Broke German Firebug Not Involved With Foreign Terrorists

Thailand’s no longer the exclusive domain of good honest tourists who politely leave the kingdom after they dutifully spent their money over here. Now and then you see a farang homeless on Bangkok’s streets. He may have arrived with big hopes and great dreams and enjoyed the real-time Disneyland to the fullest. Some though met a Thai woman who left them financially destitute. Such has happened to German Mr. Becker, 64.

Mr. Becker was cheated by his Thai lover and, gone broke, joined the ranks of local homeless who wouldn’t accept the farang who was recently arrested by Thai police on charges of setting fire to eleven public phone booths and advertising signs at three bus stops in Bangkok’s Thonglor area where Mr. Becker lived a broken life ever since that Thai woman had taken all of his money.

Mr. Becker confessed he had to steal coins from phone booths and take food from local shrines to stay alive. Another report added that Mr. Becker had set fire to the three bus stops after other homeless people would not allow him to sleep there. Talk about Thai solidarity in the highest and lowest ranks – but Metropolitan Police commissioner Vorapong Chiewpreecha confirmed that Mr. Becker “was not involved with any foreign terrorist network.”

The arrest of the German was made possible by security cameras along Thonglor. Footages from security cameras of the city administration and Krung Thai Bank showed the suspect in full light. Not much else to add. He had arrived last October and lost everything in a few months. My condolences to such tragic misfortune. At least it’s warmer to be a clochard in sunny Bangkok than cold Berlin.

Or maybe police got it all wrong and he is a terrorist. Trying to sabotage Thailand’s communication network.




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March 9, 2009 | Filed Under Being Farang, Seriously, Not ..., Travel & Tourism 

Comments

6 Responses to “Broke German Firebug Not Involved With Foreign Terrorists”

  1. ThaiCrisis on March 10th, 2009 4.10 am

    Indeed, we didn’t see anything on CNN. So I guess, Herr Becker was not a terrorist linked to Al Qaeda (you never know nowadays, the world is so twisted …). ;-)

    And it’s good to see the Finest always on the edge, ready to serve the people and the security of the public.

    Can you imagine? We have avoided the worst … Herr Becker (a farang!) could have burned every phone booth in Bangkok.

    That’s serious violence.

    Anyway … back to reality: I have compassionate thoughts for this poor chap.

  2. BangkokDan on March 10th, 2009 9.40 am

    I assume it’s intended terrorism TC.

    Behind bars Herr Becker finally gets his daily food and a roof over his head.

    BangkokDan

  3. stefan on March 10th, 2009 2.23 pm

    Instead of glib knee-jerk flippancy, where is the compassion? How many of your readers have seen the inside of a Thai jail? I would say a burnt-out bus stop on Thonglor is paradise by comparison. These kind of comments remind me of the volumes of cruel tasteless flippant comments on the BKK Post’s recent story about the man who was decapitated. Bangkok really does attract the worst slime expatriates, jeering and sniggering at others misfortune, using others’ bad luck stories to make themselves feel better, or even if it’s just something to write about to fill empty blog space. This town and its farangs sure turned me into a misanthropist.

  4. Dr. Doom on March 10th, 2009 3.08 pm

    I don’t get your point Stefan.

    Both expressed sympathy for the man, maybe you should read Not The Nation more often.

  5. stefan on March 10th, 2009 5.14 pm

    Actually your blog is starting to look like NTN minus the humor.

  6. BangkokDan on March 10th, 2009 5.26 pm

    Oops, once out of the office the sky is about to fall on my head.

    The blog’s disclaimer on the bottom right explicitly warns “not that we’re politically correct, heaven forbid” …

    It would have been the last of my intentions to make fun of this poor chap. I was making fun of somebody else.

    Even though satire is none of my god-given gifts I do not shy away from sarcasm and cynicism.

    But indeed, the last thing I am is humorous.

    Assuming readers are well aware of this and can stand some basic heat, stay tuned -

    BangkokDan

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