Stop Thailand Murdering Tourists

 

CHIANG RAI – The other day I wrote an article about yet another senseless murder of a Tourist in Thailand.  The young man’s name is Stephen Ashton, 22, who came on holiday, from the United Kingdom, with some friends in order to relax and have a good time in Koh Phanga.

Stephen’s holiday and that of his friends, turned into their worst nightmare, as Stephen became another victim of Thai Gun Crime.

Stephen Ashton Murdered in Thailand

It is reported in the national press that the killer, Ekkapan Kaewkla, is likely to serve just two years in prison for Stephen’s murder – that’s how much the Thais care about justice for those unfortunate tourists who are murdered while on holiday in Thailand.

You can clearly see from the face of Ekkapan Kaewkla, as he is being led away by police, after his arrest, that he quite happy, with not an ounce of remorse for killing another innocent person.  Why?  Because Stephen was a Farang and a Farang’s life is considered inferior to a Thai – basically a Farang, in a Thais eye, is no better than a dog.

What on earth is a Farang?  Thais, for the most part, are highly uneducated – it’s the way the Thai Government likes it, basically ignorant and uneducated people are easier to control and therefore the state of education is so poor that 85% of its entire workforce is unskilled.

A Thai is unable to determine one foreigner from another. That is a Thai is unable to distinguish where a particular foreigner comes from.  While most of us can look at another person and come to some reasonable conclusion of where another person originates, generally through their mannerisms, speech and even dress, the Thais simply do not have the education and therefore list all foreigners as Farangs.

I have always believed that one person can make a difference.  If we remain silent and do nothing about injustice then we become as bad as the perpetrators of the crimes.

Stephen, although I have never met the young man, obviously was not aware of just how dangerous Thailand is as a tourist destination.  Often Thailand is painted as a place of relaxation, beautiful beaches and a carefree way of life and yet the ugly truth is that it has the 3^rd highest violence gun crime statistics in the world.

kkapan Kaewkla the Murderer of Stephen Ashton in Thailand

As I stated in my original article, the U.S has a population nearly 5 times that of Thailand and yet Thailand has over twice the amount of violent gun crime.  Add to this the Rape, Muggings, Assault and Corruption and you have a country that should be avoided at all costs.  If only Stephen had been aware of this it is likely he, and his friends, may have chosen an alternative tourist destination.

All foreign Ambassadors and Honory Consuls here in Thailand are fully aware of just how violent and dangerous Thailand is and yet do very little to warn their citizens of the dangers.  It basically all comes down to diplomatic back-scratching in order to preserve Diplomatic Relations so that the flow of trade and money can continue – the Foreign Ambassadors, including that of the British Embassy, are totally ineffectual in providing sufficient and factual information to its citizens with the necessary warnings that would save the lives.  As far as I am concerned the British Government are perpetrators of the murder of Stephen Ashton, due to their ineptitude and unwillingness in taking appropriate action to stop their citizens from visiting Thailand and force the Thai government into action to put an end to these murders.

The problem is, when it comes to Thais they will do everything it takes to prevent the loss of tourism, other than stemming violent crime and murder.  It wasn’t that long ago that a journalist was murdered in Phuket, Thailand for speaking out against the authorities.

As for Phuket, there are a few foreign newspapers and news websites.  It was during the middle of 2012 that the Governor of Phuket called a closed meeting of all the foreigner owners, due to the amount of bad press being written about the holiday island.  I did ask a couple of the Editors what was said in the closed meeting but none of them cared to comment – or more honesty too frightened to do so.

I strongly suspect that this was due to the fact they have been warned; “Either reduce the bad news significantly or pay the consequences.”  You can read what you like into that and this is just speculation; but considering one journalist had already been murdered it is not difficult to see that a repeat of this crime could not be perpetrated by the untouchables in office.

Each time a murder, mugging or rape of a tourist is reported in Thailand I get angry.  I may not know the victims, such as Stephen, but it nevertheless angers me and frightens me.  It could have been my son that was the victim and while it wasn’t, and the fact that I never knew Stephen, I feel compelled to try to warn others from visiting Thailand.

We have just ushered in the New Year and with this, for the Ashton Family, they did not see the peace and happiness that so many of us asked for.  The messages around the social networks were ones of peace, goodwill, kindness, love, compassion and humanity and yet with Stephen’s murder I see little evidence of any of the above.

What astounds me or rather makes me so angry, is the fact that I know that not many people will bother to read all I have written here, let alone share it.  Sure, they’ll take some meaningless video, such as Gangnam Style, view it and share it a billion times but when it comes to the murder of a young man, which could have been prevented if people had spread the word, then they simply do nothing.  So much for all their messages of peace and humanity in the New Year.

To the parents of Stephen I pledge you this… While I did not know your son, I as a human being with compassion, feel your pain.  I will continue to try and bring awareness to the horrors of Thailand in the attempt to prevent another senseless waste of life.

Today I am going to do something that I have never done before, in the hope that other parents will never have to feel the loss that Stephen’s parents are feeling right now…

I want you, as my friend and fellow human being to share this article.  If you can take the time to share garbage like Gangnam, then you can take the time to share something that could well prevent another murder.  To all my friends… If you don’t share this, then no longer consider me a friend because if you cannot show the compassion and humanity of trying to save a life, then I don’t want you as a friend.

You can make a difference and put a stop to people visiting Thailand.  It is the only way we can force the Thai government and even our own governments to take action and put a stop to the level of violence directed at foreign tourists.

The share buttons are below… Share this article and let’s see if we, together, can Stop Thailand from murdering tourists. – Meebal.com