SAMUT SAKHON, June 27 – A British tourist was stabbed by a worker for an illegal tour bus in Samut Sakhon, adjacent to southeastern Bangkok, on Wednesday.
Leigh Banks, 36, was wounded during a quarrel with the bus worker over valuables he said were missing from his wallet which he had forgotten on the bus.
The tourist was seriously wounded in his left torso. A passerby helped send him to Mahachai 1 Hospital where he received emergency treatment.
Before the incident, Mr Banks and his wife, and another 20 passengers travelled by the bus from the southern province of Surat Thani to Bangkok.
Other passengers got off the bus along the way and only the couple was left on the bus. The bus stopped at a petrol station in Samut Sakhon, where the driver told them to wait for a new bus take them to Bangkok.
After taking their two bicycles from the bus and the bus departed Mr Banks realised that he had left his wallet with cash in US dollars and his passport on the bus, and he called the bus driver to return.
The bus came back to the petrol station and Mr Banks found that his wallet had been searched by someone and his valuables were missing. He asked a bus worker and the two men quarrelled. The staff worker stabbed the tourist before fleeing by the same bus.
His wife asked for help and a Thai woman, a passerby identified as Sumalee Yisunkaew, drove to a petrol station and called an ambulance for them and also called the police.
The police are searching for the bus, which was initially found to be operating illegally, that is without proper licensing to transport tourists. (MCOT online news)
British Tourist Stabbed By Illegal Tourist Bus Worker - Thailand News - Thailand Forum
4 more years!
...perp walk re-enactment: scene 1...roll cameras!...
...majestically enthroned amid the vulgar herd...
Daft to leave your wallet on the bus but it's forgiveable. Stabbing a customer whilst working on a bus and doing a get-away in said bus is painfully stupid. Good job it was an illegal bus, maybe that's why he felt he had a chance (except he didn't feel he had a chance because there was no reasoning whatsoever).
...impulse thievery is a recognized route to financial success in the swamp...
poor sod. if i can help it i will never travel overland in se asia unless i'm on my own moto or hired car; no bus or train trip has been even remotely worth the hag and nastiness, of foreigners or locals. i've seen some stupid driving in thailand but weet nam is positively murderous. and it seems anyone in transport, of goods or people, is a close to desperate, jacked up criminal.
On a day trip, Surat to Phuket, with 30 of our students aboard I asked the bus driver to pull over. I got off and caught a taxi. They just don't give a toss, not even for children.Originally Posted by 3leggedkitty
Maybe it's just me, but I had good experiences busing in Thailand
The worst one for me was traveling to Hua Hin in the middle of summer on a bus which had broken air conPoor tourists at the back of the bus were fecking dying lol.
With the number of stabbings happening in Thailand you'd think that it had become Britain.
Daniel Bedingfield claimed that his new album is what it would sound like if Sting, Stevie Wonder and Micheal Jackson were in a basement together - I haven't got the album so I'll have to imagine the sound of a blind bloke and a Geordie kicking the shit out of a pedophile.
Were you ever sober?
Yes Jonny, I don't drink.
Not even wine for ceremonial purposes on Passover?
Don't label me like that. My feelings get hurt easily and then I go on a rant and have a fit.
Me, too. I've been all over Thailand by bus and not once have I been stabbed.
I found coaches ok, its the minivans that were mental.
This is it... The apocalypse.
I think this is the "CNN Effect." Maybe there have always been a number of stabbings, muggings and murders in Thailand, but now the reporting of said crimes is more frequent. I still feel safe in Thailand and tourists will not stop coming here because of these crimes. I took a VIP bus from Loei to Bkk in March 2012 with my bicycle stored in the bus. The bus was clean, the air-conditioner worked fine, the seats were more comfy than any Greyhound/Amtrak train in the US, and we arrived in Bkk on time and safely; my bicycle wasn't damaged at all.
Is it really time to panic?
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