Alert for Bangkok travelers

Just so people know to watch for it if they are traveling in Bangkok

Acid attack on foreigners at train station

Published: 16/09/2011 at 11:42 AM
Online news:

A female foreign artist, Elizabeth Briel, reported on twitter on Friday that she and her husband had acid sprayed at their faces at the Asoke skytrain station last night.

She said the acid was directed at them from the stairway leading to the station near Robinson shopping mall.

Mrs Briel said her husband's eyes were damaged but would be okay, while she has a burnt scalp.

They were treated at Bumrungrad hospital.

The hospital said this is the third case they have seen lately.

....and they never filed a police complaint.

Next?

One freak in a major sized city should not cause fear waves.If the police were to try to apprehend this creep.they would need a pattern of locale,behavior and description.Not that they will put any effort into it as if they were ''protecting and serving

Plenty of CCTV on the overhead platforms, if they really wanted to actually work and investigate. At least 3 incidents in same general area. Can't be that hard to track down, but that would require taking somebody off the rent collection route of the sidewalk vendors. Buddha forbid.

Wasn't speaking of being afraid. just alert to your surroundings.

Being extra vigilant in Bangkok is always a good idea,but how would one protect themselves from someone spraying you with acid as they passed you on the stairwell or in a crowd??

Myself I'm always extra alert any where new. Just the fact that it look like your paying attention, probably lets others look like an easier target. One thing I noted the other incidents no one said they were not Thai's.

OT was browsing through the paper yesterday and came across this warning in the Travel section:

“There is a high threat of terrorism in Thailand. Bomb and grenade attacks have been indiscriminate, including in places visited by expatriates and foreign travellers. Sporadic attacks continue in Bangkok and Chiang Mai”

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/new ... 55945.html

OT

I did notice a piece on TAN News Thursday wherein a bomb had been placed in a area that tourist do use. But, that was down South, Not place I venture to but, the overland route to Malayasia goes though there. Some beautiful riding from what I can see but I have thus far given a pass.

But there has essentially been a civil war going on there since I have been here. Lots of other nice places to ride without that risk. Probably if I knew the area better I would venture forth.

From the victims blog:
Speaking of Sukhumvit, I was enjoying a walk there with my husband last night. It was our weekly grocery run. We marvelled at how open the area appears, now the construction barriers around Terminal 21 have been removed. It was nearly 9:30. I struggled to keep up with him in a pair of cheap shoes on cracked asphalt and concrete.

As we passed the Asoke Skytrain exit near Robinson, we were showered with clear liquid. It was too heavy to be from a bat or a bird, too brief to be rain. Where had it come from? The trees above my head? The stairs next to us, or the walkway beyond to Nana?

I thought someone had peed down on us from the steps as a practical joke, and scanned them, but they were empty. Then Roy called out: "My eyes – they're burning – they're fucked – get some water." As if in response, my scalp began to burn. Could a Skytrain cleaner have dumped extra chemicals onto us? I looked up – no cleaning buckets or employees in sight. Just the usual assortment of Skytrain passengers: middle-class Thais and foreigners. My eyes darted from Roy – crouched over, his hand over his eyes – to look for someone, anyone, who might have done this. The left side of my face and neck had been splashed by whatever-it-was, and the pain inflamed my panic.

This was no accident.

"Stay here," I shouted, and ran to street stalls, looking for water to flush his eyes. No luck. I dashed into McDonald's and rushed out again with a bottle. He flushed his eyes as I hailed a taxi.

Do you know how it feels to watch a loved one's eyes melt? Not metaphorically. But to watch them disintegrate. As our taxi driver kept up a bilingual patter about the fastest route to the hospital, Roy's eyes began to shed their outer membrane like jelly. It hung there like frozen tears.

"Don't rub your eyes!" I warned, but of course (he's the scientist), he knew exactly what was happening.

As I waited outside Bumrungrad Hospital's emergency room, I thought of a friend who'd lost her partner in Cambodia last week. Of how short all our lives are. Of how we deny death and forget to cherish our good health while we have it.

"It's acid or industrial cleaning fluid that caused the burns," the doctor said. "He's lost some of the conjunctiva in both eyes, but he's retained his vision. Come back tomorrow morning and see the opthamologist." He told Roy this is the third attack of this kind recently. Did the other two involve foreigners? We didn't ask. We don't really want to know.

The Man and I called Thai tourist police and headed to Lumpini police station to file a report. Our experience became a statistic, if nothing else.

http://elizabethbriel.com/dear-thailand