolen from him. Now there is almost no recourse for him, he is too old to work & earn it back, and actually retrieving the money through the courts I'd guess would be an equally costly, stressful, and arduous venture for a man of his age, and knowing how the justice system operates here, a complete gamble at best.

I don't for a second condone arson or property destruction. But I can feel a degree of sympathy for a man who probably now feels he is at rock bottom. Some of the comments on the video TV had of this incident on their facebook page were disgusting. Kicking a man when he's down is as immoral as it gets imo. Remember, this could very well happen to any of us living here, and while the going is good it is very easy to lose sight of that fact, and be blinded by it.

 

Wise words indeed. 

 

In Thailand foreigners (westerners mainly) really love looking down on other westerners, be it behavior, attitude, problems they may encounter or situations they may find themselves in etc. Oddly though you do not find the same attitude within the Indian and Chinese communities for example, which when threatened join ranks to protect their own and have quite good support networks for each other. Which probably explains why these communities thrive in Thailand and the farang community is a fragmented,  transient, narcissistic and on whole quite unsuccessful in Thailand.

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Jeremy50 Silver Member

Jeremy50

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1 hour ago, ezrider62 said:

Sorry, real bummer! banking here does get me a bit nervous, bankers seem not to accountable for mistakes or incompetence. I keep my real bulk of money back home in US.

If you have to marry one, have a secret account and never disclose your true worth. This guy, a silly old fool, but I really hope that he hasn't lost his life savings. Why the gangster tats? Looks awful, and doesn't really help his case.

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ezrider62 Newbie

ezrider62

Posted
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36 minutes ago, jonclark said:

 

Wise words indeed. 

 

In Thailand foreigners (westerners mainly) really love looking down on other westerners, be it behavior, attitude, problems they may encounter or situations they may find themselves in etc. Oddly though you do not find the same attitude within the Indian and Chinese communities for example, which when threatened join ranks to protect their own and have quite good support networks for each other. Which probably explains why these communities thrive in Thailand and the farang community is a fragmented,  transient, narcissistic and on whole quite unsuccessful in Thailand.

So true, I often try to acknowledge other faranges around areas that are sparsely populated with my kind and they just ignore me like I don't exist. I can't figure it out, we could help each other with issues or just a quick chat nothing big. 

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Raymonddiaz Senior Member

Raymonddiaz

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Stop your mouth OK? ( Thailish) This is Thailand we don't care if she stole 500.000 Baht from you. The guy is depressed and he needs help. Losing all your savings when you are already old is very difficult. Foreigners need to be careful . Many Thai women are just after Farangs money not because they are handsome.Wake up guys......I feel sorry for this old man....

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OmegaRacer Silver Member

OmegaRacer

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Posted

500k are hardly life savings, when you either need 800k for a "retirement visa" or 400k for a "marriage visa".

 

To be the devil's advocate, if someone threatens to kill my son, taking his money would be the least I would do to him.

 

Aussie victim?..maybe, maybe not

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robblok Star Member

robblok

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, z42 said:

It's frustrating that the story posted seems to completely gloss over the allegation that either the girlfriend (or someone close to her) basically stole 480,000 baht of this guy's money.
I think it is too hard to pre judge this guy too much. Yeah sure he looks a complete fool on the surface, but when you look a little closer it could be that his life savings, or at least a good chunk thereof has been stolen from him. Now there is almost no recourse for him, he is too old to work & earn it back, and actually retrieving the money through the courts I'd guess would be an equally costly, stressful, and arduous venture for a man of his age, and knowing how the justice system operates here, a complete gamble at best.

I don't for a second condone arson or property destruction. But I can feel a degree of sympathy for a man who probably now feels he is at rock bottom. Some of the comments on the video TV had of this incident on their facebook page were disgusting. Kicking a man when he's down is as immoral as it gets imo. Remember, this could very well happen to any of us living here, and while the going is good it is very easy to lose sight of that fact, and be blinded by it.

Rock bottom or not.. he is hurting a poor property owner that has nothing to do with this. In my book he is a complete tool. Had this been the house of his GF or some of her property sure.. I can get that but hurting a third party that has nothing to do with it makes him a tool. 

 

His money stolen.. sure that is sad but no reason to hurt an innocent third party. That is the real crime here. 

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robblok Star Member

robblok

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1 hour ago, jonclark said:

 

Wise words indeed. 

 

In Thailand foreigners (westerners mainly) really love looking down on other westerners, be it behavior, attitude, problems they may encounter or situations they may find themselves in etc. Oddly though you do not find the same attitude within the Indian and Chinese communities for example, which when threatened join ranks to protect their own and have quite good support networks for each other. Which probably explains why these communities thrive in Thailand and the farang community is a fragmented,  transient, narcissistic and on whole quite unsuccessful in Thailand.

I just don't support tools, he would have had all my sympathy if he had set her house on fire.. not that of an innocent third party. I feel a lot of foreigners are so bitter against Thais they fail to see the bad in their own kind. Just imagine it was your house that he rented. 

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Brer Fox Apprentice Member

Brer Fox

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Not a good look on the face of it. Perhaps he should try and relax and look at things a different way. Perhaps he should treat any theft as an extra "service" charge. If she did take 450,000 baht that is about US$13,000. Over 5 years that is $2,600/year or $216/month or $7/night = 3 beers. That's pretty cheap for a washing machine, cook, dishwasher, housekeeper and provider of "other" services. 

He should remember where he is and take more care of his ATM card or at least his PIN number.

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