"Bruce In Bangkok" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:50:32 +0000, Larry wrote:

Sky News (UK) is reporting a headline that a British yachtsman named
Malcolm Robinson by 3 local thugs. His throat was cut before being thrown
off his yacht off the coast of Thailand.

Bruce? What's the scoop? Please be careful....

The news reports have been a bit vague but from interpreting the
various statements it appears that an English couple in a 44 ft. boat
were anchored at a group of islands some 20, or so miles west of
Taratao island which is just a few miles north of Langkawi, Malaysia.

This island group is pretty much deserted although they are frequently
used as an anchorage by various fishing boats as they offer protection
to both the N.E. and S.W. Monsoons. (I've anchored there myself)

There was some discussion of the boat coming from Phuket and on the
way to Langkawi and this makes sense as the islands are about 24 hours
from Phuket on a direct heading, about where you might decide to stop
if you were tired from an overnighter. Get a bit of rest and about 4
hours more to get to Langkawi.

According to the news, as I type, three Burmese jumped ship from a
fishing boat and got aboard the yacht and from that point it gets
confused with one story that the Burmese tried to steal the dinghy
killing the man during a fight and then took the dinghy and were
captured and another story that they killed the man and commandeered
the boat and headed for Satun, Thailand, a town on the mainland some
45 miles east, were intercepted by the police and tried to escape in
the dinghy and were captured.

In any event, the man apparently is dead and tossed overboard while
the wife is "injured" although the film showing her being helped
ashore doesn't show her with any apparent injuries. No report of rape
or other sexual harassment.

The three Burmese, said to be "run away's" from a fishing boat crew
have been arrested and have confessed. At the moment they have not
been charged with murder as the body has not been found.

The story sort of makes sense as the Burmese crews on the fishing
boats are usually illegal and often treated almost as slaves and
probably are ready to jump ship if they get a chance. There was one
report that the police were notified by a fishing boat which might
indicate that the fishing boat crew - usually the captain, 1st mate
and engineer will be Thai and the net pullers Burmese - may have been
aware, in a general sense, of what was going on although I doubt that
the Thai crew would have been aware that the Burmese planned on
killing anybody without saying something.

I've sailed in this area for ten years and my experiences with the
local fishermen and people living on the islands has been that they
are pretty nice people. The time I ran into a coral reef and went
aground the local fishermen came out and helped and when we finally
got off I offered to pay them and they refused to take anything. My
own feeling is that was an isolated incident.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

A sad tale. Think I'll stick to the West of Scotland in future, although to
be fair, it could happen anywhere these days.
BTW, our midges are just as troublesome as your mosquitos, painful too, but
less long-lasting in their after-effects.


Dennis.