A Norwegian tourist last week, drunk and angry, ended up kicking the wrong car on Soi 8. The car was being driven by off-duty police officers who retaliated by beating the tourist, pointing a gun to his head, throwing him in jail and violating his rights.
On the night of Thursday July 23, (2:00 a.m. Friday the 24th) the Pattaya Police received a call that there was a fight in Soi 8, which needed their assistance to stop.
Karl (right) explains the details of the incident
to Pol. Maj. Gen. Phiphatphol Phoonsukhwattana, Commander of the Tourist Police Division.
At the scene, police found a foreigner involved in a fight with 3 Thais. All three were brought to the Pattaya police Station for interrogation.
The tourist was identified as Karl Magne Lauritsen from Bergen, Norway.
Two of the Thais were identified to be off-duty police officers of the Pattaya Police. The third was their friend.
During a short interrogation of all involved, one of the police officers stated that as he was driving along Soi 8, Karl kicked his car. The officer stated that when they got out of the car, Karl became wild and started the fight.
He went on to say that Karl was taken to the police station and thrown into a cell. The next day, at around 14.00 hrs, he was brought out of the cell and went into the interrogation room, where the officers were waiting for him. All the partners came to an agreement, that Karl should pay 3,000 Baht for the damage to the car. He was then sent to the Pattaya immigration office to be processed for deportation.
Since Karl was injured in the fight, he obtained a doctor’s certificate which claimed that Karl needed to rest for a couple of days. Therefore, he was granted bail for a sum of 50,000 Baht.
On Sunday July 26, around 21.00 hrs, Karl visited the office of Pattaya Tourist Police to ask for their assistance in looking after his and his girl friend’s lives. The girl has assisted him during the fight and had stood beside him all the way against the officers that assaulted him. As Karl would be leaving the country soon, both feared for their lives.
When Pol. Lt. Col. Supaseth Chokechai, Chief of the Pattaya Tourist Police, asked him the details of the incident, Karl stated that, "I was walking in Soi 8, looking for my friends. A car drove by and accidentally the side mirror of the car hit my back, so I shouted at the driver of the car to stop. But the driver didn’t care, so I was angry and therefore kicked the car. The car then stopped, a man in black shirt got out of the car and came directly towards me. He began hitting and kicking me on my neck and my head. A big crowed was around us, I remember I became very dizzy, then suddenly another man in a white T-shirt pointed a gun to my head. I heard a lot of screaming and shouting. Then came police officers in uniform on motorcycle and car. They stopped the fight, but during the time they were calming down the Thais, one of them just kicked me hard on my chest in front of the uniformed officers, but they said nothing."
"I was then brought to the police station, where no one would talk to me in English, only Thai. I asked them if I could get a lawyer, but one of the officers just shook his head. I have an asthma problem, and when I took out my medicine spray and showed it to them, saying that I needed to have the medicine, again they just shook their heads."
"Inside the cell, I was very thirsty, and I shouted and pleaded for water, but received no answer. A man inside the cell walked up to me with a list in his hand, telling me that 1 cigarette cost 20 Baht, a bottle of water 200 Baht, etc. I did not have that much money on me, so I only bought 1 cigarette at 20 Baht."
"The next day in the afternoon, I was brought down to a room where police officers were waiting with the Thais who had beaten me up. The officers wrote down the report and asked me to sign to accept the charge that I damaged the car. He told me to pay for the damage, to which I accepted the condition. I was then brought to the Pattaya Immigration office and was on the way to be deported out of the country. Because I was injured I was given permission to stay until the 30th of July, but had to pay 50,000 Baht for bail."
"It’s unbelievable," said Karl. "I was hit by a car, beaten up and a gun was pointed at my head by drunk police officers, then I was thrown into a cell, finally ending my 2 weeks vacation in Thailand by being deported as a criminal," concluded Karl.
Pol. Lt. Col. Supaseth Chokechai, Chief of the Pattaya Tourist Police contacted Pol. Maj. Gen. Phiphatphol Phoonsukhwattana, Commander of the Tourist Police Division and told him the story. He was instructed to bring Karl to Bangkok to make an official complaint about the matter at Tourist Police Headquarters.
