A warning to anybody planning a trip to Haad Rin on Ko Pha-gnan. Our daughter and her boyfriend were the victims of a brutal assault and the individual is still at large so may attack again.
We want anybody travelling to Ko Phagnan and Haad Rin in particular to be aware of a potential danger. Our Daughter Claire and her boyfriend Graham were the victims of a brutal, motiveless attack a few days ago in Ko Pha-gnan. Despite both of them being kicked and beaten unconscious and both requiring hospital treatment, the local police have shown little interest in the incident, so their assailant is still at large.
The assault occured in the early hours of the morning on 13th April. Claire and Graham were returning from a new year and half moon party on the beach at Haad Rin. They were attacked shortly after passing the 'Drop In Bar'. As they were both beaten unconscious neither can remember much. All they remember directly is that one minute they were walking home and the next they were covered in blood and being driven to the hospital on the back of motorbikes. Graham's whole body is badly bruised and the wounds to his face suggest he had been hit in the face with some sort of weapon. Claire received two bad wounds to her head - the wound on her forhead goes right through to the bone again suggesting that the assailant used a weapon of some sort. There were witnesses to the attack. Graham and Claire were told that the assailant was armed with a hammer and although Graham believes this may have been used to strike his body, mercifully it was probably not used on their heads - although given the severity of their wounds the attacker clearly used a weapon of some sort to knock them unconscious.
Neither were robbed; the attack was just an unprovoked, brutal motiveless assault on two innocent people enjoying their holiday. Witnesses told Claire and Graham that the attacker was a known troublemaker, a European man who has connections with the System Balaget bar. According to witnesses he was drinking heavily in the bar during the day and becoming increasingly aggressive. On previous occasions he has apparently become drunk and started threatening people with a machete. Clearly he is a dangerous individual who needs help and from whom the public need protection.
Claire and Graham went to the local police and made a statement. The police seemed pretty uninterested. They took statements, one in English and one in Thai. They were asked to sign the Thai statement, even though the police officer refused to translate it for them. In view of the indifference of the police, since returning they have followed up with the UK embassy in Bangkok. The embassy contacted the local police, who told them that their statement in Thai reads that they 'were on the beach enjoying Thai New Year and had an accident'. This is clearly not true - they were brutally beaten. Are the local police just trying to cover up the attack? If so, why would that be?
If anyone is planning a trip to Haad Rin please be wary as this individual is still at large. Also, if anybody has any suggestions as to how we can encourage the local police in Haad Rin to take this seriously and investigate this attack properly please let us know.
David and Dee Weekes
Reply to this That is so awful!!!! 😞
Koh Pha Ngan seems to be turning into a rough place. When I was there last year a couple were pulled off their motorbike by a gang of thieves. They had road burn from head to foot on one side of their bodies.
I suspect that the police are trying to avoid having work to do by saying it was an accident.
Mel
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I am sure you are correct about the police. Also they probably do not want any negative tourist publicity about the island as its the main source of income.
The British Embassy in Thailand and the Foreign Office in London are aware of the attack but the diplomatic process that they have to follow is so slow.
We are just concerned that the next time the guy attacks it could be murder.
If you can think of any other ways we can bring it to the publics attention then let us know.
David & Dee
Reply to this Keep us updated. That is a way to bring it to at least some of the publics attention.
But anything police or legal related in Thailand seems to be hellishly slow and distressing for those who are the victims.
I used to visit a British prisoner in a prison in Bangkok. It took 6 years and the help of the Fair Trials Abroad people to finally show that there is no evidence that he did the crime.
Are there any news reports about what is happening with your daughter and her boyfriend? Maybe the news people in the country you live in will take an interest and bring it to the publics attention.
Mel
Reply to this Id also suggest registering on other Thailand oriented forums and publishing your story so that it reaches a larger audience.
Also wishing your daughter and her partner a speedy recovery. Hope they can leave this behind them as fast as possible.
