Stories tagged with crime
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Phuket’s crime rate on the rise
A disturbing new trend is sweeping the normally relaxed resort island of Phuket: crime. What is normally the exclusive realm of Pattaya, violent crimes and theft against foreigners has risen sharply in recent months but the police seemed impassive towards the problem.
The crime wave can theoretically be traced back to a year ago, when Norwegian resident Simen Knudsen was murdered by thieves. His killer was never apprehended, and the wave of violent incidents against foreigners riding motorbikes in the Rawai district of Phuket continues unabated.
Attackers are getting bolder, committing more acts of crime in broad daylight and in public places. The latest incident involved a 38 year-old Dutch woman Sandra Ullrich, who had her skull fractured when two Thai men on a motorbike attempted to snatch her shoulder bag at one in the afternoon while she was driving her bike.
Ms Ullrich has been living in Phuket for four years, and the attack happened at a relatively busy intersection in the heart of Rawai. Her husband told the Phuket Gazette that the Chalong Police showed little enthusiasm about the case, prompting Mr Ullrich to state he was ready to take matters into his own hands if the police didn’t put some effort into catching the attackers.
Several similar attacks have happened in the past six weeks, and two incidents happened just two days prior to Ullrich’s. The area around Rawai and Kata Beach has a reputation for motorbike snatch and grabs, but police are seriously dropping the ball according to many long-time foreign residents.
Posted by: Andrew on 08 Oct 2008, 10:16 -
Pattaya is nexus of bizarre crime
Anyone who has been to Pattaya can attest to the freeform spirit and relative debauchery of the place. It lures some of the stranger elements in the kingdom, both domestic and foreign, and rarely fails to offer up equal doses of tragedy and comedy.
In recent news, a 52 year-old Frenchman slashed his wrist and committed suicide over his Thai girlfriend’s insistence on keeping her job at a local beer bar. The woman, aged 34, came home from work and found her boyfriend lying on the bed in a pool of blood. She told police that they had argued frequently about her work at the beer bar, citing “disappointment” as the likely cause of his suicide.
On the following night, a 32 year-old Thai transvestite was arrested for a series of grab-and-run thefts along Pattaya’s famous walking street. He was finally caught when he tried to steal the purse of a Thai woman at Lucifer Discotheque as she finished paying her tab. The ladyboy grabbed the bag and ran, but was apprehended by other customers before he/she could even get out of the bar.
Ladyboys continue to be a problem in Pattaya, as the next night a Turkish man had his pockets picked while being hugged by two ladyboys who tried to solicit him for sex. Although he refused, one of them made off with his wallet containing 70,000 baht without him noticing.
Posted by: Andrew on 22 Sep 2008, 12:28 -
Motorbike theft gangs in Chiang Mai
In a disturbing new trend in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, gangs of youths are stealing unprecedented numbers of motorbikes and cars from locals and visitors alike. One such gang of bike thieves was recently caught by local police, shedding light on the growing problem that has Chiang Mai residents concerned.
The gang of seven teens between the ages of 16 and 20, along with their 19 year-old leader, were arrested and confessed to stealing more than 50 motorbikes in recent weeks. The leader also told police that at least four other gangs were stealing motorbikes and cars in Chiang Mai and the surrounding province.
According to Deputy Commander of Chiang Mai Provincial Police, Pol Col Panudej Boonrueang, “motorcycle thieves work for a syndicate. They steal motorcycles and others are hired to ride them to border areas. Other gang members contact buyers in neighbouring countries to pick up the goods. A major motorcycle theft syndicate will send stolen motorcycles to neighbouring countries at a cost of less than 10,000 baht each.”
The gangs typical work at night, targeting apartment blocks where clusters of dozens of motorbike are parked. The thieves put the motorbikes in a pick-up truck and simply drive away. It doesn’t matter if the bikes are locked or not. Police believe that more than 400 bikes have been stolen over the past three months. That adds to around four bikes per day.
Posted by: Andrew on 07 Sep 2008, 21:27 -
Drugged and robbed in Pattaya
It may sound like something out of a Hollywood movie, but a British foreign resident was drugged and robbed by a Thai woman of dubious character in Pattaya. When the man regained consciousness he could barely remember a thing except that his cash and lady-friend were gone.