The meeting took place on Monday July 27, with Karl, Malika (the girl witness), Pol. Lt. Col. Supaseth Chokechai, a Pattaya Mail reporter and three members of the Norwegian Embassy, led by Mr. Erik Glasrud, the Attaché, all of whom were met personally by Pol. Maj. Gen. Phiphatphol Phoonsukhwattana
Pol. Maj. Gen. Phiphatphol Phoonsukhwattana told the representatives of the Norwegian Embassy that he was very upset with the situation, and that he had already demanded that the Pattaya Police, through the Chonburi Police Commander, conduct a complete investigation. "Those who are wrong will be punished at once," promised the Commander.
Mr. Erik Glasrud, the Norwegian Attaché, told the Commander that he is very pleased with all what the Tourist Police has been doing, and he is very grateful for that. "Within a week the Pattaya Tourist Police has already helped us with 2 cases," said Erik. "I hope that the Tourist Police and all the Police Officers from every division would keep up their good work." Mr. Erik then told Karl that he believed that Karl’s case is already in good hands and asked him to follow the system.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Phiphatphol Phoonsukhwattana told our reporter that, "Thailand is now going through one of the worst periods in her history. Our economy is completely messed up, and only the tourism industry is now able to carry our nation. Incidents such as this against tourists only causes more trouble for the nation, so it’s time that everyone should learn to walk straight and learn how to treat tourists in a better way."
"If a tourist causes trouble, for whatever reason, we have (tourist) police officers everywhere in the kingdom. Matters must always go through them, by law. In cases like Karl’s, it does not matter how the problem took place, or who started the problem. The issue is that we had 2 police officers not on duty involved. The officers should know better, for they have been trained hard and have had to swear to protect the people before they could wear their uniforms. There should be no excuse on the matter! I am going to go all the way on this very subject, so it will be remembered by all the officers that they are not God - they are public servants, and their job is to look after and protect the people. No one should ever take this as a simple case. There is no simple case when it’s about a human being’s rights, especially if we as the host act in a way that threatens our guests from abroad who fly from every part of the world to visit us and to enjoy our hospitality. They certainly do not deserve such treatment," concluded the Commander.
Malika Sae Tang, 27, arrived on the scene after the fight broke out. She witnessed the uniformed officers arrival and saw what happened after. "When the officers arrived, they were not very friendly with the Farang," understated Malika. "I was there when the man in a white T-shirt kicked the Farang in front of the uniformed officers. When they were to take the Farang to the police station, I requested that I would like to go with the Farang, and was not allowed to at first. But then I was allowed. I could not believe my ears when I heard the way they talked to each other. After what they did to the Farang, and still they put more blame on him. That was terrible. I felt ashamed to be a Thai. The next day, I took him to the hospital and assisted him."
"I really wish that those who do the bad Karma, will get it back. At the station there is a sign written in Thai with very nice words that state ‘WE police officers are here to assist you, etc.’ I asked one of the officers there to look at the sign and look at himself, but the man became very mad at me and told me to shut up," concluded Malika.
"I am very impressed with the Tourist Police," Karl told our reporter. "But again, I still could not believe that the police officers at the station could behave the way they did to me. I am really shocked, sad, and very disappointed to be involved in such an incident. I was badly assaulted, a gun pointed to my head, thrown into the monkey house, and then had to pay so much money for the unimportant things," continued Karl.
"It’s worse than the wild west. My right arm is broken and my left arm is infected, tears are running down my eyes all the time, but no one cared. It was just like the worst nightmare I ever had. But then, I am very grateful to the Tourist Police for all the help I got. The matter was actually ended," concluded Karl.
Back in Pattaya, Karl positively identified the persons involved. When he pointed out the second man, he exclaimed, "this was the guy who pointed a gun at my head!"
The two officers are under suspension from their duties until investigations are completed.
Ghana national Awal Abu Muhamed was caught while
attempting to mail heroin via EMS.
Police (left) confiscated a small gas bomb and a
large stiletto during a search for drugs.