Truth it seems will be put to a rigorous test in a Koh Samui court next month when three international school leavers take to the stand and testify over an incident in the Green Mango pub on the Thai island of Koh Samui.
In one corner will be the alleged victim, former New International School of Thailand (NIST) , Australian Jack Hansen-Bartel and his battling mother Annie Hansen.
And in the other corner will be Raymond Tony Chang, the son of a wealthy international Chinese American executive Raymond Nobu Chang, once tipped by Fortune magazine as one of the twenty-five Next Generation Global Leaders under 40, together with his pal Ryan Yunshang Wang, both former pupils of the Shanghai American School.
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| Chang and Wang |
Raymond Chang junior and Ryan Wang , both 19, are charged by police with acting with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
They have also been charged by the mother and son with causing grievous bodily harm.
So far Jack who was allegedly knocked down and now need two years of corrective surgery to his mouth appears to be the only injured party.
But wait. It’s now being reported from Koh Samui that two officers will fly from Koh Samui to Bangkok this week and charge Jack with what is described as a misdemeanor.
Is something going on here?
It’s rare to see Thai policeman getting off his backside and going anywhere for a misdemeanor.
Who is paying for the air tickets?
It appears that #RaymondNobuChang wants to counter charge as his son is of course the apple of his eye and good in church. Besides they claim they were defending the honour of a Japanese American student from a school in Tokyo.
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| Jack |
Chang is of course not a shy man as this video of him striking out at a Channel 7 cameraman last week shows. All sorts of witnesses are coming out of the woodwork to point their fingers at dastardly jack. Let the games commence.
So who is going to pass the Thai court truth test – A young Aussie from, Mentone, Melbourne, who has applied to go to Monash University – of two Chinese American’s, one destined for Cornell and the other destined for Purdue University.
Or jetsetting Thai police investigating a misdemeanor?
#RaymondNobuChang, #RaymondTonyChang, #RyanWang, #ShanghaiAmericanSchool, #Jack Hansen-Bartel
The old counter charge followed by the 'we'll drop ours if you drop yours' scenario. Thai rozzers flying to Bangkok to lay minor charges? More whiffy than an Isarn som-tum with pla ra.
'striking out'…really ? Is there some vision missing or something ?
No he is behaving like a hooligan and trying to snap the mike off Sam
The concept of " res ipsa loquitur " is well established in law and translates to " the thing speaks for itself ", meaning that the Aussie was undeniably the victim given his injuries and that those injuries were not self inflicted nor were they caused by anything other than a violent and sustained physical assault. The only issue to be considered is to establish who the perps were. Everything else likely to be adduced in evidence would be mitigation i.e. was the attack provoked. Given the extent of those injuries it is unlikely any court of law would arrive at a decision other than the obvious. But, we are in Thailand and therefore anything can happen.
If I were the victim or his advisor I would counsel quiet negotiation with the father for a handsome settlement in return for dropping the charges. Looking for a Western legal solution is futile here and a complete waste of time; there is no way the assailants are going to do time for this if that is what the victim's family is expecting. It may be they wish to have a guilty verdict but what's the point if it is Pyrrhic victory resulting in the victim suffering insult in addition to his injury.
I agree with Gerry. I'd be negotiating for a financial settlement if possible. Expecting justice after this cashed up father has arrived is going to lead to disappointment.
There's probably been a couple of down payments made on Ford Ranger's already. I've been in court a few times against Chinese. They'll lie, bribe and doing anything to get a perceived win.
Getting a fair settlement will be the hard part. These types are meaner than cat shit when it comes to parting with money for something like this.
One would think this father should use this to set a good example for his son. Apologize on behalf of and with his son to the victim and his family, in person. Cut them a check for medical bills and whatever is fair for the hardship those two boys have caused and move on. Instead, he lawyers up, tries to gain leverage and will try to get the best deal he can. This is not a business deal, it's three young men's lives in the balance.
Yes, apologizing and making payment can be used as evidence of guilt in the criminal cases but I think if the parties worked it out, the cases would be dismissed. After all, this is Thailand and I don't think they have much interest in convicting and possibly imprisoning a few teenage tourists over a barfight on Samui.
Yes that would be the public school (as in private school) sort of thing to do. But the concept of 'owning up' and behaviour of gentlemen may not be in the curriculum of the Shanghai American School. Its certainly business on Koh Samui, always has been, always will be.
As a Shanghai American School alumnus of the same graduating class as Ryan Wang and Raymond Tony Chang, I would like to apologize for the actions of my peers. Please know that their actions are in no way representations of the average Shanghai American School student or the average Chinese-American youth; we really are better than this (although it might be hard to believe now). I don't know how or why the altercation happened, but I do know that the right thing for Raymond and Ryan to do right now is to owe up to their actions, apologize, and compensate. The moronic behaviors and bad choices of two boys and one of their fathers does not reflect us, and I hope I have salvaged Shanghai American School's reputation, even if by a marginal amount. So once again, sorry for the mindless and brutal actions of the two individuals I shamefully call my peers.