At around noon, a Thai woman and foreign gentleman rented a room at the Bird Inn Motel on Soi Bongkot. This is not particularly suspicious in itself; but when the woman, who was smartly dressed midday in a black dress, left the motel in a rush staff suspected something might have been amiss.
At 17:00 the hotel staff called the police to report a problem with one of their guests. A police squad, accompanied by Sawang Moriboon rescue, went immediately to the motel, where they discovered a foreigner, who was later identified as a British man of 55, lying on his bed in an incoherent state of mind. The Brit appeared to be drugged so he was transported to the Pattaya Memorial hospital for a check.
So far, investigators only know that the woman exited the hotel in a hurry and hired a motorbike taxi, who drove her to Gran Hall market. Police went to the market but surprisingly failed to find her. The investigation is still evolving, as the victim needs to regain better clarity before he can provide the police with useful information.
Posted by: Andrew on 06 Sep 2008, 21:01 -
Thai man gets life for murdering tourist
The trial of a Thai man charged with murdering a Swedish tourist in Phuket ended with a verdict of guilty and a sentence of life in prison. The crime occurred in March on a remote beach on the island of Phuket, but the suspect eventually surrendered to police after initially fleeing the country.
Akaradet Tankay, the killer of 27 year-old Hannah Charlotte Bankluns, was convicted by the Phuket provincial court for murdering the Swedish woman on Mai Khao beach, a remote spot on the northern coast of Phuket. After taking a swim in the sea on March 15, Bankluns emerged from the water and was approached from behind by Akaradet, who attempted to rape her.
Akaradet used a knife to threaten the Swedish woman, who resisted. The 31 year-old Thai man then stabbed her more than 20 times before leaving her to die on the beach. Akaradet then immediately fled to Burma. After being persuaded by his parents to return to Thailand and face the charges, Akaradet surrendered to the Rayong police on March 19. Although he initially admitted to the murder, he later retracted his confession. Based on the evidence, however, the court still found him guilty.
Posted by: Andrew on 02 Sep 2008, 14:58 -
Mysterious disappearance of UK tourist
In a baffling mystery, even by Thai standards, UK traveller Danny Hall mysteriously disappeared from the island of Koh Pha Ngan more than six months ago without a trace. The 36 year-old man was last seen on February 25, shortly following one of the resort island’s infamous full moon parties.
Hall’s disappearance has left family, friends and investigators alike clueless as to his whereabouts or what may have happened to him. His backpack and guitar were found in his bungalow on the isolated beach of Hat Yao, but his passport and moneybelt were missing. Friends who saw Hall prior to the disappearance felt nothing out of the ordinary, leaving family to wonder if foul play was involved or Hall simply wanted to vanish.
One of Koh Pha Ngan’s police chiefs was transferred as a result of the sharp increase in crime and safety concerns on the popular tourist island. A number of attacks have been reported, but most of them go uninvestigated. While the government claims to be concerned about tourist safety, crime is definitely on the rise.
When Mr. Hall’s family came to Koh Pha Ngan to check things out for themselves, they discovered the local police hadn’t searched the area and had virtually no information about Danny’s case. Danny Hall’s bank account shows no sign of activity, and immigration says he never left the country using his passport. Most locals of the island agree, however, that dead bodies tend to surface at some point.
Posted by: Andrew on 31 Aug 2008, 14:43 -
ATM heist squandered on entertainment
In a classic example of bungling thievery, an ATM controller for Krung Thai Bank stole more than 2 million baht from his workplace, then blew 1.2 million of it on women and booze. The bank employee spent 15 days on the run, partying it up in Pattaya until police finally caught him.
Kanin Puengsiri stole an ATM box and its contents of 2 million baht in cash from a Krung Thai ATM machine in the central Thai city of Pisanuloke. Karin’s abrupt disappearance from his job, along with the ATM box, made him an obvious suspect. According to police reports, Kanin had a spare key to the ATM machine in Pisanuloke’s Patumthong Shopping Centre that contained 2,258,000 baht.
After working at Krung Thai Bank for 3 years, Kanin decided on August 15 to use a key he had access to and steal the money from the ATM. After hiding out in Pisanuloke for a few days he fled to Pattaya with several of his friends where they spent approximately 1,243,000 baht entertaining themselves at Pattaya’s Hi-Lo pub.
Mr Kanin’s choice of venue was aptly named, for he was arrested at his hotel in Pattaya with the ATM box and remaining cash, and now faces a lengthy jail term. Kanin stated to police that his only motive for stealing the cash was to have a good time with his friends.
