Douglas Riach comforts his badly injured wife Lydia Riach while looking for assistance. Photo John Le Fevre
Update September 5, 2009: Information that had previously been supplied by telephone that Lydia Riach had died was incorrect. It appears what the caller was referring to on September 3, 2009 was a diagnosis of brain death. Lydia Riach continues to be maintained on a life support ventilator. Attempts to contact Douglas Riach on September 3 to confirm the information supplied by a friend of the family went unanswered. Apologies are extended to the family ~ John Le Fevre
Lydia Riach, a middle-aged Scottish woman, is fighting for her life in a Bangkok hospital, the victim of a bag-snatch theft that went horribly wrong.
Lydia, from Inverness, Scotland, was walking with her husband Douglas Riach down a well trafficked laneway in central Bangkok on Saturday night between Soi Sukhumvit 20 and Soi Sukhumvit 22 when two men on a motorbike drove passed and stole her handbag.
According to Douglas, Lydia had the bag around her neck as well as over her shoulder and the force of the theft sent her spinning into the roadway fracturing her skull in multiple places.
Doctors at Bangkok Police Hospital performed emergency brain surgery on Lydia on Saturday night following the attack, but have told Douglas that his wife is unlikely to awaken from the coma she is currently in.
“The doctors have said her skull was fractured externally in two places as well as internally. She was bleeding from the ears and by the time we got to the hospital there was fragments of bone coming out of her ears.
“She’s currently in a coma and we’ve been trying to talk to her but now she only has one eye open and is not responding to us or bright lights. The doctors have said they don’t think she will last a week though”, a distressed Douglas said.
Family relatives have started arriving in Bangkok, with Douglas’ brother flying in on Monday night and the couples two children expected on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Douglas has been resident in Bangkok for about two years where he works as a consultant for Infinity Financial Solutions, and Lydia joined him less than a year ago and has been actively involved in assisting underprivileged children since.
Friends at The Twenty Two Scottish Bar in Soi Sukhumvit 22 where the two were heading for a game of dominoes when the attack took place were shocked at news of the assault.
“This is not a bad part of Bangkok, but there is no denying that these sorts of assaults are on the increase as the economic crisis continues to worsen”, one patron said.
Douglas Riach comforts Lydia Riach after her bag was stolen in Bangkok. Photo John Le Fevre
Douglas Riach assists Lydia Riach following the bag-snatch in. Photo John Le Fevre
The top of Lydia Riach's head indicates the extent of her injuries. Photo John Le Fevre
Douglas Riach and rescue volunteers in Bangkok attemp to assist Lydia Riach. Photo John Le Fevre
Sajja says he saw Thai soldiers shoot a monk and around 10 other people at Din Daeng on April 13, 2009 and then remove the bodies and wash the road (face obscured by request over personal safety concerns). Photo John Le Fevre
A Bangkok monk says claims by the Thailand government that the army only fired blanks at red-shirted pro-democracy supporters at Din Daeng last Monday are not true and that those shot include a Buddhist monk.
The accusations by the head monk of a Bangkok city temple come despite repeated claims by Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Veijajiva that the only fatalities from the government crack-down on pro-democracy supporters were the result of clashes between protesters and residents in the Nang Lerng market area on Monday (April 13th) night.
The monk, who chose the pseudonym “Sajja” (the word truth in Thai) for his safety and asked that his temple not be named, said he went to the Din Daeng area around 6.00am on April 13 after hearing reports of clashes earlier that morning between the Thai army and red shirt protesters.
“I was standing about 200 meters away and the soldiers started shooting at people who were on the street. They were not wearing red shirts and there was no protesting happening at the time.
“I saw people falling down when the army was shooting at them and others run away. One of those who fell down was a monk and there was also some children there. I don’t know which temple the monk was from. I saw the soldiers pick about 10 people up off the ground and load them into a large pale-blue, almost white coloured van and then they hosed the blood off the road,” he said.
Mr “Sajja” said that while he could not be sure the people loaded into the van were dead, there was no noise coming from any of them that he could hear.
“Later I went to the soldiers and asked them why they had shot those people and they didn’t answer me. They just loaded bullets into their guns and made signs for me to move away”.
Prime minister Abhisit has repeatedly claimed that the rioting that followed the state of emergency declaration on Sunday (April 12th) has been handled using “soft measures” and that no protesters had been killed by the Thai army.
Claims that the Thai army only fired over the heads of red shirt protesters is refuted by this photo clearly showing soldiers at Pratunam taking aim. Also note the soldiers at the rear have a khaki bag at their waist the other soldiers do not. Also note that none of the weapons have Blank Firing Attachments (BFAs) fitted. Photo John Le Fevre
This has been supported by statements by Thai army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd who said on Tuesday (April 14th) that “if the protesters show that they intend to hurt the officials, we will use military training rifles on them with blank bullets made from paper, which will not hurt the protesters.”
Mr “Sajja” said the bullets he saw being loaded into guns at Din Deang looked like real bullets to him. He said he was not a military expert but the description he provided was that of metal-jacketed live ammunition as opposed to the very distinctive colour of training rounds or blanks.
“I’m not a soldier, but I know what blood looks like. I was very shocked to see them shoot these people and especially sad to see a brother monk shot,” the elderly monk said.
Meanwhile the opposition Phak Puea Thai (PPT) party today opened a complaints desk at the party’s head office to collect the names of those shot or missing after clashes with security forces earlier in the week.
Puea Thai officials take a statement from relatives of a man shot by Thai soldiers on April 13. Photo John Le Fevre
Prakal Riddiloy, a PPT complaints officer said “we know many people have been killed, hurt or are missing after the military action earlier this week. We intend to raise this matter as soon as parliament opens next week.”
