News Forum - Patong police officer reportedly refused to help Canadian tourist violently mugged

[Thaiger]

A Patong police officer reportedly refused to help a Canadian tourist who was violently mugged. The victim, 28 year old William Lamarche Saint Louis, said five men violently mugged him near Patong Beach on Friday. Saint Louis told Patong Police he had been drinking at a bar before going for a walk at night. He …

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[Pinetree]

This apart, I have no idea why anyone who knows anything about Phuket, ever goes near the place.  Its a expensive, scam ridden, crime and corruption ridden, horror of a place.  The locals there have managed to ruin what was a stunning tropical tourist paradise, 25 years ago, when I first visited the place, with their greed, lack of respect and irresponsibility.  I will never go back there and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone I valued. Maybe this story is just one more negative incident, among thousands of others for the place. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

32 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

This apart, I have no idea why anyone who knows anything about Phuket, ever goes near the place.  Its a expensive, scam ridden, crime and corruption ridden, horror of a place.  The locals there have managed to ruin what was a stunning tropical tourist paradise, 25 years ago, when I first visited the place, with their greed, lack of respect and irresponsibility.  I will never go back there and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone I valued. Maybe this story is just one more negative incident, among thousands of others for the place. 

I think the key thing in Phuket is to have your own car. Eliminates 95% of your problems. 

[Soidog]

I think the point of the article is why a Police Officer failed to assist a person needing help. Why it happened and who was at fault or who’s misunderstanding are irrelevant. Police are supposed to police. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Faz
Removed quoted post which has been removed

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, Pinetree said:

This apart, I have no idea why anyone who knows anything about Phuket, ever goes near the place.  It’s an expensive, scam ridden, crime and corruption ridden, horror of a place.  The locals there have managed to ruin what was a stunning tropical tourist paradise, 25 years ago, when I first visited the place, with their greed, lack of respect and irresponsibility.  I will never go back there and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone I valued. Maybe this story is just one more negative incident, among thousands of others for the place. 

Tend to agree mate. I’ve been going to Phuket for around 25 years and even Patong was a great night out and lots of fun. Today it’s totally over priced, full of risk and lost its feel good. If you want a wild night out then there are many other places in Thailand. 
 

Im not sure what happened with this guy, though anyone who wears a baseball cap like that deserves a slap

[TheDirtyDurian]

2 minutes ago, Soidog said:

I think the point of the article is why a Police Officer failed to assist a person needing help. Why it happened and who was at fault or who’s misunderstanding are irrelevant. Police are supposed to police. 

And the police do help police. Thai police are great at helping themselves...

[Soidog]

3 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

And the police do help police. Thai police are great at helping themselves...

I had a similar experience a few years back. A friend of mine had his phone stolen while sat in a bar. A young girl walked by the bar and picked it up and ran off. He gave chase and with the help of two Aussies, they stopped her. In the panic the phone got damaged after she attempted to throw it away. We all went off to the cop shop which was literally 100 metres away and the policeman we saw couldn’t have been more helpful. The girl was a known local thief and it was made clear that she had no money to pay for the phone. As we were walking out of the police station (3 hours later!), the officer who “helped” asked if my friend could give him 1,000 baht for his “help”.  It was requested in full sight and hearing of other police and members of the public. Not an ounce of embarrassment or shame. Much to my frustration, my friend gave him 500 baht and we walked out. Night ruined, phone ruined and 500 lighter in his pocket

[Grumpish]

14 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Tend to agree mate. I’ve been going to Phuket for around 25 years and even Patong was a great night out and lots of fun. Today it’s totally over priced, full of risk and lost its feel good. If you want a wild night out then there are many other places in Thailand. 
 

Im not sure what happened with this guy, though anyone who wears a baseball cap like that deserves a slap

With you on the baseball cap. And with Phuket being a victim of its own success - I can remember it 25+ years back when even Patong was mostly just Beach Road and the Beach Road side of Rat U Thit Road, from there into the hill was mostly empty space. 

 

[Pinetree]

1 hour ago, Soidog said:

As we were walking out of the police station (3 hours later!), the officer who “helped” asked if my friend could give him 1,000 baht for his “help”.  It was requested in full sight and hearing of other police and members of the public. Not an ounce of embarrassment or shame. Much to my frustration, my friend gave him 500 baht and we walked out. Night ruined, phone ruined and 500 lighter in his pocket

My niece was in a road accident, when a drunk teenager totaled her motorbike and injured her when she was parked up by the side of the road.  The Police would only investigate when she (me) payed them 5,000 Baht. It was explained to me that is how it works here.  In our case, the niece got back nearly 60,000 Baht from the drunk, so in that case it worked.  It appears that it is just how things operate here.  

[Soidog]

2 hours ago, Pinetree said:

My niece was in a road accident, when a drunk teenager totaled her motorbike and injured her when she was parked up by the side of the road.  The Police would only investigate when she (me) payed them 5,000 Baht. It was explained to me that is how it works here.  In our case, the niece got back nearly 60,000 Baht from the drunk, so in that case it worked.  It appears that it is just how things operate here.  

Yes that’s right. Land of smiles strikes again. Funny how we don’t see such things advertised in tourist brochures or even on Embassy travel advice websites.
 

Please note. Should you require the services of the local Thai Police, you will need to pay between 500 Baht and 50,000 Baht depending on the level of service.  

Nice! 

[ace035]

Well, Mr. Saint Louis deserved what he got for being a "Cheap Charlie"

[Samlee]

On 2/22/2023 at 12:19 PM, ace035 said:

Well, Mr. Saint Louis deserved what he got for being a "Cheap Charlie"

I hope that when you read your comment again you will regret that you wrote what is incredibly insensitive and uncompassionate, and the Mother-of-All-Foolish Comments. I don't think you would make such a comment if your wife or child had been mugged, so why make it about a fellow human being?