Phuket and planned farang lynchings

[dirtydog]

Wounded Aussies Aim to Hit Back at Phuket's 'Uncontrolled Patong Violence'

PHUKET: Three tourists who were badly wounded in a brawl at a Phuket nightclub aim to push for action to be taken against their attackers on Phuket, and to demand that the Australian Government issues a warning about random violence on the holiday island.

One of the men spoke out for the first time yesterday after returning to Australia.

Steve Balzary, who was celebrating his 50th birthday when the attack took place at Patong's Rock City early last Monday, said he believed the assault by between 10 and 15 locals was a planned ''farang lynching'' - the term coined by Phuket expats for a premeditated thrill assault on expat tourists (farang).

The attack on Mr Balzary, his son Michael and a famous friend came just weeks after Phuket Police Commander, Major General Chonsit Wadhnawarangkun ordered all Phuket venue owners to prevent violence and to take responsibility for the actions of their staff.

Major General Chonsit's order followed a vicious attack with a homemade axe on a Phuket resort owner-manager. Eight men - all staff at a pub that was open after hours in Phuket City - have been arrested and are likely to face attempted murder charges over the attack on Vorasit ''Wan'' Issara.

But so far, only one man has been arrested - and allowed bail for a relatively minor charge - in relation to the attack on the three Australians.

''We think between 10 and 15 men carried out a planned attack on us,'' Mr Balzary said yesterday by telephone from Canberra, the Australian capital, where he lives.

''They hit us with bar stools and at least one knife was used,'' Mr Balzary said. ''Four or five men gathered around each of us, then jumped us. Our wounds are consistent with us being attacked from behind.

''Having been hit over the head from behind, I thought I was as good as dead. Given the severity of our wounds, four or five of those men should be facing attempted murder charges.''

Mr Balzary, a business owner and consultant, is a regular traveller to Asia and has enjoyed Phuket holidays in the past.

''My family and I never realised until the attack how dangerous Phuket could be,'' he said. ''We thought it was a safe, peaceful place. I reckon Patong is on a par now with Manila, where you venture out carefully because of the risk of unprovoked random attacks.''

Mr Balzary said he believed the man from the Rock City nightclub who was charged concocted a tale that the Australians spat at a female staff member and danced on the speakers to cover up the real crime - a premeditated attack on the three men, from behind.

One of Mr Balzary's sons was also bashed from behind while a third Australian, a friend who achieved nationwide fame as a footballer, now needs plastic surgery to his face. Mr Balzary believes his friend was struck in the face with a broken glass.

Another of Mr Balzary's sons had been taking photographs during the birthday night out, but was in the toilet when the attack took place. Mr Balzary believes his attackers waited until his son was no longer taking photographs before carrying out their attack.

''It was a pleasant night out until then,'' Mr Balzary said. ''We weren't binge drinking, nothing like that, just having a good time. We started dancing to the band when we first arrived there, and some other expats started dancing as well.''

About 1.45am, Mr Balzary saw four or five men surrounding his son. He walked over to ask what was going on - and was jumped himself by as many as four or five men, he says.

''I just got whacked over the head with something hard and metal,'' he said. ''I got up and was whacked again.''

Mr Balzary had about 20 stitches at Patong Hospital in a head wound, and about 20 more in an arm wound that he believes was probably caused by a knife.

A tuk-tuk driver eventually agreed to transport the injured Australians to hospital, for a 1000 baht fare.

''The people at the hospital were fantastic,'' Mr Balzary said. ''And when the owner of the place where we were staying heard what had happened, she was furious about what it means for Patong's reputation.

''Like many other people in the tourism industry, she knows how important it is for Patong to not gain a reputation for needless violence.''

Police officers went to the hospital and asked the Australians to visit Kathu Police Station the following day at 10am. ''We eventually got to talk to an officer about two hours later,'' Mr Balzary said.

He has already spoken to a lawyer on Phuket and intends to write to the Phuket Police Commander and Australia's Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd.

''We have had such a good time on Phuket in the past, as a family group, that I was thinking about buying a villa up behind Patong,'' Mr Balzary said.

''We had no idea that there was this kind of random violence. The potential is, of course, for someone to get killed. We think these people have done this kind of thing before.

''It's certainly noticeable to me that the people in Patong have become more aggressive and assertive since my last visit 18 months ago. This trip, we went out of our way to find non-aligned tuk-tuk drivers because the others are not very pleasant.

''People are becoming so scared that visitors are being advised to only go to bars run by Australians. We didn't want to go to bars like that, we wanted to enjoy the local experience.

''To me, a bar or nightclub where this kind of thing happens should be automatically shut down for a week or more. (Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha closed the Phuket City bar for 90 days after the axe attack.)

''There should be a register for security staff at night venues. And training is needed so that security staff know how to intervene to keep the peace if necessary, not carry out severe retribution.

''In our case, there was nothing we did that was cause for violence of any kind. Three of us were badly wounded. One man was arrested, then bailed. That doesn't seem right.''

He warned all tourists visiting Patong to stay away from ''any place with four walls.''

''In the open-air bars you can see and be seen,'' he said. ''Once you go behind closed doors in Patong, anything can happen.''

Wounded Aussies Aim to Hit Back at Phuket's 'Uncontrolled Patong Violence' - Phuket Wan

[Davis Knowlton]

Never heard of a random, unprovoked attack on a foreigner in Manila (para 11 above) in the 15 years I have lived here. That part of his report is quite simply bullshit.

