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Shimokitazawa
Joined: 14 Dec 2007
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:30 pm Post subject: Canadians Shot by Thai Police Officer |
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Canadian Killed by Thai Cop
Doesn't this same story sound vaguley familiar to the one about the young Brit couple?
I call bullsheit on this - there's no way these Canucks attacked a police officer.
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A young Canadian woman told yesterday how a Thai policeman shot dead her best friend in Pai in the North, then shot another bullet into his heart as he lay on the ground.
Carly Reisig, 24, said the policeman had no grounds at all for the attack - and that after he shot fellow Canadian John Leo del Pinto, the officer turned his gun on her and shot her in the chest.
Speaking from her bed in hospital in Chiang Mai, Reisig, from Chilliwack, British Columbia, rejected a police statement that suggested Sgt-Major Uthai Dechawiwat, 37, had intervened to break up a fight and his gun had discharged in a struggle.
She pointed to her chest where the bullet was lodged close to her own heart.
"There never was a fight. That is not true," she said. "John was my ex-boyfriend, but still my best friend. We had nothing to argue about. We had been drinking in the Be-Bop Bar in Pai and were heading for a last drink at the Bamboo Bar near the bridge.
"We were walking together. My Thai boyfriend Fuen was walking slightly behind.
"A man came up to me on the road near Pee Dang's Restaurant and hit me for no reason.
"My face was painted with face paint, for fun, but I don't know why he hit me. We had never met him before, never seen him before. We were unarmed and walking down the road after a good night out.
"He was dressed in plain clothes, a white T-shirt. Leo shouted at him, 'You can't hit her!' and pushed him away from us. Then the man went to his motorbike and got his gun, and Leo tried to get it away from him.
"They had a struggle for the gun, then the man got control of the gun and stepped back and shot Leo directly in the face.
"Leo fell to the ground and the man pointed the gun at his heart and fired a second shot. Then he turned around to me and aimed for my heart and shot me in the chest. |
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roknroll
Joined: 29 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:36 pm Post subject: |
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| It will be interesting to see the follow-up investigation. Somehow I have more faith in the Thais than the Mexicans. In Mexico, they blame the victim(s) to protect the tourism industry. My guess is that they'll nail him to the proverbial cross to protect their tourism (knock on wood). I'd have to agree that it's highly unlikely that the couple did anything to provoke this attack. |
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hang10
Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Location: Asia, Twice the sex half the foreplay
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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Wow dam sounds like a bummer, i hope that chicks ok?!
Dam i lived in thailand for about 4 years, there were a few times where you have to be careful but generally its safe.
I would like to know more info if anyone has it.
I do remember the Brits getting nailed in the South of Thai that was a shame too.
Shocking stuff......  |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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| One reason we can be thankful Korean cops don't carry service revolvers but gas guns. |
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mrsquirrel
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:49 pm Post subject: |
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There are at least a dozen differet versions of this story.
it's been out since Monday in various press's.
From they did nothing wrong to people claiming to know the chick and saying she is violent.
Nothing will come of it. |
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spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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Well, according to one Pyongshin Sangja (a poster who already started a thread on this topic and has since had it deleted) it was the fault of the Canook tourists that they got shot and the Thai policeman was totally in the right.... 
Pyongshin Sangja sent me a nasty PM when I pointed out that that was probably not the case.....
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SURVIVOR'S CLAIM
Cop 'executed my best friend'
Officer 'hit me, shot Leo twice, then fired at me'
Published on January 8, 2008
A young Canadian woman told yesterday how a Thai policeman shot dead her best friend in Pai in the North, then shot another bullet into his heart as he lay on the ground.
Carly Reisig, 24, said the policeman had no grounds at all for the attack - and that after he shot fellow Canadian John Leo del Pinto, the officer turned his gun on her and shot her in the chest.
Speaking from her bed in hospital in Chiang Mai, Reisig, from Chilliwack, British Columbia, rejected a police statement that suggested Sgt-Major Uthai Dechawiwat, 37, had intervened to break up a fight and his gun had discharged in a struggle.
She pointed to her chest where the bullet was lodged close to her own heart.
"There never was a fight. That is not true," she said. "John was my ex-boyfriend, but still my best friend. We had nothing to argue about. We had been drinking in the Be-Bop Bar in Pai and were heading for a last drink at the Bamboo Bar near the bridge.
"We were walking together. My Thai boyfriend Fuen was walking slightly behind.
"A man came up to me on
the road near Pee Dang's Restaurant and hit me for no reason.
"My face was painted with face paint, for fun, but I don't know why he hit me. We had never met him before, never seen him before. We were unarmed and walking down the road after a good night out.
"He was dressed in plain clothes, a white T-shirt. Leo shouted at him, 'You can't hit her!' and pushed him away from us. Then the man went to his motorbike and got his gun, and Leo tried to get it away from him.