Posted by: Andrew on 30 Aug 2008, 14:34 -
Chiang Mai suffering increased crime
In a sad new trend for Chiang Mai, Thailand’s ‘Rose of the North’, street crime is on the rise. Recent crimes include a rash of muggings, something rarely heard of in this normally placid and laid-back travel destination.
Chiang Mai is undeniably a large city with most of the expected problems such as pollution and traffic congestion. But thanks to the kind nature of northern Thai residents, crime has rarely been considered one of the city’s main problems. But as economic woes continue to hit locals where it hurts, it appears that petty crime is about to rare its ugly head.
Three recent muggings are the latest in a string of crime that has put the city on alert. Two muggings occurred on the popular Sunday Walking Street, and the other in busy Wararot Market. The incidents at the Walking Street are the most shocking, as this special weekly pedestrian market is thronged with locals and tourists but has always been a peaceful environment.
A Malaysian tourist was attacked right in the market and had her bag stolen. Later the same day, a Canadian visitor had his pockets picked on the crowded street, a rare crime in Thailand. Police have arrested two men in relation to the muggings of the tourists. But locals are also becoming victims, as a Chiang Mai resident had her bag snatched in the popular Warorat Market. Thankfully, local police caught this thief as well.
Posted by: Andrew on 23 Aug 2008, 11:27 -
Thai Fishermen Murdered by Burmese near Koh Samui
In an apparent robbery attempt, four Thai crew members of a fishing boat were killed and dumped into the sea by the other 11 Burmese crew members. But the scheme went awry, causing the Burmese to fall into their own trap.
The story came to light after Koh Samui marine police inspector Pol Lt-Col Jira Yafong and his staff were radioed by the Sombat Paiboon fishing boat. The Thai boat had pulled two of the Burmese crew from the waters off of Koh Samui and brought them back to shore. The pair first told police that their boat, the Silakaew 3, had been capsized in a powerful storm. They claimed they held onto foam containers until being rescued.
Police found their story suspicious, least of all because there had been no storm. After five hours of questioning the two Burmese confessed to murdering and dumping the four Thai fishermen into the sea with the aim of selling the boat for cash. However, the boat ran out of fuel halfway to shore. The Burmese sank the boat to cover up the crime, but nine of the crew were drowned by strong currents.
Posted by: Andrew on 04 Aug 2008, 14:59 -
Canadian appears in Thai court
Thai2 http://www.ctv.ca
A native of British Columbia, Canada appeared in a Thai court yesterday to face charges of pedophilia, Canadian news agency CTV reports. If convicted, the alleged pedophile could face up to 35 years in prison. 33-year old Christopher Neil appeared in shackles in front of a Bangkok judge on Monday, but the court case was adjourned until October.
Neil had taught English for many years in Asia and was arrested last October as the international law enforcement agency Interpol descrambled an online photo of what is alleged to show Neil in lewd acts with a nine year old Thai boy. Neil heard the charges leveled against him for the first time in the courtroom, which included taking a child without parental consent and subsequently holding the child against his will. There are also videos of what investigators purport are illegal cast involving Neil and other children.
The boy’s father, who will seek $10,000 in damages says, "I want him jailed. The money is not a big deal."
Neil will have to wait until the fall for his day in court, and his family says they are having trouble raising funds for a private lawyer to defend him.
Posted by: DaveB on 03 Jun 2008, 19:46 -
Canadian appears in Thai court
A native of British Columbia, Canada appeared in a Thai court yesterday to face charges of pedophilia, Canadian news agency CTV reports. If convicted, the alleged pedophile could face up to 35 years in prison. 33-year old Christopher Neil appeared in shackles in front of a Bangkok judge on Monday, but the court case was adjourned until October.
Neil had taught English for many years in Asia and was arrested last October as the international law enforcement agency Interpol descrambled an online photo of what is alleged to show Neil in lewd acts with a nine year old Thai boy. Neil heard the charges leveled against him for the first time in the courtroom, which included taking a child without parental consent and subsequently holding the child against his will. There are also videos of what investigators purport are illegal cast involving Neil and other children.
The boy’s father, who will seek $10,000 in damages says, "I want him jailed. The money is not a big deal."
