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Bts Versus John Behan


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I see lots of people saying that the guy got beaten over a bunch of balloons. No - for the balloons, he got asked to not take them further because it was against the rules. What he got beaten for was defying the instructions of the guards, including trying to intimidate them via aggressive behavior.

 

He was asked to follow BTS rules - and he effectively declined, and "announced" that he was putting "jungle rules" into effect - with him as the biggest, toughest animal in the jungle - so the guards could all go fuck off.

 

Well, if you insist on putting jungle rules into effect, don't start whining when some other animals in the jungle start biting back.

 

To me, this was the exact same scenario as telling a flight attendant to "fuck off, I AM going to smoke a cigarette on the plane now". Uniformed, trained safety staff are expected and required to enforce the rules - and they are generally allowed to use their judgement in nebulous cases.

 

The big farang wasn't badly damaged. I feel bad for the security guard that got fired. He was hired and told to enforce the rules - and when he stands up to an aggressive rule breaker, he gets shit-canned. That will send the message to the rest of the BTS staff - if you want to keep your job, look the other way when aggressive farangs violate the rules.

 

I have always been impressed with the high standards maintained by both the BTS and MRT. I get the distinct impression that both organizations are run by former military leaders. I am in no hurry to see BTS standards replaced by random farang standards.

 

My two satang.

 

Cheers!

SS

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I see lots of people saying that the guy got beaten over a bunch of balloons. No - for the balloons, he got asked to not take them further because it was against the rules. What he got beaten for was defying the instructions of the guards, including trying to intimidate them via aggressive behavior.

 

He was asked to follow BTS rules - and he effectively declined, and "announced" that he was putting "jungle rules" into effect - with him as the biggest, toughest animal in the jungle - so the guards could all go fuck off.

 

Well, if you insist on putting jungle rules into effect, don't start whining when some other animals in the jungle start biting back.

 

To me, this was the exact same scenario as telling a flight attendant to "fuck off, I AM going to smoke a cigarette on the plane now". Uniformed, trained safety staff are expected and required to enforce the rules - and they are generally allowed to use their judgement in nebulous cases.

 

The big farang wasn't badly damaged. I feel bad for the security guard that got fired. He was hired and told to enforce the rules - and when he stands up to an aggressive rule breaker, he gets shit-canned. That will send the message to the rest of the BTS staff - if you want to keep your job, look the other way when aggressive farangs violate the rules.

 

I have always been impressed with the high standards maintained by both the BTS and MRT. I get the distinct impression that both organizations are run by former military leaders. I am in no hurry to see BTS standards replaced by random farang standards.

 

My two satang.

 

Cheers!

SS

 

I certainly agree with you on this. I also think the reason Behan felt he did not have to follow the instructions was because it was coming from a young lower class Thai male.

 

Security for the BTS is provided by the Thai subsidiary of the G4S group. We use them for security at our site and they are very professional.

TH

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SS, TH - while I do agree with you that this person was completely at fault here with his action/reactions - however I don't agree that the guards did the right actions - there was no need to get physical. A properly trained guard could have averted the physical confrontation in a few ways. I would have stopped the train from departing the station, that would have escalated the problem so high that that person would never get on another BTS train again.

 

 

 

 

 

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SS, TH - while I do agree with you that this person was completely at fault here with his action/reactions - however I don't agree that the guards did the right actions - there was no need to get physical. A properly trained guard could have averted the physical confrontation in a few ways. I would have stopped the train from departing the station, that would have escalated the problem so high that that person would never get on another BTS train again.

 

 

I don’t think I have defended the actions of the security guard at all and there is no doubt there reactions were inappropriate for the threat.

 

But, for the life of me I cannot see why the scenario did not play out like this:

 

Mr. Behan walks toward the turnstile, a guard approaches and say “cannot, cannot†and points toward the balloons. Mr. Behan, knowing his daughter speaks Thai, asks her what is he trying to say?

 

She engages the guard in conversation and relays to Mr. Behan that they cannot take the balloons on the train. He replies, “but we just did that a few stations up the lineâ€. The daughter replies,†he says that makes no difference, we cannot take them insideâ€.

 

Mr. Behan, then says, "Ok, darling, don’t worry about it, the man is just trying to his job. Let’s go downstairs and grab a taxi to go home."

 

Now I understand the first part, right up to the daughter talking to guard actually happened, it is only after that the situation deteriorated.

 

Basic, simple question. Who is at fault? Who was not acting in rational, civilized, sane manner and is now trying to portray himself as a victim?

TH

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I understand why this had gathered so much coverage on various boards, simply because he is a Farang 'set upon' by 4 uniformed Thais, but given that he didn't even need surgery it might have rated a paragraph somewhere in the bowels of a tabloid in Sydney. If they had beaten him to death in front of a packed commuter train - sure, front page and national news broadcasts - but NSW Police have shot 3 people dead in public in the space of 3 weeks : a scuffle with an Irish guy on a train just doesnt rate. In one case, the female cop shouted 'Taser' 3 times then pulled out her service revolver and shot the suspect, fatally wounding him. In another, Police did use their Tasers, but got the wrong guy - a South American who had stolen nothing more than a packet of biscuits. He stopped breathing and his relatives have to live with the knowledge that he was killed over a packet of biscuits.

The latest case had the media breathlessly reporting that Police had shot a man 5 times in full view of shoppers at Westfield, Parramatta - the cops claim it was a single shot in a 'service alley'. They interviewed several people who claim to have heard 5 shots, but the point is that we'll never get to hear the other guys version of events. He was no angel, and shooting him might have been the only option, but 3 people in 3 weeks in a city a third the size of Bangkok ? We arent talking Detroit or South-Central LA.

 

Compared to the unfortunate South American visitor to our shores, Behan got off easy.

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