German Tourist Murdered in Thailand Because He Honked His Horn

A 66 year old German tourist was murdered in Phuket last night. Violence in Thailand is a reality that many of us ignore.

A 66 year old German tourist was murdered in Thailand last night. Apparently he was at an intersection in Phuket when three Thai youths on a motorcycle cut across him. He honked his horn; unfortunately this turned out to be a bad move. The three young men followed his jeep and stabbed him to death. They got away and are currently being sought by the local police.

I would consider Thailand to be a safe destination for tourists; well no more dangerous than anywhere else. I have lived here for eight years and have never had any problem. I haven't even felt threatened except for one time and that was from another westerner. You do hear about bad things happening though, and if you watch Thai TV news there is a constant stream of violence on parade. Almost every week you also hear stories about tourists who fall victim to crime; if you live somewhere like Pattaya you will hear more frequent reports. To be fair though, crime does not affect the vast majority of tourists who spend time here.

It is hard to imagine what was going through the minds of those people responsible for this latest death. Perhaps they believed that a foreigner beeping a horn caused them to lose face. Maybe they have grown to dislike tourists and blame them for everything that is wrong in their lives. More likely, they were strung out on yaa baa (metamphetamine) and had regressed to a more primitive brain. Whatever the excuse there is no way to justify it.

When you are on holiday in a place like Thailand it is easy to let your guard down; many of the locals are so friendly that we can begin to develop a false sense of security. Thailand is a country based on obligation and hierarchy and we fail to understand that we are not part of this. Most visitors don't understand the culture and can easily cause insult. If this perceived insult is caught by the wrong person it can spell big trouble. When Thai men fight they will often do it as part of a group; anyone outside this group is fair game and they will egg each other on.

The violence you hear about in Thailand is not much different than what you hear about in the rest of the world. The problem is that in your own country you usually know where and who to avoid; more importantly you know what behaviour will antagonize thugs. In Thailand you don't know the rules and this is why it is easier to get into to trouble. This is a problem for many of us in the west who have been brought up to be assertive; this type of behaviour can get you in real trouble here.

What happened to Wolf Kessel Seim is terrible. Hopefully those responsible will be caught before they can hurt anyone else.