"They had a struggle for the gun, then the man got control of the gun and stepped back and shot Leo directly in the face.
"Leo fell to the ground and the man pointed the gun at his heart and fired a second shot. Then he turned around to me and aimed for my heart and shot me in the chest.
"I blacked out and when I came to I saw Leo lying dead on the road beside me. My lungs filled up with blood and I couldn't breathe.
"I went to Pai Hospital and then to a hospital in Chiang Mai. They had to put a tube into my lungs to drain the blood so that I could breathe again.
"I can't believe that my best friend is dead and I've got a bullet right beside my heart.
"I have never been married, I am not pregnant. Leo was my ex-boyfriend from Canada. He had arrived in Pai a few days before to see me."
Sitting by her bed was her boyfriend Rattaporn Vara-wadee, an artist nicknamed Fuen.
He said: "Nothing we did gave this man the right to take lives. We are angry now and we need help and a good lawyer. We are shocked to hear that the policeman is already out on bail."
Asked again if they had been fighting, she replied: "Not at all, he was my best friend." She had spoken to del Pinto's family and said: "They are not doing well."
Suchart Pantai, the owner of Be-Bop Bar, said he saw the couple and Fuen leave his bar at about 1am. "There was no fighting. But I heard from other sources that they were play-fighting as they walked."
Reisig has been in Thailand for a year, leaving occasionally on visa runs. She has worked in Canada with physically and mentally handicapped people.
John Leo del Pinto, also 24, from Calgary in Alberta in west Canada, was a former music student who earned a living as a promoter and concert organiser.
Uthai Dechawiwat has been charged with murder, manslaughter and attempted murder, but the version of events issued by police in Pai is at total variance with Miss Reisig's story.
Case investigator Pol Lt-Colonel Sombat Panya said the couple had been drinking in a local pub and had become involved in a drunken brawl after del Pinto, who recently arrived in Thailand, found that Reisig was pregnant to a Thai man known as Fuen.
The couple continued arguing after they left the pub when Uthai arrived at the scene, near a bridge, on personal business. Uthai approached them and asked them to be calm but both foreigners turned to attack him.
The officer said Uthai was beaten to the ground by the couple. After managing to get up, Uthai pointed his service pistol to threaten away both foreigners, but del Pinto tried to snatch the pistol from him. After a scuffle, shots were fired and the couple went down.
Last night Graham Arscott, the father of Vanessa Arscott, 23, who was gunned down in Kanchanaburi with her boyfriend Adam Lloyd, 24, by Police Sgt-Major Wisetsingh said: "So sad. I feel so terribly sorry for this young man's family."
In the River Kwai case, Wisetsingh shot the couple dead in a fit of rage after being beaten to the ground by Lloyd, who it is believed thought the policeman was trying to hit on his girlfriend.
Like the Kanchanaburi case, the killing in the idyllic tourist village of Pai has the semblance of another police "loss of face" execution.
Andrew Drummond
Special to The Nation |
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mrsquirrel
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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A poster from Pai on a Thai forum claims to know the lady.
She was known for her violent behaviour when drunk and had supposedly slapped the policeman the night before. |
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spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| ^She sounds pretty much the waste of skin anyway...too bad the cop couldn't have shot straighter... |
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mrsquirrel
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:18 pm Post subject: |
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| mrsquirrel wrote: |
A poster from Pai on a Thai forum claims to know the lady.
She was known for her violent behaviour when drunk and had supposedly slapped the policeman the night before. |
Only one person though saying that, she might have been very nice. |
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Shimokitazawa
Joined: 14 Dec 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 1:20 am Post subject: |
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| mrsquirrel wrote: |
A poster from Pai on a Thai forum claims to know the lady.
She was known for her violent behaviour when drunk and had supposedly slapped the policeman the night before. |
That's just it, isn't it - There could very well be a lot more to this story that we don't know yet. For example, had she had an affair with the Thai cop? (allegations of her being pregnant were reported in the Canadian papers). Did she infact strike the cop the night before? How were they involved with each other? Was the cop jealous that she was with her "ex-boyfriend"?
There was the British couple murdered in Thailand in 2005 by a Thai cop. He was punched or struck by the girl's boyfirend. The cop then killed them.
As mentioned above: Nothing will come of it.
from this angle, I'm pretty disgusted with Thailand. They can pretty much do anything they want to foreigners without paying any consequences at all.
I hear that the Thai cop who murdered the two young British backpackers is still out and runs a bar - can anyone else confirm this? |
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mrsquirrel
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:23 am Post subject: |
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Woman admits fight with another cop as tale of 'gun-blazer' emerges
After the shooting of two young Canadians in Pai, locals are torn on the cause of the drama.
