Would you stop?

[Guest]

in the affected areas, when it goes off, it *IS* the wild west.

 

typical arms:

different sort of blades, even with particular slang terms each.

zip guns (no need to fear them)

handguns

ping pong ball hand granades (known to be mainly carried and used by the girls)

base ball bats

iron bars

 

sometimes hundreds of kids go at each other.

murders in this scene rarely ever get solved.

 

fortunately though this rarely does affect the normal westerner here, tourist or expat, as it happens mostly in areas which are of little interest for us.

 

areas to watch out though:

concerts

village or temple fairs

industrial suburbs of surrounding areas of bangkok

dangerous also are citybuses near vocational colleges when school finishes (several times my missus had to escape a bus when shooting started inside the bus).

[Guest]

Hi,

 

Holy shit! ::

 

What? No 'stinger' missiles? Geeze.

 

I'll tell you what I am really curious about, though Fly. And that deals with the repercussions of getting involved. Not the initial act, but what about going to court after, and what that might entail. Or producing bad-blood, and what might be expected from that.

 

What percentage of all incidences make it to court there? And if not many, then why? I guess what I'm asking is: "Is it really that much out of control?". And that justice is seldom seen, in the actual courtroom? And that most 'justice' is ultimately settled on the street?

 

HT

[Guest]

I would not stop, and I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks about it. I look out for No 1, 24/7. I would report it down the road, and that's it. Period.

[Guest]

The reason why these criminals get away with so much is 'everybody turns their back' from them. People pretend the criminals do not exist.

 

But when the day the criminals target you for whatever reason, you pray to God that somebody will help. Will somebody help?

 

 

If I should die helping somebody - then I die, but I would rather die for a cause then to just plain die.

 

For myself personally, I hope I live a long time so I can enjoy telling people my stories of things I have done. One I was chuckling over today was about when I was once in the States, a State Trooper told me to take the front door while he took the back door of a house. Even though the person had just committed a serious crime, I took the front door without blinking an eye. Later I realized I did not even have a gun!

[Guest]

>>>And that deals with the repercussions of getting involved. Not the initial act, but what about going to court after, and what that might entail. Or producing bad-blood, and what might be expected from that.<<<

 

 

if you do not have friends or family to protect you, you might end up dead. people are into revenge here.

my missus for example has that cousin. he has killed many. was never caught though. people who piss him off bad enough generally end up dead, usually a few months after the initial conflict. fortunately he likes me. ::

 

 

 

>>>>And if not many, then why? I guess what I'm asking is: "Is it really that much out of control?". And that justice is seldom seen, in the actual courtroom? And that most 'justice' is ultimately settled on the street? <<<

 

 

if it is internal conflicts people often prefer to deal with it themselves. when the police comes, they have never seen or heard of who did beat them up. not much the cops can do. some time later someone gets hurt, or killed, but nobody won't say a thing. not much again the cops can do.

we are also not really talking here about completely innocent people been done, often it's bad motherfuckers doing other bad motherfuckers.

 

difficulty here compared to most western countries is that there is no uniform, no particular dress style. the nasty kids look exactly the same as some normal kid. that is why especially for us westerners it's impossible to see the difference.

the kids generally know each other. things are very territorial, they know who hangs with who, who is in trouble with whom.

the cops have extensive computerised files on those kids.

but difficult to solve many crimes. often it's just drive by's. nobody can actually recognise the shooters, or prefers to forget them fast.

and, to make matters worse, the cops are often involved as well. sometimes the lines are just not there anymore.

 

you might think that this is a matter between "good" and "bad", but i would like to know who is the "good" ones. the cops, as an organisation, for sure aren't.

 

and then look at the kids. they grow up in depressing suburbs. little money, their parents came from upcountry, slave away in some factory. the kids have to join some gang for protection. they have not much of a future to look forward to, other than slaving away like their parents.

 

welcome to the land of smile...

[keekwai]

MM said "If I should die helping somebody - then I die, but I would rather die for a cause then to just plain die."

 

So you'd risk a violent death, shot, stabbed or beat to death to aid complete strangers involved in a violent encounter beside the road? How would you even determine what "cause" you were prepared to die for in a situation like this? Maybe a drug deal gone sour or petty jealousies.

[Guest]

quote

[color:"red"] "So you'd risk a violent death, shot, stabbed or beat to death to aid complete strangers involved in a violent encounter beside the road? How would you even determine what "cause" you were prepared to die for in a situation like this? Maybe a drug deal gone sour or petty jealousies." [/color]

 

 

One of the reasons Thailand and other countries have problems like this is because most people look the other way, but their thinking changes when they are the one being attacked and nobody comes to their aid.

 

Besides, what small percentage of people end up getting [color:"red"] 'shot, stabbed or beat to death'? [/color]

 

 

 

This is how I feel. Everybody feels and reacts differently and I for one see no problem with that.

 

 

Fly does make some sound arguments like always. I have no problems with his comments.

 

 

 

But for me, I don't go into 'bad' areas, etc. so those worries do not really apply to me.

 

Like I have already said, I hope I live a long life so I can tell my stories to others when I am in my old age. For example, one comes to my mind is when I was back in the States in NYC and I fell asleep in the subway and woke up about 1:30 AM on the train in the middle of Harlem. That would generally scare the living crap out of most people.

 

 

 

 

l

[Guest]

Hi Fly,

 

Thanks for the time to respond.

 

Just one more question. Granted Thai against Thai. But do you think they might think twice about harming a tourist, because the investigation might be more thorough, as there might be more weight to bear, with greater pressures to solve the crime? Or do you see most, as assaults occurring out of passionate moments, and that does not factor in much.

 

And how many tourists are really assaulted from 'giving assistance'? I would think a much greater problem outside of BKK. Over the years, I've never heard of one concrete incidence of a farang suffering, due to providing assistance, or giving aid...not that that means much.

 

But is why I'd like to hear of some actual true stories. That would be something I could actually sink my teeth into. I've heard a lot about not getting involved there, but have yet to ever hear of one true story that backs any of it up.

 

HT

[..]

HIGH THAIED said:But do you think they might think twice about harming a tourist, because the investigation might be more thorough, as there might be more weight to bear, with greater pressures to solve the crime?

IMHO, not anymore. I am seeing and feeling things from 20-somethings that I have never experienced in Thailand. Just being a farang no longer keeps you immune from violence and rude behaviour anymore. Sad really.

 

Attitudes from the gummint and some of the Thais have made me really think about changing base for my company. One of these days, if things do not improve, I'll just do it...especially since I just learned that a company that I own a part of in Kuala Lumpur has just qualified for privleged BOI status and now has 40 1-year visas for foreign employees that we have no idea with what we are going to do!

 

I love Thailand and the people, but things are changing fast here and becoming less than friendly.

 

Cheers,

SD

[Guest]

one things sure, that people so far have been far more reluctant to attack farang, are far more lenient towards us than they would be to their fellow countrymen.

nevertheless, when you start interfering, than there will be a point when that does not count anymore. stories you want? i have a few stories of my own...

 

but one other thing is, that the life of westerners here, be they tourists or westerners actually living here, is rarely coming close to the life of the average thai. there are only a few avenues where the lifes get mixed up. mostly the western oriented bars, or a with a certain small globalised middle class in thailand. very few other contacts.

it's weird, and i still don't understand why that is so. i have not experienced that extreme segregation in places such as india or china.