Why Me? Why Me?
A young Briton was today in hospital in Thailand with multiple stab wounds after defending his girlfriend from a sex attack in an idyllic beach resort area.
 |
| Jack with April |
Jack Cole, 21, from Bath, told today how a group of Thai youths on motorcycles lay in wait for him and his girlfriend student April Clifton, 21, and then attacked as they walked to a boat pier in Ao Nang, in southern Thailand.
“It was a calculated attack. They drove past us several times checking us out. We thought they had gone but they came out of the shadows and started throwing stones at us.
” I was hit in the back with a piece of concrete and then I saw them going for April,” said Jack at the Bangkok-Phuket hospital today.
“They laughed as they grabbed April as a mob. There were seven of them. Four men and three girls. They looked like they were going to rape her. I rushed for them and I knocked one guy down who had grabbed April and then they crowded around me and I thought they were punching me.
 |
| From paradise to hell and back – The pool at the Centara Grande where Jack and April were staying |
“But it seems every punch was a stab. They were shouting in English ‘Come on. Come on’. I saw that April had managed to run away to the safety of a local Dive Shop and I fell to the ground as the group ran away laughing.
“I managed to stagger up to a foreigner whom I begged for help and people came to staunch the flow of blood.
“There was no reason for the attack. We had never seen these people before.
“They appeared to be driving in a gang looking for foreign victims. They made no attempt to take my wallet.
“They were just interested in April.”
The unnamed Briton, who runs the dive shop, has posted on a forum in Thailand:
He said: “ In Ao Nang.I fear that another tourist death is imminent. Gangs of teenage kids,armed with knifes and machete’s roam the roads like something out of a hollywood horror movie. WTF is wrong with this place!”
David had come to his bar for help and he called rescue services:
“He just kept saying why me …why me..what did i ever do to them….This was his visit to the Land of Smiles.”
He added: “ I accompanied them to the Krabi hospital where I witnessed the same old story. You pay or no treatment.
“The resort where they were staying kindly brought his and hers passports, money and the lifesaving Insurance”.
Today three of the seven suspects were being held by Krabi Provincial Police. Another four are being sought from the Nong Talay area of Krabi are being sought.
Jack, who has been treated for stab wounds to his face, arms, chest and legs works for the Office Angels company in Bath as a recruitment officer.
April from Midsomer, Norton, had finished her studies and planned to seek work after returning from their dream holiday.
Both had been staying at the luxury Centara Grand Beach Resort Hotel and were walking to the Nopprarat Thara pier to catch a speedboat to their resort in neighbouring Plai Plong Bay.
April’s father has flown out to be with his daughter, who Jack says is scared to go out alone.
The British Embassy has confirmed it is providing full Consular assistance through their office in Phuket.
Ao Nang has been the scene of several attacks on tourists this year. Three months ago a 19-year-old Dutch model was raped there. Police arrested her alleged attacker, but he was given bail immediately.
The girls ‘Dutch father subsequently posted a music video entitled ‘Evil Man of Krabi’ attacking the Thai justice system.
PICTURES- PHUKETWAN
* Pack attacks – attacks on foreigners in Thailand by a group or gang, most often happen in red light areas and often the victims are drunk and may have been involved in an altercation beforehand either involving a girl or a bar bill. Apart from handbag snatches unmotivated attacks in beach areas like this are so far relatively unknown.
Used by:
We can't expect a population of 60 million to all be well behaved, but the matter of the hospital refusing to treat those injuries until they got paid, wow. That should be the stuff of embassy warnings.
I agree David, 60 million well behaved inhabitants is a near on impossibility lol.
Regarding hospital care, it is totally inconceivable that the hippocratic oath doesnt prevail first and foremost but in A & E situations in Thailand the "payment procedure" has always been a given. Great importance is placed on this. Copies of passports taken and credit cards/cash asked for. Always good to have a companion to call your travel insurance company for instructions. It's a business, plain and simple, US is not indifferent!
I always carry the front copy of my travel insurance together with my passport just in case….
Must have been a glorious fight, hail to you defender.