Reply to this Just read about the Danny Hall disappearance on the island could there be any connection.
Reply to this Hello Gillian 😊
I moved this to a forum especially for discussing travel related news items.
Mel
Reply to this Hi,
I lived on Koh Phangan for a number of years and would offer you the following advice.
1) Get aquainted with Asian and particularly Thai customs before you dig any deeper into this. The difference between western and Thai culture is so vast that you really should do nothing at all until you understand what you are dealing with.
2) Koh Phangan has a collection of some of the strangest people you are likely to meet on the planet - and that's just the foreigners !
3) Work on the assumption that there is a loaded gun kept under the counter of every 'idilic' beach bar.
4) Don't even think about the police force as being a government body designed to fight crime - that's about as naive as you could get. Think money. Think status. Think power.
5) Take a deep breath, put it down as a bad experience, and move on. You will not make a scrap of difference to the culture on the island.
Rgds
Reply to this Take a deep breath, put it down as a bad experience, and move on.
I dont think we should just move on as if nothing happened. I think David and Dee are right to bring it to the attention of the public.
We do have a right to know about what can happen in certain places.
But Mrrbkh does have a point. This is not the first comment I have heard about how useless the police on Koh Pha Ngan are.
Reply to this Exphangan - thats how these people get aways with it - so your advise of 'Take a deep breath, put it down as a bad experience, and move on' is just what these people want isnt it?
So we just do nothing, let him get away with it - and maybe be responsible for the next person he hits too hard and kills? No thanks. Claire is my daughter and I know what we went through after she was attacked by this person and I wouldnt wish that or much worse on anyone elses family.
Its up to us if we get the information to make either the Thai police or the British or Swedish embassy (the attacker is of Swedish origin) do something.
Reply to this GJW - I can't imagine what you have been through, and undertsand your desire not to want anyone else to go through the same or worse. I wish you every success in alerting whoever you think can help you achieve what you are after.
I would still repeat what I said above.
Once the Thai police have filed a report such as the one concerning your daughter, there is not a chance that they will change their story - its called "face" in Thailand or "saving face" in English. If your push it too far with the wrong people you will do more harm than good. After my experiences on the island, in your situation and with the type of people involved, I would move on. Unless you know how to play in the 'big league', which I don't.
Hope it all goes well and that your daughter and her boyfriend have a speedy recovery.
Rgds
Reply to this Exphangan, I dont think David and Dee are in any danger when they bring this to the public attention. They dont live in Thailand. And I think referring to crooked cops as the 'big league' is way too flattering.
After my experiences on the island.....
I am curious about this comment. Did something similiar to what happened to David and Dees daugher happen to you on Koh Pha Ngan?
Reply to this Exphangan
Thanks for your comments. We guess Koh Phangan is a pretty corrupt place and we understand about saving face - we have travelled quite a bit in Asia and know some of these problems. However, that doesnt mean we should drop this - far from it. Claire and Graham were savagely attacked and we see no reason why we should just allow the attacker(s) to get away with it. As Mel says, we have nothing to lose in pushing this as hard as we can. (And she is right - the attacker(s) are hardly 'the big league' - just a couple of drugged up thugs who probably also have some serious mental health problems). There is some progress - we know the identity of the alleged attacker(s) and our local MP has taken the attack up with the Foreign Office (UK Government). In the end it may not go anywhere but we have to try - partly because we want to see the attacker(s) answer for their actions and secondly because it is important to try and stop something similair happening again. We have Thai friends who tell us how important tourism is to the country. If Thailand wants to keep attracting tourists it needs to ensure that the country is safe. We have never felt threatened in Thailand but then we havnt been to Koh Pagnan. It sounds from what you say, and from what we have heard as a result of this attack, that the place is pretty !@$# up. We feel that people need to know this - maybe if less people travel to the Island the authorities may feel more inclined to clean the place up. So we intend to keep pushing this - maybe some good will come out of it - who knows?
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