[pickel]

We didn't want to go to bars like that, we wanted to enjoy the local experience.

Oh the irony.

[Dan]

a planned ''farang lynching'' - the term coined by Phuket expats for a premeditated thrill assault on expat tourists (farang)

Surely that should read "a term coined by a me and a mate over a beery lunch".

[goostewart]

Gotta be honest, I reckon he is telling half a story. In my (limited) experience, you don't get jumped by 15 Thai guys for being white. Yeah, the odd Thai might have a pop just because he wants to have a go at whitey, but a 15 man planned assault without any provocation? I ain't buying it. Still, even if the Aussies did start something, it ain't not excuse to jump on them in a large pack.

[helge]

unprovoked attack on a foreigner in Manila

I was attacked there in 87

By an Austrian !

[yortyiam]

A 1000 bht to take them to a hospital?? Christ almighty! I'd want the venue owners to stump up for any costs incurred over this. Unlikely I know.
Are the Ozzies completely blame free here?

[harrybarracuda]

''It was a pleasant night out until then,'' Mr Balzary said. ''We weren't binge drinking, nothing like that, just having a good time. We started dancing to the band when we first arrived there, and some other expats started dancing as well.''

Well if they are poofters, they were in the wrong part of town.

[alwarner]

Who is the famous friend?

[Orroz]

But so far, only one man has been arrested - and allowed bail for a relatively minor charge - in relation to the attack on the three Australians.

No surprise there. They don't have the clout that Mr Vorasit 'Wan' Issara has on the Island.

[Mid]

drip ,drip ,drip ...........................

[Bobcock]

Isn't Balzary the surname of Flea?

[Spin]

I'm confused, the guy quoted in this news item comes across as intelligent and articulate but apparently he is Australian.

[david44]

Nightclub Almost 2am Trouble Shock Horror I sin til Eight After eight missionary position,prayers cocoa and of course a line of TD

[Looper]

I reckon Patong is on a par now with Manila

[BobR]

Gotta be honest, I reckon he is telling half a story. In my (limited) experience, you don't get jumped by 15 Thai guys for being white. Yeah, the odd Thai might have a pop just because he wants to have a go at whitey, but a 15 man planned assault without any provocation? I ain't buying it. Still, even if the Aussies did start something, it ain't not excuse to jump on them in a large pack.

Absolutely, the bars and the people who work in them are there to make money, Random beatings of tourists is bad for business. Granted the Australians probably did get more of an ass-kicking than they deserved, but the pile on behavior of Thai males is no surprise to anyone who has been here more than a week and read any news source.

[astasinim]

Steve Balzary is one of Australia’s leading authorities on skills development and labour market policy.
http://www.businessgroupaustralia.com.au

[Sailing into trouble]

You are out on the P at 4am in the morning slumming it a bit and you manage to get a gang of almost 20 Thai men to attack you, with an axe and knife from behind. Yip Just minding their own business before world war three started.

[Seekingasylum]

It's always the same with these threads. A small group of foreigners get attacked by a large gang of locals wielding weapons and end up hospitalized but a significant coterie of posters imply that it must have been their own fault for no other reason than they were there at the scene in the early hours of the morning, as if disporting oneself on holiday in a holiday destination is somehow a provocative act worthy of violent and thuggish censure.

The point is, irrespective of the circumstances, the Thai chickenhead bar staff always over react and seize every opportunity to practise mob violence and to inflict injuries grossly disproportionate to the imagined slight. They do so because in their otherwise mundane, futile and worthless little lives it affords them a little excitement whereby they might emulate the strutting bravura and faux machismo trotted out daily in the fantasy soap operas peddled by Thai TV and their film industry. Add to this the almost certainty they will not be held personally accountable for their thuggish behaviour, because law enforcement is as partisan as it is incompetent, and it is no wonder these incidents are proliferating.

Hopefully, word of mouth and firmer travel advisories will focus attention on the potential reality of Thailand as opposed to the banality peddled by TAT and its egregious vested interests.

[ssidewineder]

Can some of the local expats with knowledge of this nightclub,
Patong Rock City. Describe the place: location in terms of what part of town, atmosphere and what nationalities are the majority of the patrons .
Is it a pick up place where Thai males pick up Thai girls ?
Because if this place is full of Thai males drinking - WTF are they doing
there in the first place ?

note : In no way am I implying it was their fault for being there or anywhere else when this happened. And I completely agree with the post above by thegent.

[FarangRed]

[spudge]

location in terms of what part of town, atmosphere and what nationalities are the majority of the patrons

It's on the beach road in Patong. Very loud and often very busy. They do (or used to do, it's been a few years since I have gone there) all-you-can-drink entrance tickets and so it gets full of very drunk younger crowd types. Lots of Aussies but also Scandinavians, Germans etc

Is it a pick up place where Thai males pick up Thai girls ?

No, those places are more in HKT town not Patong, except for Safari.

[baldrick]

skills development and labour market policy

so he is a careers adviser ?

[watdog]

"lynching". shit.

[harrybarracuda]

Steve Balzary is one of Australia’s leading authorities on skills development and labour market policy.
http://www.businessgroupaustralia.com.au

And likes dancing with his male "friends".