Bangkoktraveler Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 When 4 Thai men with machetes tried robbing me' date=' that didn't get in the paper, probably because it wasn't news. This happened near the skytrain. [/quote'] You think it would have been reported if it had happened to a Good Thai Girl....... Such shit does not get reported if the victim is even a Thai lady. In that same area, several Thai women had been robbed, I found out after the fact. It is not news. If you read the newspaper, such shit never happens in the Kingdom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 For the case in point, you do not know the individual, you are a tourist here, TIT, a anon call or letter would suffice, IMO. I would like to get word to his family, but you have no idea who this person is or even what country he comes from...limited options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickman Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 Here is the entire paragraph from the column which I thing brings a little more context: "Normally when something major happens to a foreigner in Thailand, be it arrested for a crime, a victim of a crime or something equally newsworthy, you would expect it to appear in the local press. It should be local news at the very least, if not international news in that person's homeland if nowhere else. But regular readers know that the major English language dailies do not cover the nasty stuff that happens to Westerners here, the speculation being that such negative news could paint Thailand in a bad light and have a negative effect on tourism. The incident that follows was never reported, or if it was, I missed it. On Thursday November 27 a reader was strolling down Sukhumvit Soi 13 back to his hotel in the middle of the afternoon. Just a dozen or so feet ahead of him was a 40ish Caucasian heading in the same direction. A Thai male appeared, walked up beside this farang, pulled out a pistol and shot him in the head at point blank range before dissolving in the direction of Soi 11, around the dog leg that points towards Cheap Charlie's. The guy who witnessed this was so freaked out he didn't even stop but hurried straight to his hotel room (a wise move), packed, and headed to Phuket and eventually to Kuala Lumpur from where he finally got a flight back to his homeland. He was so freaked out he did it all without sleeping for 60 hours. The victim was almost certainly targeted for some or other reason and was not a random victim. But the question must ONCE AGAIN be asked. Why did this relevant story to all foreigners living in Thailand never make it into the press? Once again it seems that when the victim of a crime in a major tourist centre in Thailand is Caucasian that the press covers it up! What the rest of the world - read potential visitors to Thailand - doesn't know won't hurt them, right? Wrong! This is scary shit and I will continue to cover such incidents. Why bother with the local dailies? I haven't bought one for years. What a DREADFUL waste of 30 baht, or whatever they go for nowadays." The source was a long time reader, a high profile Westerner. I'd say at least 50% of the users on here would recognise his name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 anyway why is this always about the odd farang who didn't do anything when clearly there's plenty of thais around a random afternoon - why didn't they do anything - comfort the paralyzed farang? Sukhumvit Soi 13 is a very quiet Soi once you pass the side entrance to the Ambassador Hotel, I used to have am apartment in Sukhumvit Suites (behind the Ambassador) a few years ago and many times the Soi was deserted in the afternoon and the only "Dogleg" that comes to mind is where Soi 11 joins Soi 13 approx 600 Meters into the Soi. Wheteher the alledged incident actualy occurred is open to debate but the location makes it plausable IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 Hi, Stick, what does such a controversial piece of news, and from (an anonymous) 'high profile Westerner' at that, do to your number of views? Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickman Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 It does absolutely nothing for my number of views because I never mentioned anything in the column about where it came from. Further, I did not even include a link to the column, merely the paragraph itself. The point I wanted to make in that paragraph in my column was that certain issues and events I think most people would consider newsworthy events are seldom covered in the main English langauge dailies. Getting extra hits from forum postings provides negligible traffic. I would not expect to get any as the entire paragraph has been posted here and there is absolutely no need to go through to the column to read any more about this issue. The only reason I mentioned the source here was because one or two people questioned the veracity of the piece. I am happy to tell those members at a Friday meeting who the source was. I believe him 100%. He is not prone to hyperbole. It is funny really. I notice a definite trend over the past year or two that many Westerners question anything they don't personally have direct knowledge of. Sort of like the GoodThaiGirl postings on here. Many of us, you included I believe, have met her, but some can't fathom that she is a female for real. Sort of like a friend of mine, highly successful in his professional life and a complete failure in his personal life who truly believes that Western guys cannot meet Thai women unless they pay... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 Now it sounds like a friend of a friend account. I think the bamboo telegraph would have spread the news of a farang execution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTO Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 Stick - While I still find the story "interesting" to be polite I agree strongly that much goes unreported. In a Isaan rural area there have been a spate of small bomb attacks - we are told "gang" related - who really knows but not reported and a lot of damage so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 Hi, Okay, Stick, fair enough Still have my doubts about the story though, although I too am certain a LOT of stuff doesn't get reported. Still a execution style murder in broad daylight seems like something that would make the papers. As for GTG, no, I never met her and frankly don't care if she is a girl or not. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchapstick Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 IF the story is true, then I am not that surprised the story did not get reported, if the victim was also a criminal. Take a look in the NY TIMES. There are lots of crimes that occur every day that do not get reported. Bangkok is a big city too, with lots of crime that does not merit coverage in the major dailies. If the cops and/or the press decided that the victim was not that much of a victim (say a thief, drug dealer, pedophile, whatever...), then it would not exactly be big news. If, however, it was an innocent tourist who was the victim of a random act of violence, then the press (especially the foreign press) would have been all over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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