The state of emergency and clash between red shirt protesters loyal to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and government troops was the latest in a long-running back-and-forth battle over Thailand’s political future following the ouster of the elected People’s Power Party government of Thaksin Shinawatra by a military coup d’état in September 2006.
Late last year hundreds of thousands of tourists were stranded after both of Bangkok’s airports were seized by yellow-shirted so-called People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporters.
The siege ended when Thailand’s Constitutional Court disbanded the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) under changes to Thailand’s constitution introduced by the military junta in 2006.
This news broadcast from tv.truelife.com appears to substantiate claims of people being at least injured at Din Daeng by the Thai military in the early hours of April 13, 2009. Video uploaded to YouTube by “Baszard66″. Note that this video may be subject to censorship by the MICT in Thailand.
Following the de-registration of the PPP a number of former government coalition members, including members of the PPP, switched sides enabling the Democrat Party lead by Mr Abhisit to form government. Those PPP members who did not change sides formed the PPT party.
The so-called “red shirts” formed under the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), a group with close links to Shinawatra, first laid siege to Thailand’s Government House on March 26 demanding prime minister Abhisit dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.
The UDD stepped up its campaign against the government of Mr Abhisit with a mass rally on April 8 which attracted over 150,000 people.
On April 11 thousands of red shirt protesters caused Thailand enormous loss of face when they stormed the luxury Royal Cliff Hotel and Resort in Pattaya forcing the 10 Asean member heads of state plus those of six regional dialogue nations to flee and the 14th Asean Summit to be postponed.
Comments in either Thai or English are welcome by clicking the Comments tag below. However, please also provide a translation of any comments written in Thai. Comments that are derogatory to HM the King of Thailand will be edited due to Thailand’s strict lèse-majesté laws.
Thailand, Thailand politics, Thailand current events, Peoples Alliance for Democracy, Abhisit Vejjajiva, United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, Thaksin Shinawatra, 14th Asean summit, Democrat Party, Thailand Government House, PAD, Thailand military, People’s Power Party, “Red-shirts”, “Yellow shirts”, Buddhism, Thailand Constitutional Court, Phak Puea Thai, Human rights, Human rights abuse
The original article focused on the murder of 24-year-old Indonesian domestic worker Kunarsih, who used just one name like many Indonesians, from Demak in Central Java by Goo Eng Keng and his wife Chen Pei Ee, while another incident referred to the horrific injuries received by 19-year-old Nirmala Bonat from Kupang, West Timor, from her employer Yim Pek Ha.
Yim was accused of pouring boiling water on Ms Bonat, beating her, and pressing a hot iron on her breasts and back as punishment for mistakes in ironing clothes. Following her rescue Ms Bonat was treated for second and third-degree burns.
As is often the case in Malaysia, one day after the arrest of his wife, Ms Bonat’s employer filed a police complaint against her alleging the injuries were self-inflicted, and also accused her of stealing RM10,000 ($US2,870.00).
Yim Pek Ha being lead away from court in Malaysia where she was sentenced to 18-years for abusing her Indonesian maid. Photo courtesy Xinhua/Reuters
Yim, a 35-year old mother of four, was released on RM85,000 ($US24,300) bail, while Ms Bonat was confined to an over crowded shelter at the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur and not permitted to leave the compound until the trial and not permitted to return home until January 2008.
The Malaysian legal system moves at a snails pace ordinarily and coupled with delays by Yim, the trial didn’t finish until November 27, 2008 when Sessions Court Judge Akhtar Tahir found Yim guilty of using dangerous weapons to inflict injury and causing grievous hurt to Ms Bonat with a hot iron and hot water at Villa Putera, Jalan Tun Ismail in January, March, and April of 2004.
In his sentencing remarks Judge Akhtar said he wanted to impose a “deterrent sentence” to show that “sadistic behaviour… cannot be tolerated in a civil society” and sentenced Yim to 18-years imprisonment on each charge, with the terms to run concurrently.
While human rights advocates might have applauded the courts ruling, the former flight attendant was not destined to spend any long period of time behind bars and the next day was released after her husband, Hii Ik Ting, posted a RM200,000 ($US54,850) bail pending an appeal to the Malysian High Court.
Nirmala Bonat when she was rescued in 2004 and the injuries she received from her sadistic Malaysian employer, Yim Pek Ha
In additon to the bail surety, Yim was ordered to surrender her travel documents and ordered to inform the court whenever she traveled outside of Kuala Lumpur.
According to Yim’s lawyer, Jagjit Singh, the sentence is “excessive because there was no loss of life, no disfigurement, and no scars”. At this stage no date has been set for the appeal, but Yim and her husband Hii have already demonstrated they are prepared to drag the matter out for as long possible.
In August 2007, 29-year-old Cheng Pei Ee was charged with the murder of Kunarsih and is currently being held without bail and faces the death penalty, while her husband, 34-year-old Goo Eng Keng is free on RM9,000 ($US2,468) bail and has been charged with destroying evidence and providing a false statement about a crime with the intention to help the accused evade punishment.
It is estimated there are more than 300,000 Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia who typically work 16 to 18 hour days, seven days a week, and earn around $US3.30 a day More than 1,500 Indonesian domestic workers seek help from Indonesian diplomatic offices and NGOs specialising in migrant worker rights across Malaysia each month.
Foreign worker abuse; Foreign workers in Malaysia; Human rights; Human rights abuse; Indonesian workers; Malaysia; Crime; Malaysian legal system; Migrant workers; Murder; Kunarsih; Yim Pek Ha; Cheng Pei Ee; Goo Eng Keng; Hii Ik Ting; Nirmala Bonat
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