Thread: Aussie who died after street attack in Thailand to be buried

Originally Posted by dirtydog

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog The blood money payment was only accepted by the family on the basis that it be part of a $3000 (THB100,000) reward to help Thai police catch the other two attackers.

That makes no sense to me, how would receiving half of the reward help in a murder hunt ??

When I'm in Ban Nok on my super four I carry a automatic weapon in the back of my jeans.

Originally Posted by bobo746

So an aussies life in Thailand is worth $1546 FFS, what's wrong with these people ?

Not quite. You forgot the 20 hours community service. Thats the real belter ! 20 hours work ! That must be a massive deterant to any other youngsters contemplating a life of crime.

Crappy outcome for the Parents of this very unlucky young man. R.I.P. Andrew. Atleast his Kid and her Mother have been granted to live in Oz. The shitty thing about light ( if ) any sentancing only seems to send the signal that foreign lives or not worth jack . Any Thai that goads falangs with "mai pen rai" or other inflammable bollix , ( I got a dose of this once regarding a Brit girl who got murdered) needs to shot imho. Good luck in your quest for justice Mr McDonald.

I resided for a while 15 kms out of Surin and at that time only had a motorcycle.
Riding home through the rice fields at night I realized was not a smart thing to do as a farang for a multitude of reasons can become a target.
Envy,jealousy,robbery,rape,violent thugs out to hurt anyone or under the influence of alcohol or yabba can easily occur.
Travelling through areas such as this must be in a vehicle otherwise especially on isolated roads or at night you are only rolling the dice.
In Si Chumphu a German farang was hacked as he left a small bar late at night by one of the thais who took exception to the farang buying one of the workers a drink.
A large vehicle for me in all my travels here in LOS now gives me a more secure feel.

A father's three-year search for justice
21 Apr 2013

The father of an Australian man who died after a vicious machete assault wants to know why police have so far failed to track down his son's attackers

"I'm not looking for revenge, I'm just looking for justice," said Rory McDonald.



Three years ago his son, Andrew Oake, was set upon by two machete-wielding young men in Thailand's Northeast. Their reported motivation for the attack: merely that he was a foreigner in public with a Thai woman, his fiancee.

Oake died later from the injuries sustained in the attack. His fiancee, Som, was five months pregnant at the time.

Somyod Sangchan and Pitak Thonglong were identified as the main attackers first by police and then by the man who confessed to driving them around on his motorcycle on the night of the crime.

Mr McDonald has made 14 trips to Thailand over the past three years, all but one at his own expense, consulting embassy officials, attending court hearings, petitioning law enforcement for action and even engaging private investigators in a quest across three countries to track down his son's alleged attackers.

It's a search for justice that has been exacerbated by extradition problems and confusion over the whereabouts of the two suspects. Despite arrest warrants issued for murder, one of them, Mr Somyod, applied for a passport and fled to Macau. But last year he returned to Bangkok, passed through immigration and disappeared off the police radar, even though he had an outstanding murder warrant against him.

AT HOME IN THAILAND

Oake first visited Thailand on a family holiday when he was 15. It would be the first of many trips to the Kingdom.


THOSE LEFT BEHIND: Som and Angelina, who are living in Adeleide with Oake’s family.

The tough-looking ''gentle giant'' felt like he was constantly judged in Australia and suffered from bouts of depression. When he was in Thailand he felt as if that weight had lifted.

At home in Seaford Rise near Adelaide, South Australia, Oake worked as a taxi driver and a scaffolder. He and his two siblings had been given their mother's surname at birth, partly because their mother was the older parent and partly to spare them from ''Old McDonald'' taunts on the playground.

Oake was an imposing size and had tattoos - one that read ''Mum & Dad'' above his heart and another saying ''Crew 81'' to indicate his association with a Pattaya-based biker group. But his appearance belied his gentle demeanour, Mr McDonald said.

He described his son as someone willing to help out when a friend was down or in trouble and remembered how Oake would visit his grandmother at her nursing home when others couldn't be bothered.

Yet Mr McDonald said his son felt that he didn't quite fit in in his native Australia.

In Thailand, Oake felt free from judgement and was able to be himself, he said. He was very interested in the principles of Buddhism to the extent that he considered himself a practising member of the faith.

Occasional visits to the Kingdom became longer and more frequent, until Mr McDonald bought his son a small condominium in Jomtien.

Oake met Som through mutual friends, and was happy when she became pregnant. They later got engaged.

ANY WESTERNER WILL DO

On March 14, 2010, the pair visited Som's home village in the northeastern town of Prasat in Surin. They were looking forward to the birth of their first child and had just completed a Buddhist marriage ceremony at the local temple.