People are unsure whether to believe a 24-year-old Canadian woman, who some claim is a troublemaker, or a 37-year-old Thai police sergeant, with a reputation for drinking - and shooting his gun off.
Controversy is raging in Pai, in Canada, and on the Internet. The only established facts are that 24-year-old tourist John 'Leo' del Pinto is dead, after being shot in the head and chest.
His companion Carly Reisig, also 24, was also shot in the chest, but survived. She may be the only witness against Police Sergeant Uthai Dechawiwat, who has been charged with murder and manslaughter.
On Monday, Reisig, from British Columbia, was adamant police claims the sergeant shot in self-defence were untrue. The policeman had hit her without provocation, she said. Then, after del Pinto threw him to the ground, the officer, in plainclothes, got out his gun and deliberately fired into del Pinto's head, then his chest, before firing at her.
In Canada, del Pinto is regarded as a hero for going to Carly's aid. But yesterday she admitted she had been involved in heated rows in the past in Pai and had herself struck a Thai policeman.
Reisig said that two months before del Pinto arrived in Thailand from Calgary, she had intervened in a scuffle in a bar involving a tourist and a former Thai boyfriend called 'Nui'.
"The Israeli guy hit my Thai boyfriend and I tried to break it up ... the police came and took them outside and they circled around Nui and were pushing him, so ... I went in there and hit one of the cops. I was very drunk that night," she said.
On another occasion she said she was involved in a fight at a regular party at a nearby arts market called Pittalew with her current boyfriend Rattaporn Varawadee, nicknamed "Fuen".
Reisig, however, stuck to her claim Police Sgt Major Uthai was the one who struck the first blow at 2am last Sunday. "Leo and I were always messing around and play-fighting. We might have even been yelling at each other, play-fighting, but it didn't give anyone the right to shoot us. The guy who did this was crazy."
But Thai witnesses now insist it was Reisig, not the officer, who started the fight.
Kanasphuchit Sankam, owner of a karaoke bar, who was eating at the noodle shop, said: "I watched the couple come up, punching each other and yelling... It didn't look like they were pretending, it looked like a real fight ...
"I watched Uthai go over to try and stop the fight. He said 'Stop, I am police' and held out his hand in front of him, with his other hand ready to draw his gun. They pushed him over and he got his gun out.
"The girl started crying loudly and he told her to calm down and go and sit down. The policeman then started walking away from the scene, but the girl got up and hit him.
"Leo then joined her in hitting him and they all fell onto the ground. I couldn't see them anymore because of the parked cars, but I heard three shots go off. If the girl had not provoked him, it wouldn't have happened."
A similar story, in almost uncannily identical words, was told by the noodle shop owner. But the Thai witnesses deny seeing the actual shooting.
Meanwhile, an American known as Rob, said he believed Reisig's version of events "largely because the accused officer has a reputation for gunplay".
Rob told Canadian papers he attended a concert in Pai last year during which Uthai fired into the air several times.
"He was drunk. All the off-duty officers were drinking together. He fired his weapon into the air and everyone had to scatter. He has a reputation in town for pulling out his weapon," he said.
Police investigator Lt-Col Sombat Panya has already given a reason for the couple fighting. He said del Pinto, recently arrived in Thailand, found out Reisig was pregnant to her Thai boyfriend Fuen. Reisig, however, denies being pregnant.
Witnesses also say Uthai was earlier drunk in the BeBop Bar. Witnesses supporting the police version will give their names. Those supporting Reisig won't.
As in the case of British backpackers gunned down by a policeman in Kanchanaburi in 2004, it seems unlikely Reisig will be able to produce witnesses to prove her side of the story. The only uncontested evidence may be forensic, which is in the hands of local police.
But, Sgt Uthai, who claims his gun fired accidentally, may have to explain how three bullets hit vital targets so accurately.
Andrew Drummond,Cindy Tilney
Special to The Nation
Chiang Mai |
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hang10
Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Location: Asia, Twice the sex half the foreplay
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| Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:47 pm Post subject: |
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Yes i must admit when it comes to police in most of the south east asian countries they can vary greatly from the kind and understanding to down out right crimal.
Best advice is to stay well clear of them, i think most people with common sense would agree. Other thing is if they have a gun walk away! guns tend to win most of the time. They dont have any problem shooting locals if they have to, and they use this too their advantage a lot of the time, especially in the more rural areas.
Another variable to consider is that of saving face, its a big, BIG deal, something that tourists and travelers dont seem to get. Most thais will put up with a lot of abuse and not not raise too much trouble. But as soon as you lable them or use violence problems can start and its to the death in a lot of cases.
A cop being hit in say England or the US might try other methods to stop an attacker but in thailand 9 times out of 10 they will go straight for the gun.
