The Nayong Gun Incident
December 14, 2014
Tonight, I was threatened
by a young man with a gun.
Garbage and Trailer Trash in Thailand
My wife and I were at her
brother’s house where she tutors children after school, which is on a corner of
2 streets. There had been a bunch of garbage left at the back of the house,
along with an old toilet, for quite some time. My wife decided that she was fed
up with it, and said she was going to clear it out today.
I told her that we needed
to make sure that the toilet didn’t belong to our adjacent neighbors first. We
didn’t know if it was actually garbage, or if perhaps someone was renovating
and planning to reinstall it1.
For some reason, this made her quite irritated. However, she did ask the
adjacent neighbors who told her that the garbage belonged to the neighbors
across the street. I asked my wife to clarify where I should take the garbage,
but there was litter all over the property. This had been irritating my wife
for some time, so she went to the neighbor’s house to complain. Nobody answered
when she called, so she walked up to the house and called in to them through
the front door that was left open. I don’t know what was said (it was all in
Thai), but it was obvious that she was furious. Nobody came when she called,
which only infuriated her further. As she was walking away, a woman wearing a
towel poked her head out of the upstairs window and started arguing with my
wife. (It looked like a scene from from an old movie set in New York City where
some woman from a rough part of town is shouting out her window in a foreign
language, except that there were no subtitles to read.) She shouted something
else as my wife walked away.
I tried to calm my wife
down, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She walked back to her brother’s property.
I told her to calm down, but she was furious that people could be so incredibly
rude. She grabbed the toilet lid and threw it off the property into the
street while yelling something in Thai. The lid shattered and left pieces all
over the road. I chastised my wife, and told her to get into the house and get
ready to teach her students. I then picked up the broom and dustpan to clean
the broken ceramic on the road before it punctured someone’s tire.
Enter Thugito
As I was cleaning the
debris, a young man walked out of the house with a young woman behind him. I
don’t know what he said, but I could tell that it was also indecent by his body
language and manners. The young woman started bending down to pick up the
broken ceramic, but I didn’t want them around because I thought it would cause
more problems with my wife. I knew that some space was needed. I told the man,
whom we’ll call Thugito,2 “by
ban, by leao” (“go home, go already”) and waved my hand as if shooing off a
fly. I was coming down with a cold after
a long day of dealing with difficult students from a horrible school I worked
at back then, so I was in no mood to deal with further conflict.
Thugito
stopped walking toward me, but, instead of going back into his house, he puffed
up his shoulders and expanded his elbows (as if trying to look gangsta.) Then
things got interesting. Thugito lifted
his shirt to show me a gun that he had tucked into his pants.
I stayed calm and looked at him, wondering
whether I would have to spring in and counterattack or if he would come to his
senses. I saw the gun and looked up at his face to see a smug grin. Thugito
apparently thought that he had won. As I later reflected about how I felt at
that moment, I realized that I didn’t change my facial expression at all at
first. After a moment, my expression changed from annoyed to nonchalant. I
don’t know what kind of reaction he was expecting from me, but his face showed
a surprised dissappointment.
I can’t say that I took
stock of my surroundings, but I absolutely knew what the situation was. Not
only was he stupid enough to think he had won, but he did this less than 3 feet
from me. My pregnant wife was about 30 feet behind me, but potentially within
the line of fire. He was a couple of feet in front of a steel gate post, and
there were a couple of other Thai people a few houses down. I don’t know the
people in the neighborhood, and didn’t know if they would be potential allies
to Thugito, or if they would just be bystanders. However, I knew that they
could be a potential source of danger if I counter attacked right then. Further
complicating the situation, I know that the Thai justice system is notorious
for being unfair to foreigners3.
Like I said, though, I didn’t consciously take stock of my surroundings; all
this just seemed to be instantly available background information.
Looking forward, I also
knew that, if he tried to pull the gun, then I could cover his hand and prevent
him from pulling it while tackling him into that steel post behind him. (I
included in my calculation4 that
I probably weigh 100 lbs more than he does, and his posture was very high to
accentuate his ‘gangsta’ pose.) I didn’t think of this feeling as if I had a
trump card or were superior in any way. It was just simple fact. Actually, I
didn’t really feel anything at that moment. It was just a calm and peaceful
space like I often feel while meditating or writing.
For a moment, I thought
about what would happen after he got smashed into the post. Would he open up
for gansaki nage5?
Maybe musha dori6 or
omote gyaku7?
Would the gun be loose enough to take from him while using one of these waza8?