As they were leaving an internet cafe about 10pm, two young men sprang off the back of a motorcycle and confronted them.

The two men were wielding homemade machetes and, according to later testimony, were high on methamphetamine and alcohol and on the hunt for any Westerner in the company of a Thai woman.

Oake shouted at Som to run and then faced his attackers.


a trio of pictures showing the lacerations to Oake’s head.

He tried in vain to defend himself, as the two men slashed away at his head and arms. The attackers fled by motorcycle and Oake was rushed to Prasat Hospital. He survived the initial attack, suffering severe lacerations.

On March 15, 2010, Mr McDonald received a phone call from his son in Thailand. He was in a hospital waiting room in Prasat, 12 hours after being attacked.

Due to a staff shortage at the hospital, his son said, he was still waiting to be treated for severe wounds to his head and arms, and sounded in a bad way.

Mr McDonald made arrangements to take the next available flight out of Adelaide, connecting to Bangkok, where Oake would be transferred for emergency treatment.

When he arrived, the medical treatment seemed adequate and his son's wounds serious but not life-threatening.

Much of the initial concern over Oake's wounds centred on the severed tendons in his arm; there was some danger it might need to be amputated.

From Prasat Hospital he moved to Bumrungrad in Bangkok, where he was treated as an inpatient for six days and an outpatient for three.

There was concern there that some of his behaviour was aggressive and that he was seeking out drugs, so he was discouraged from further treatment.

Mr McDonald said this could have been due to the staff not being familiar with his son and his normal behaviour. It was likely that his brain was already infected and swollen, putting him in discomfort that his doctor may have attributed to other causes.

Oake was moved to Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, but despite the extent of his injuries there was a lot of pressure from his travel insurance company to continue his treatment in Australia, where they would no longer be liable for the costs.

Mr McDonald said they levied an ultimatum that Oake either return to Australia immediately or his policy would be discontinued. He was given the all-clear to travel, leaving him with no choice but to go to Australia.

He hired a minivan to take him back to Prasat to pick up his passport and belongings.

But the move proved fatal. Cerebral oedema and infection are thought to have caused several blood clots in Oake's heart and he died of a cardiac arrest on April 11. He was 28.

The post-mortem was conducted at Surin Hospital.

''The insurance company is as much to blame [as the attackers],'' Mr McDonald said. ''Even if he'd made it to the plane, the autopsy showed he would have died immediately.''

'KNOWN TROUBLEMAKERS'

Pol Maj Songsak Kaechalaem of Prasat police station told insurance investigators early on in the police investigation that the attack was unprovoked.

He also said that the two accused, Mr Somyod and Mr Pitak, both 18 at the time, were known troublemakers from Khon Kaen's Ban Pai district who worked at a car spray paint business.

Home-made weapons including a sword were recovered from their family homes and further evidence was found at the crime scene. The suspects would be charged with intent to kill, Pol Maj Songsak told the investigators.

The driver of the motorbike, Suvit Srimoonsri, turned himself in and confessed to driving Mr Somyod and Mr Pitak.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to conceal a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

That was eventually reduced to a three-year suspended sentence and 20 hours of community service.

The judge cited his confession and the fact that his family had paid 50,000 baht to Oake's family in compensation.

The money had been accepted, Mr McDonald said, to serve as part of the reward for the capture of Mr Somyod and Mr Pitak, who had both gone into hiding.

Mr McDonald acknowledged that Mr Suvit was a minor player in his son's death, but said that a three-year suspended sentence was staggeringly lenient for someone charged with murder.


LETHAL WEAPONS: The homemade machetes used in the attack on Andrew Oake.

Despite the arrest warrant out for him, Mr Somyod was issued a passport and fled the country.

He was represented in Surin Court by his parents, who said he was working as a security guard in a Macau casino.

Mr McDonald immediately contacted Macau officials, who confirmed Mr Somyod's presence in the country. They were surprised that a murder suspect had been allowed to leave Thailand; however, they would need an extradition request before they could apprehend him, something Mr McDonald said Thai police were reluctant to grant, citing insufficient funds available to translate the warrant and extradition request.

When Australian consular officials offered to process the paperwork, the Thai police prevaricated and new obstacles were cited.

Mr Somyod eventually got wind of the efforts to extradite him and left Macau on Sept 11 last year, officials told Mr McDonald.

HUNT FOR JUSTICE

A source in the Immigration Department confirmed to Spectrum that Mr Somyod had re-entered Thailand at Suvarnabhumi airport on Sept 12, despite him being flagged with an arrest warrant.

The only way that could have been possible, the source said, was if Mr Somyod had been escorted by a high-ranking official.