In this case its my bet that all of them might have been out of line and high on booze. Even the cop they drink like little devils. Its a recipe for disaster. But in most of these situations the cops are usually on power trips, thats all they have, they dont get paid very much, average cop in thailand only gets 10-15000 baht! not much.
I also believe that the cop will get a slap on the wrist and he might get some gail time, but i reckon once the dust has settled he'll be back on the beat in a year or so. The thai police stick together like glue, they are the biggest mob, they will always win! |
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TECO
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:46 pm Post subject: |
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You gotta love the crime re-enactments the Thai police use when investigating serious crimes.
So, the cop says they attacked him, pushing him over his bike, his pistol fell out of the holster and the 2 Canadians were shot in the process. He says he was coming home from work but Thai witnesses say he was drunk and drinking that evening in local bars in the area. And the Canadian girl apparently had already established a reputation in the small community for being loud and having an aggressive personality.
A recent Report from the Globe and Mail.
| Quote: |
Suspect re-enacts shooting of 2 Canadians
STEVE SANDFORD
From Friday's Globe and Mail
January 11, 2008 at 4:46 AM EST
PAI, THAILAND � In a bizarre crime re-enactment, police officials in northern Thailand gave murder suspect Uthai Dechawiwat a plastic revolver to demonstrate how he was defending himself when he fatally shot Leo John Del Pinto and wounded Carly Reisig last Sunday.
Standing on the dusty road, in front of the Ting Tong reggae bar in the northern town of Pai, Mr. Dechawiwat acted out a struggle with two fellow officers, who were stand-ins for Mr. Del Pinto of Calgary and Ms. Reisig of Chilliwack, B.C., both 24 years old.
It was a clumsy affair and several of the officers laughed nervously while trying to re-enact the crime over a blood-stained section of the road. Mr. Dechawiwat was sweating profusely and appeared confused as officials ordered him to repeat several parts of the re-enactment.
It's customary in Thailand to reconstruct the crime scene of high-profile cases for the media. In this instance, there were just two members of the international press present.
The officer maintains that the shootings were accidental and he was simply responding to a food vendor's request to investigate a domestic disturbance she heard near her restaurant. Ms. Reisig says she was the victim of an unprovoked attack that began when she was punched in the face and ended with Mr. Del Pinto, who tried to defend her, shot dead in the street and her in hospital recovering from a bullet wound in the chest.
Owner Saijai Gawin, who operates the late-night Pea Dang eatery, said Mr. Dechawiwat was picking up a take-home food order at her roadside stand when the commotion occurred nearby.
Mr. Dechawiwat told Ms. Gawin he had just finished a police shift at a border post 40 kilometres away. However, bartender Jarupong Sintop, who was serving cocktails at the outdoor counter at the nearby Bebop bar, says he saw the officer drinking beer at the bar earlier in the evening.
"I saw the policeman come into the bar around 10 o'clock and he appeared drunk. He kept asking me the same questions over and over again so I told him I was busy and ignored him," the 22-year-old explained.
Mr. Sintop finished work just before 1 a.m. and says he saw Mr. Dechawiwat again, this time drinking at the Don't Cry bar where Mr. Sintop had gone for last call.
The bars are within walking distance of the Bebop, where Ms. Reisig and Mr. Del Pinto, a former boyfriend, last drank.
Many aspiring musicians and weekend jammers congregate at the lively roadhouse, including 19-year-old Matt Ward, who arrived in Thailand last October for a holiday.
The Winnipeg native remembers passing Mr. Del Pinto and Ms. Reisig on his way home. "I couldn't believe in such a peaceful quiet, music-loving town like Pai, that something like this could happen."
Many patrons of the Bebop, as well as the nearby bars, described Ms. Reisig as speaking loudly and in an aggressive manner. But as one expat Swedish musician, who didn't give his name, commented, "Carly didn't fit in here in Pai with her hostile attitude, but nobody deserves what happened to her and John."
In contrast, Mr. Del Pinto was praised by most people in the community for his peaceful attitude and respect for the Thais. Guitarist Pu Ekkarat, who befriended Mr. Del Pinto just before the new year during a music session at the Bebop, was shocked by the news of the shooting.
"First of all, they should train the police how to control their temper and use their heart before they make any decisions," the 33-year-old said. "Too often they use violence to stop a problem."
Pai police chief Wanchai Suwansirikhet said he expects the investigation to be completed this month. Regarding criticism of excessive force used by Mr. Dechawiwat, the chief responded that he would have to wait until the forensic report is finished before commenting.
"We have temporarily transferred the suspect to work outside Pai district," the chief said. "We don't want his case to affect tourism in [the] area."
However, after the crime re-enactment, the accused returned to the police headquarters about 30 metres away, where he is purportedly still working.
Special to The Globe and Mail |
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