Neil will have to wait until the fall for his day in court, and his family says they are having trouble raising funds for a private lawyer to defend him.
Posted by: DaveB on 01 Jun 2008, 19:46 -
Pattaya man has car destroyed
It seems driving a souped-up car in Pattaya can be hazardous to its health. Or so a local man found out recently, after his car was shot multiple ties and scratched severely when he refused the offer of a teenage gang to have a race.
The man refused to meet their challenge of a car race and entered a pub to meet his friends, only to find after his exit the car had been seriously damaged by the offended gang. Local police received a call early in the morning of May 24th that a car had been shot up and scratched in a car park outside the Noir Pub. Colonel Prateep Thongdee arrived at the scene where the car’s owner, 37-year old Tas Insee was waiting beside the vehicle. Police report 11 gunshot holes in the car, and slugs from a nine-millimeter pistol were found nearby.
There were no witnesses at the scene, and the police plan to conduct a thorough investigation in order to find those responsible for the vandalism.
Posted by: DaveB on 26 May 2008, 19:58 -
Counterfeit DVD bust in Bangkok
Any visitor to Southeast Asia will notice fairly quickly that the bootleg CD and DVD market is big business. Outside department stores, one would be hard-pressed to find a legitimate disc. The Thai capital of Bangkok is one of the more notorious havens for the production of the illegal discs, though there is rarely any danger of displaying the wares on the streets.
Nonetheless, once in a while examples must be made, and Thai police went big when they seized 100,000 counterfeit DVDs from a shopping mall in the Bangkok neighbourhood of Ma Bon Khrong this past Wednesday.
The owner of the shop, Manee Maitree was arrested and so were the seven people that worked for her. Police seized, besides the 100,000 discs, a printer for making movie covers, bank accounts and customer lists.
Maitree confessed to police that she had been engaged in the business for over a year, and sold the pirated movies to both retail customers and as wholesale to other shops in the city.
Posted by: DaveB on 25 May 2008, 19:44 -
Brit shot in Chalong
A British man who owns a local business on the island of Phuket was robbed at gunpoint and shot as he was driving home along Patak Road in Chalong this weekend. 50-year old Richard Hendren, who owns the September beer bar located on Karon’s Soi One man closed his bar as usual, and stayed on to finish watching the UEFA Champion’s League final live from Moscow.
He drove home with the 13-year old daughter of one of the bar staff so the girl could return the bike to the bar, but as they rounded a corner, two men on another Honda motorbike kicked the wheels out form under Hendren. After the British man and the young girl had crashed, one of the helmeted assailants approached them and demanded their valuables. Hendren replied he didn’t have anything on him, and was shot in the leg causing a compound bone fracture.
Hendren’s waist belt was taken and the girl was relieved of 200 baht and her mobile phone. The police have no suspects in the case, but a full investigation is underway.
Posted by: DaveB on 24 May 2008, 20:26 -
Police catch impersonating extortionist
Phu1
In the second reported case of its kind in only a month’s time, Chalong Police on the island of Phuket have arrested a Thai man for impersonating an officer of the law. This most recent case saw a man approach workers at a construction site and claim he’d been sent by the local police to deal with the fact that illegal Burmese workers were being employed on the site.
A man identifying himself only by the name of Chai showed up at the construction site of a project in Chalong on Soi Palai, saying he’d been sent by the regional police to collect 8000 baht in exchange for not reporting the Burmese workers. The foreman of the site, Santi Nasang later called Arthid Sue-sattabongkot, a captain with the Phuket Provincial Branch Police. The police provided the foreman with 5000 baht in order to set up a sting for the would-be extortionist, and arrested the man after the exchange was made.
The man was identified as Tanakorn Kueakoon, a 28-year old who had been responsible for some extortion cases in the past.
Posted by: DaveB on 26 Apr 2008, 19:40 -
Home-made bomb found in Chiang Mai
Local Chiang Mai resident, 46-year old Nathee Ananpanyasuth averted a potential disaster when he found a homemade bomb on a street near his shop Friday morning. Nathee had parked his car when he spotted a suspicious package outside Saenfang Temple. He placed it in a rubbish bin before proceeding to his business, the Ronrungsap clothing shop in Warorot Market and called the police. The bomb squad arrived and confirmed the box did indeed contain a homemade explosive device fabricated from a coffee can.