But Provincial Police Region 3 chief Pol Lt Gen Cherd Chuwet has denied that Mr Somyod ever re-entered Thailand. He told Spectrum that he had fled to mainland China instead, where his whereabouts remain unknown.

He said that efforts, in collaboration with friends at the Australian embassy, remained ongoing to locate both suspects.

Pol Lt Gen Cherd also contradicted the early accounts of what occurred on the night of the attack as well as the testimony at Mr Suvit's trial.

He said Oake's injuries did not stem from an unprovoked attack but were rather the result of a motorcycle race between the Australian and the three young men.

Mr McDonald said that was the first mention he had heard of a motorcycle race, either from the police during the trial, his son or Som. ''It was a random attack by boys high on ya ba and unhappy that Westerners were taking their ladies,'' he said. Neither had he heard that the suspect had fled to China.

Police had told him, however, that both suspects' arrest warrants would be re-issued on a lesser charge.

''For sure the family is doing everything they can to protect and hide [Mr Somyod],'' Mr McDonald said.

''I don't blame them for that. Maybe I would do the same if it were my son. But I blame the police for not making every effort to arrest the boys and bring them to trial. My job as a father is to make sure that justice is served.''

RAY OF HAPPINESS

Despite what Mr McDonald considers a series of avoidable mistakes - medical, judicial, in police procedure - in his son's death and the subsequent investigation, there is one overwhelming positive - his granddaughter Angelina.

Prior to his death, Oake had informed the embassy of his intention to marry Som. This was crucial following his passing as it eventually enabled Som to raise his daughter, born after his death, with the little girl's grandparents in Adelaide, South Australia.

Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen approved Som's permanent residency status. As the only witness to the crime, she had felt in grave danger if she remained in Prasat, and so the family was able to bring her into their home and help raise Angelina, who turns three in July.

''She is bilingual, ambidextrous, plays violin, and is extremely smart,'' Mr McDonald said of his granddaughter.

He also hailed Som as a kind and giving person and a great mother. They were making every effort to visit the two Thai temples in Adelaide on a weekly basis and become part of the local Thai community, which numbers in the high hundreds.

''I want Angelina to grow up to be a proud Thai, to later feel comfortable to live in Thailand, and to never be bitter at her country about what happened to her father,'' said Mr McDonald.




SCENE OF THE CRIME: Prasat, Surin where the attack occurred.


ON THE RUN: Police images of the two men wanted for the assault, Somyod Sangchan, left, and Pitak Thonglong.

bangkokpost.com

Originally Posted by Mid

RAY OF HAPPINESS


Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen approved Som's permanent residency status. As the only witness to the crime, she had felt in grave danger if she remained in Prasat, and so the family was able to bring her into their home and help raise Angelina, who turns three in July.

Indeed. The only bright spot in a depressing saga. Kudos to the Aussie Minister for overturning the earlier ruling.


..and Mid, you either have a brain like a bleeding computer for these stories, or a far better facility with the boards search engine that I have. Kudos for providing follow up articles separated by years.


..and funy to see Chairman Mao in fine "I missed the point, bu will defend it to the death" flow. Wonder who he is now?

I would have thought the father would be chasing the insurance company for lack of care and threatening to cancel his policy if he didn't travel back to Australia.

^ Rules is rules mate, and you know what Australians are like when it comes to rules.

Anyway, one of them escapes to Macau? Hardly a loso street thug then and must have some cash on the hip. Not suggesting any collusion here, but those folks in Aus should be very concerned if the lovely Som invites her "brother" or "cousin" to stay with them..just sayin' like.

Originally Posted by nidhogg

a far better facility with the boards search engine

simply find something unique in the story that is longer than 3 letters and use that as your search term .

in this case , Andrew Oake

Originally Posted by superman

I couldn't find anything on the Isaan forum on TV either.

TV immediately locks or deletes threads where members report murders of foreigners, like the one stabbed to death last week in Soi 8 in Pattaya. There was another case somewhere in Isaan last week as well, also locked at TV. The rationale: it didn't happen when it's not in the news.

Originally Posted by Rainfall

Originally Posted by superman

I couldn't find anything on the Isaan forum on TV either.

TV immediately locks or deletes threads where members report murders of foreigners, like the one stabbed to death last week in Soi 8 in Pattaya. There was another case somewhere in Isaan last week as well, also locked at TV. The rationale: it didn't happen when it's not in the news.

Its not just about TV. There is nothing anywhere except hearsay on this Soi 8 stabbing.
I have no doubts something like this could happen - but did it.
Where are cell phone photos ? If you have any proof would like to see it.

Me too. It's all over the forums I'm not a member of, can't tell if there is proof.

