Weekend brawl shames farangs

Posted by admin on May 3rd, 2010 filed in Living here, tourist tips

Violence is not something I worry about in Chiang Mai. Yes, the red shirts have been camped out in the old town for the last few week, but all I ever see of them is a banner-waving horde marching by. And the only violence that I’ve seen perpetrated by supporters of the UDD is on the evening news, so I feel rather detached from the mayhem currently gripping Silom.

So it comes as little surprise that the largest ruckus to be encountered in Chiang Mai, certainly in recent months, comes at the hands of farang visitors. On Friday night outside the Roots Reggae Bar in Rachwiti Soi, 3 an almighty brawl took over the entire area for around 20 minutes until the police arrived.

Bottles were thrown, passers-by were left covered in blood as a group of middle-aged bikers – admittedly pitiful souls who are probably still pining for their absent mother’s teet – decided to launch a blistering attack on a group of local girls who were drinking nearby. The sight of four brawny Westerners punching slender Thai women in the face is enough to turn the strongest of stomachs, and the bedlam did not end there.

Reports indicate one guy was stabbed in the melee with countless more sporting serious injuries. And when the police finally arrived and the baying crowd clearly indicated who were the perpetrators of said violence, those brave servants of the law merely sent the leather-clad thugs on their way amid a hail of bottles from the incensed crowd.

Hopefully this ugly mob will have moved on to pastures new. But the indignation caused by this incident does indicate how lucky we are in Chiang Mai, as violence of this ilk is an obligatory sortie on any evening out in Northern England.