Am I back in the USA ?

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Gaybutton
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Am I back in the USA ?

Post by Gaybutton »

This sort of thing is typical in the USA, where you can't go shopping in a grocery store or shopping mall without fear of getting shot, where you can't let your children play outside unsupervised for fear they will be kidnapped or otherwise harmed, where you can't have a party at home without fear of it getting shot up, where you can't send your children to school without fear that some nut with an assault rifle will enter and start killing as many children as he can, where you can't go to a movie without fear that a madman will enter and start shooting.

It is not even remotely like that in Thailand - yet, but gun violence incidents do occasionally happen - all too often for the most trivial, utterly moronic reasons, such as the following story exemplifies:
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Two people shot and injured near Walking Street during street brawl in Pattaya

By Tanakorn Panyadee

1 December, 2022

Two men were shot and injured after an argument in Pattaya turned into a violent brawl.

Legal officers and rescuers rushed to stop a street fight that broke out behind Mueang Pattaya Eight School on Pattaya Second Road today, just a few meters from Walking Street, December 1st. At 3:46 AM, the officers arrived to find two men, Mr. Tontrakarn Phasuk, 22, and Mr. Disorn Tokhan, 24, lying on Second Road in front of a hotel and Indian restaurant, bleeding heavily.

Multiple witnesses, including several Indian tourists, were nearby shocked over the incident in a major tourism area.

Tontrakarn suffered a deep cut to his head and one gunshot wound to his right arm, while Disorn suffered a gunshot wound to his thigh. The police found a 30 cm-long knife with a blood stain on the ground and two motorbikes that the suspects left at the scene.

Tontrakarn told police he had an altercation with a second group of men earlier at an unnamed pub over giving him a “wrong look” and had challenged to meet them here to settle the dispute. Tontrakarn and Disorn came alone, but the suspects unexpectedly arrived in a gang of four men, armed with a knife and a pistol.

Without saying any words, according to Tontrakarn, the suspects charged at the two men and reportedly struck Tontrakarn’s head with a knife and shot him and his friend, and then left.

An unidentified eyewitness to the incident told police he recorded the situation with his phone and would give it to the police. The footage was not released to the media at this time pending the police investigation.

The victims were transported to a nearby hospital. Legal officers had already been dispatched to search for the four suspects.

Story and photos: https://thepattayanews.com/2022/12/01/t ... n-pattaya/
Jun

Re: Am I back in the USA ?

Post by Jun »

The location is a little too close for comfort, being on one of the obvious walking routes between Sunee and Boyztown.

However, even among the board members who still go out at night, I expect very few are likely to be here at nearly 4:00 am.
bi-top
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Re: Am I back in the USA ?

Post by bi-top »

Actually, the "story" has changed. The two people that were shot were allegedly shot by a guy on the same team ... aka: friendly fire.
Jun

Re: Am I back in the USA ?

Post by Jun »

bi-top wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:38 pm Actually, the "story" has changed. The two people that were shot were allegedly shot by a guy on the same team ... aka: friendly fire.
Even better for risk reduction.
I'm fairly sure the people I meet in Thailand don't even carry firearms, never mind consider using them on the same side.
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Re: Am I back in the USA ?

Post by Gaybutton »

I'm glad to see this update. Most of the time these stories end with "police are tracking down the suspects. Arrests are expected soon." and it never goes further than that. Sometimes the reports tell us the suspects have been captured, but rarely tell us what ends up happening to them.

Ok, now we have a bit more information than we usually get. According to the article the shooter was only trying to scare his rivals by firing into the ground. He didn't mean to hurt anyone. I don't see anything, though, about what he was doing in illegal possession of a gun in the first place and why would he be moron enough to bring it at all, let alone to a tourist area.

I also wonder if they ever bother to try to track down where people in illegal possession of firearms got them from. If they do, I don't recall ever seeing a single article giving us specifics, but once in a while I do see an article telling us about some genius getting arrested because he was busy selling illegal firearms on the internet - and just where did he get them from?
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UPDATE: Shots fired at two injured victims near Walking Street turn out to be friendly fire shots after suspect surrenders

By Tanakorn Panyadee

1 December, 2022




The alleged shooter near Pattaya Walking Street surrendered to police swiftly after injuring two men this morning. However, the suspect claimed the victims were actually “his friends,” and he felt really sorry for shooting them in what he called an accident.

The blatant shooting took place on Second Road in front of a hotel and Indian restaurant, which shocked many tourists who were strolling nearby at 3:46 AM this morning, December 1st. Later this morning, the suspect, 25-year-old Mr. Wirat Kechit, turned himself in at the Pattaya police station on Soi Nine.

Wirat relinquished his .32 mm pistol to police and reportedly confessed that he was the man who fired a gun near Walking Street. But, while sobbing, Wirat alleged to police that both men who were shot were actually his “close friends” whom he followed to face their rivals.

The suspect claimed he fired his pistol aimlessly at his opponents after seeing one of his friends being struck in the head with a long knife. “I only tried to scare my enemies by firing at the floor, but I did not look properly because they rushed at me,” said Wirat.

The suspect then admitted he ran away and left his friends behind. Out of guilt for his injured friends, he decided to surrender himself to the police.

Pattaya police would press legal action against the suspect and his rivals who were still on the run. It was not stated whether the victims were aware that they had sustained friendly fire shots.

Story and photos: https://thepattayanews.com/2022/12/01/u ... urrenders/
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