UK former mercenary, living in Thailand for 22 years, fined and warned by Udon Thani police after assault at PTT station. Man agrees to pay full compensation and apologises to the Thai victim’s family. Police cite prior cooperation with Immigration Bureau for not revoking his visa on this occasion.
A UK man, a former mercenary who has lived in Thailand for 22 years, was fined and warned by Udon Thani police on Friday. It came after he was summoned by police for being involved in an assault at a PTT station in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The UK man also agreed to pay full compensation and offered his apologies to the family of the Thai man he assaulted. Police, it is understood, declined to revoke the 44-year-old man’s visa due to his previous cooperation with the Immigration Bureau on Ko Samui and the fact that this was a first-time offence.
The foreigner who assaulted a 25-year-old service station employee in Udon Thani in the early hours of Wednesday morning has been fined and booked by police.
The man was identified by Udon Thani police as 44-year-old Mr Davis. In brief, a UK national who has lived in Thailand for 22 years. Mr Davis is reported to be a former mercenary or soldier for hire.
UK man pulled up at the PTT service station on the Udon Dusit Road in Udon Thani early on Wednesday morning. His behaviour from the get-go was aggressive
On May 22nd at approximately 6:50 am, he pulled up at the PTT service station on Udon Thani’s Udon Dusit road.
The bald and stocky man was driving a newly registered SUV with red plates. The two staff members at the station were initially alarmed as the foreigner began disposing of debris from his car.
Afterwards, he became aggressive when he noticed them staring at him.
He responded in fluent Thai with a northern dialect. Mr Davis markedly told the Thai staff he was ‘tor mor,’ meaning he worked for the Immigration Bureau.
Thai speaking foreigner attacks PTT service station attendants in Udon Thani in the early hours
Indeed, during Friday’s briefing for the media, one of the reasons given for not revoking the UK man’s visa was a reference to his previous cooperation with the Immigration Bureau on Ko Samui in Surat Thani.
Service station staff and family members gathered at Udon Thani Police Station on Friday to finalise the affair after Mr Davis was officially summoned
Police Colonel Phattanawong Chanphon, the head of Udon Thani Police Station, briefed the media.
Also, present at the scene were 25-year-old Jirawat Sunthorn, or Tum, and the second staff member at the PTT station, 38-year-old cashier Ms Sirikarn Parawong, or ‘Mimi.’
Furthermore, the 18-year-old Thai daughter of Mr Davis was also present, as well as Mr Jirawat Sunthorn’s parents.
At length, Mr Davis promised to pay compensation for his actions to Mr Jirawat. This was to include the young man’s medical expenses and moral compensation for the incident.
Previously, on Wednesday, ‘Tum’ was punched by the UK man twice on the right-hand side of his face. Afterwards, Udon Thani Hospital confirmed swelling after a physical examination.
At the same time as shaking hands with Mr Jirawat, the UK man knelt before the victim’s parents.
UK man explained the incident followed a busy day during which he had been cajoled by friends into drinking 40-degree wine at a local district festival
The UK man apologised profusely for his actions. He promised to avoid such behaviour in the future. In particular, he assured them he would be sensitive to Thai cultural values.
Furthermore, he provided an explanation for his behaviour last Wednesday morning. He said that earlier he had been busy running errands for his 18-year-old daughter.
Afterwards, he was invited to the Bun Bang Fai festival in Phen district. There, he was cajoled by friends into drinking 40-degree white wine.
‘I do not normally drink alcohol. But I could not resist the locals who are related to my daughter and my wife. They helped me with the farming and housework, so I drank several rounds before driving my daughter into town. On the way back, I stopped at the gas station to fill up,’ Mr Davis declared.
He claimed he was unaware of his actions. However, he sincerely regretted what happened and offered apologies to both the victim and the Thai people. At the same time, he committed to paying all Mr Jirawat’s expenses in addition to compensation.
Family of the injured victim still insisted that police take action against the accused. However, this fell short of legal action leading to his deportation
In response, Mr Jirawat’s parents accepted his apology. They noted that Mr Davis had apologised as he feared the revocation of his visa to live in Thailand.
Consequently, he ran the real risk of being deported from the country. Furthermore, he would be blacklisted from reentry.
The Thai family noted that Mr Davis’s daughter is of Thai descent as she was born in the kingdom. However, they insisted that the police take action in the case.
Police Colonel Phattanawong revealed that police had identified Mr Davis from his red vehicle licence plates.
Udon Thani police liaised with the Tourist Police and Immigration Bureau to serve a summons on the foreigner. He was charged with the lesser offence of ‘assault and causing a public disturbance’ for which a fine is normally applied.
In the meantime, given the UK man’s prior history in Ko Samui and the fact that this was a first-time offence, he was given a warning instead of an order being made in relation to his visa.
Nonetheless, police underlined that any further infractions would see his visa being cancelled and therefore his deportation from Thailand.
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