A robot examined the device previous to police taking it to the open area at Thapae Gate and performing a controlled explosion. Police said the explosion radius was about 30 metres. To perform the explosion in such a central and busy area meant roads had to be closed for two hours, causing heavy traffic jams all around the roads surrounding the old city as well as the main arteries leading east towards the Ping River.
Police have said a full investigation into the incident is underway, and as of yet no person or group has claimed responsibility.
Posted by: DaveB on 25 Apr 2008, 19:33 -
New drug war causes human rights concerns
It is well known that the northern Thai provinces were once notorious for opium production, and these days many farmers still use drugs as cash crops. Every year or so, the government of the Thai north’s biggest province, Chiang Mai, announces and implements a series of drug raids, seizing great amounts of drug crops, these days mostly marijuana.
A new war on drugs has been declared this year by Minister of the Interior Chalerm Yubamrung, and his policies are harsh. Some NGOs in the area have pressed authorities to abide by international human rights standards on their upcoming campaign, citing how the last raids under disposed PM Thaksin Shinawtra were criticized not only in Thailand but abroad for their inhumane blitzes of cruelty and intolerance.
A quote by the minister shows just how he plans to carry out his scheme, as he reports, “If drug dealers do not wish to die, they should change their ways. Whilst I am Interior Minister, drug suppression strategies will follow those used during former PM Thaksin Shinawatra’s time in office. If this leads to the deaths of 3,000-4,000 criminals, then so be it. As to those of you in the opposition party, I will say that you care more about human rights than the drug problems in Thailand?.
Posted by: DaveB on 19 Apr 2008, 18:58 -
Restaurant owner stabbed in Patong
A beachfront restaurateur was stabbed to death on the weekend, allegedly by a drunk teen who had been a customer in the Patong diner. Kathu Police Station Captain Jongserm Preecha said to the local newspaper, the Phuket Gazette, that an early morning call brought him to Patong hospital where the man had been brought. The victim was identified as 46-year old Sab Isarn restaurant owner Narongchai Puttipat.
Jongserm reported to the newspaper that, “He was stabbed in his own restaurant at 2 am by a drunk man. We only know the assailant’s nickname, “Kea?, and that he is 19 years old and from Pak Phanang in Nakhon Sri Thammarat. Narongchai warned Kea about being drunk, which made Kea very angry. He then stabbed K. Narongchai in his right ribs with his pocket knife and ran away with four friends who were sitting with him in the restaurant.?
Jongserm did not disclose the exact nature of the man’s injury, but it is known that the patient was transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital for surger.
Posted by: DaveB on 18 Apr 2008, 18:53 -
Thai Man charged with lesse majesse
Visitors to the Kingdom of Thailand will soon observe that the country’s King is as revered as a human could be by most of his subjects. King Bhumibol’s countenance peers down from just about every wall in Thai homes and local shops, and before movies are shown in Thai cinemas, a video is shown paying homage to the benevolent monarch.
It is customary to stand while the King’s own personal show-reel is being played, but one Thai man who refused to do so recently is set to pay dearly for his insult. The charge of offending the dignity of the monarch has been levied against 27-year old Chotisak Onsoong. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail, but Chotisak still maintains that “It’s the right of any individual to choose what to do,? even after being charged.
A similar event occurred last year in Chiang Mai, when a Swiss man was arrested for defacing an image of the King, and held for almost four moths awaiting trial. He was released shortly after, the King showing his mercy and sending him back home to Switzerland.
Posted by: DaveB on 18 Apr 2008, 18:28 -
Australian woman raped after room invasion
A 20-year old Australian tourist that was raped in her guesthouse room has achieved some sense of justice, as the rapist has been caught by local Police on the Thai island of Ko Samui. The crime took place late in March when Tuckley Bobbird awoke in the early hours of the morning to find a man inside her room wielding a knife. He threatened to cut her while he raped here, then stole her wallet, passport and mobile phone.
After the incident, her two friends who were staying in the room next door accompanied Bobbird to the hospital, where tests confirmed she had been sexually assaulted. Police suspected that the assailant must be someone local who knew how to get in and out of the property without causing any disturbance. After finding the victim’s empty wallet not far from the guesthouse, her mobile phone was traced and the rapist was eventually apprehended.
26-year old Somchai Daunglai has been implied in other cases in the area of theft form tourists and is now in police custody.
Posted by: DaveB on 16 Apr 2008, 18:49