No, I knew that there was no way to tell at that point. I could feel that I
would just have to act and see where the open space unfolded. I also knew, from
my observations above, that I was in a safe, good space at that moment. So, I
waited and looked at him with perhaps the most unimpressed expression that he
had ever seen.
The Retreat.
Fortunately for all, Thugito
lost his nerve at that point, slowly lowered his shirt, and walked back into
his house. As he did, I knew that I could have tackled and restrained him until
the police arrived. Strategically, I had no idea what the problem with this kid
was, or if he might decide to turn back and shoot from a distance once he got
safely back into his house. I would have still been morally right to make sure
that he wasn’t a continued threat. Given that he had no reason to threaten me
with a weapon to begin with, it is logical to assume that he could still react
irrationally and violently. However, I could feel that he had lost his spirit and
was walking back into the house like a scolded dog with his tail between his
legs.
While
I seemed to have won the fight without having to fight, there was no way to
tell that the fight would be completely over at that point. No battle is finished after the physical
confrontation. There are many aspects to
the battlefield – physical, emotional, social, and spiritual. I had defeated him in the physical aspect, but
that didn’t mean that he couldn’t turn around and try to attack some other way.
To be successful, one must be ready to
follow up and follow through on their techniques.
Aftermath.
At that point, I walked
over to my wife and told her to call the police. After something like this,
there is no way that I would not contact the police and file a report. By
filing an immediate complaint, I was making sure that he would not claim an
advantage in the social battlefield. (You could also just say that I was
covering my ass to protect it from an incompetent and corrupt Thai justice
system.) The police, for their part,
were completely useless. The cop at the
scene wouldn’t even take a field report. That may have had something to do with the
fact that many of these cops drink with Thugito’s dad a few times a week.
Many of you have been in
confrontations before, and you know that all of that description which took you
a few minutes to read actually took place in a few seconds. Time slows down as
the adrenalin response is engaged. I’ve tried to keep this brief, but the
amount of detail that you can notice in moments like these is quite surprising
when you think about it later. I am not sharing this for accolades, but because
I thought it might be helpful for others who have never been in a similar
situation to read. My calmness was because of my Bujinkan training, but wasn’t
perfect. Also, after dealing with the police, part of me wishes that I had just
counter attacked and subdued him. I know that is just ego, so I still have some
battles to face on the spiritual plane.
Epilogue -- A note for
the Thai Government.
Over the last couple of
years, since General Prayuth and his junta took power, there has been a severe
crackdown on free speech. There is no way to tell if what you say will be
deemed offensive and worthy of “attitude adjustment.” I've refrained from
posting this for several months because the junta in charge is unpredictable in
the way that it allows freedom of speech. Until I can get my wife and
kids out of here, anything I post could make me a target. Unfortunately,
I’m past the point of caring anymore. If some Thai police officer were
ever to read and understand this, I could be called in for a week’s stay at
attitude adjustment resort9.
courtesy of the Generalissimo.
So, I leave it to you, PM
Prayuth. Every person, including every foreigner, has a right to be safe. Thugito
had no right to threaten me, but your police refused to protect me because I am
not part of their drinking buddy network. Moreover, our community remains
less safe because the police refused to prosecute Thugito. If
anything like this should ever happen again in the future, I now know that Thai
police will not protect a foreigner. The only reasonable choice, for justice as
well as safety, is to immediately counter attack to protect yourself.
There are many stories of people like him in Thailand who perceive a
loss of face and then end up killing someone. Somebody needs to get these
dangerous people off the streets. If the police refuse, then that
becomes the job of each individual. That is the only way anyone
can protect their family. So now, General Prayuth, it is up to you. If this is
ever brought to your attention, will you investigate these corrupt and
incompetent police, or do you make it clear that foreigners have no rights and
no protection in Thailand?
Footnotes
1 Yes, it would make more sense for it to be
kept on their own property, but things are not always done rationally here in
Thailand.
2 Spanglish for ‘little thug.’
3 Google “Koh Tao Murders” for an amazing
story about two kids who were almost certainly framed by the Thai “justice”
system.
4 “Calculation” is not the right word but
it’s the first word that comes to mind, and no other word feels right as a
replacement. However, this calculation was so instantaneous that it was more
like a realization.
5 Japanese for “throwing the big rock.”
6 Japanese for “capture the warrior.”
7 Japanese for “outside reversal.”
8 Japanese for “technique.”
9 Resort or prison? It’s all a matter of
attitude, right?