One of the saddest Thai death stories I've read. Truly appalling on so many fronts. That the savage scum responsible for his injuries are still at liberty despite knowledge of their identities is perhaps the clearest indictment on Thai injustice and their ghastly preoccupation with the status of the victim.

The bottom line is, unless money is to be lost Thai don't give a rat's ass about farang or indeed anyone not connected with some mafia or other.

Ghastly people, ghastly society.

This story may not have made headline news because he wasnt killed by his attackers . He died as a result of an infection .

Were your parents twins?

Originally Posted by thegent

Were your parents twins?

That would be one more parent than you have though

Australian man Andrew Oake's third attacker arrested after machete ambush in Thailand

t was a six-year battle for justice that turned a grieving father into a determined amateur detective and united two families.

Australian man Andrew Oake, was killed in 2010 in a drug-fuelled and racially motivated attack by three Thai men.

On Tuesday, Thai police announced they had arrested the third and final suspect, saying he had confessed to being involved.

"We needed to bring finalisation to this, especially for my granddaughter Angelina, because she continually asks, 'What's going to happen? When are they going to catch the man who killed my daddy," said Andrew Oake's father Rory McDonald.

Mr McDonald has played a major role in bringing about that finalisation, travelling to Cambodia, Macau, New Zealand and making multiple trips to Thailand to track down the men who attacked his 28-year-old son.

"I've spent, personally myself ,well over $100,000 in trying to bring the three suspects to justice and now this has finally come to fruition," Mr McDonald told the ABC, at a police station in Nakhon Ratchasima province, a three-hour drive from Bangkok.

Acting on a tip-off, he travelled to Macau and led police to arrest the second suspect, who was extradited but missed by an Interpol alert and hid in his Thai village.

"He was told by the people in his village that he needed to give himself up because he was bringing shame on his community as well as Thailand so he decided to give himself up," Mr McDonald said.

Thai police were tight-lipped about how they found the last suspect — working at a construction site on October 13 — or why it took so long.

He faces attempted murder and weapons charges.
Last words and new beginnings

Andrew Oake initially survived the machete attack, although he had deep gashes to his head and severed tendons in his arm.

His insurance company told him to leave hospital in Thailand and return to Australia for treatment.

Mr Oake went back for his passport but did not make the journey, dying from a related infection.

His mother Jane Oake remembers their last words.

"Just before Andrew passed away he actually telephoned us and said he would see me in the morning because I was going to pick him up from the airport," Ms Oake said.

"He said that he loved me and I said I loved him.

Ms Oake took Andrew's ashes into the room where his wife gave birth a few months later to Angelina.

The two families have become close, with Nareerut Sawaengdee — known by her nickname Som — moving in with the Oake-McDonald family.

"Having Som and Angelina living with me is a blessing ... Andrew couldn't have picked a better wife and my granddaughter is so beautiful," Ms Oake said.

"I love them so much," she said, tears flowing.

Senator Nick Xenophon has supported the South Australian family and travelled to Thailand to be with them for the announcement.

"This is testament not just to the Royal Thai Police and Interpol but also the parents ...who never gave up seeking justice for their son's death," Senator Xenophon said.

"It's a pretty bittersweet day, because nothing will bring Andrew back, but they've been blessed with a beautiful daughter-in-law Som and just a wonderful granddaughter Angelina."

Andrew's wife Som is trying to rebuild her life in Australia with her daughter.

"It's not really like moving on but still [I] have to be a good example for her," Ms Nareerut said.

"So I'm not going to sit down and cry all the time [or else] Angelina is going to see mummy's sad all the time, so I have to be strong for Angelina," she said.

Ms Nareerut will testify in Thailand this month before returning to South Australia

http://www.xxx.xxx.xx/news/2016-11-1...ailand/8028706

they should name the insurance company

Originally Posted by Beadle

Thailand proving deadly once again. Andrew RIP.

Shhh! don't say that... negative about Thailand!

RIP...

Originally Posted by davearn

As has been asked, what was the insurance company as they are 100% liable for this young man's death and should be sued for more than the company and it's directors are worth.

They will hide behind the small print.

Fortunately they won't be able to hide behind the PR nightmare that I suspect is about to strike them.

Originally Posted by Rainfall

TV immediately locks or deletes threads where members report murders of foreigners, like the one stabbed to death last week in Soi 8 in Pattaya. There was another case somewhere in Isaan last week as well, also locked at TV. The rationale: it didn't happen when it's not in the news.

Originally Posted by nidhogg

and funy to see Chairman Mao in fine "I missed the point, bu will defend it to the death" flow. Wonder who he is now?

Well, at least in those days he would enter into dialogue, albeit fallacious. Credit where credit is due. Doesn't dare do it now....too insecure. Just ankle-biting nips, barbs, and ad hominem attacks.
Silly little runt.