THAI pilot shot in road rage frenzy

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CRIME

THAI pilot shot in road rage frenzy

Published: 14/01/2011 at 03:54 AM
Newspaper section: News

A commercial airline pilot was shot and injured in an apparent road rage incident near Suvarnabhumi airport on Wednesday night.

Poolwit Ruengdech, a Thai Airways captain, shows the bandaged wound from a gunshot fired at him on the motorway near Suvarnabhumi airport on Wednesday night.

The Thai Airways flight captain, Poolwit Ruengdech, was driving to work when shots were fired at him on the motorway leading to the airport.

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mooncake
Post : 39
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Discussion 18 : 20/01/2011 at 05:00 PM18
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In another word, the police know that the owner of the Fortuner can't be caught in the land of smile! Wis the pilot recovers soon. that is all we can do.
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DickFarang
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Discussion 17 : 14/01/2011 at 05:40 PM17
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@ Discussion16:

Not in my home country, Belgium, where you need a reel number plate from the very first day.

Moreover Belgian number plates are personal and you have to remove them from the car when you sell the car.

When you buy a new car you have the choice to send back the old number plate and to order a new one or to reuse the old number plate with the new car, which requires a lot of administration.

Most people choose the first solution.

Although there has been some improper use, dealer number plates are strictly limited to the use on unsold cars.

Moreover cars with dealer number plates are not allowed to cross the border, which is a problem in an open country like Belgium.
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Michael Bukit
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Discussion 16 : 14/01/2011 at 01:48 PM16
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Red license plate or temporary car number plate fitted to new cars before they are registered is used in almost every country. For car dealers to obtain temporary plate they too need to register with the Land Transport Department so when anything happened, the authority knows the temporary plate is from which car dealers and the dealers know who is driver. I find it strange that it mentioned that would be difficult to trace the Fortuner as it carried a temporary plate fitted to new cars is not registered with the Land Transport Department. It that the case, what is the temporary plate for? Might as well allowed new car without any plate to go on the road.
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geoffo
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Discussion 15 : 14/01/2011 at 01:37 PM15
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Re#14 Dickfarang, I agree, I was stopped with red plates and reminded the time limit was 6.00pm.

I also had a road rage fight once with a taxi after I overtook him on Petchaburi, he overtook again and tried to sideswipe me. We stopped at the lights under the Rama V expressway with the taxi in front. He tried to reverse into me. I blew the horn repeatedly. The good officer looked up from inside his box ,watched the antics for a bit then went back to his newspaper. The taxi was an old green / yellow jobbie, with faded signs, been hit by a train at least twice as it was crabbing sideways down the road and unlikely to be registered.

As another poster said, be careful out there nowday's. it ain't what it used to be.
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DickFarang
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Discussion 14 : 14/01/2011 at 10:39 AM14
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I thought that it was forbidden to drive with red number plates at night.

Why is it not enforced ?
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GenetheMachine
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Discussion 13 : 14/01/2011 at 10:37 AM13
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This is an attempt at murder on a public. The Thai police should pursue it further.

This week in California 4 young gang members were arrested for killing another young man while he driving his car on a highway. They thought he was someone else from a another gang. It took the police a year to arrest these guys but they are in jail now.

Please Thai police, try harder. There are only so many new white Fortuner cars.
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abbub
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Discussion 12 : 14/01/2011 at 10:12 AM12
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SPICEMAN: wonderful...

There is no way anyone can convince me the red license plates cannot be traced if the effort is made. I am astounded at such an assertion.

Of what use would red plates be f they could not be traced?

I do agree that Thailand is not what it used to be. And now with democracy being dismantled and 100 dead in the streets things can only get worse.

My suspicion is these shooters have links to paramilitary groups or some pretty strong characters in other shady business.
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smiles999
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Discussion 11 : 14/01/2011 at 10:02 AM11
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Hi, # agree with 1. Why should it be hard to find the person/fortuner ? From the area/route, there would have been at least a dozen cameras which could have a record. The police surely know from the profile of the case, that it should be a person with a big clout who would have done it.
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puzzle
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Discussion 10 : 14/01/2011 at 09:59 AM10
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Well if the police can't track the driver because it has a red number plate why do they bother with them at all, that said bearing in mind that the Honda Civic that was involved in the recent Tollway massacre was apparently carrying the registration plate of a Mitsubhishi pickup I suppose it doesn't really make any difference. Another case of 'Amazing Thailand' this place is completely out of control.
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cyfi
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Discussion 9 : 14/01/2011 at 09:39 AM9
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One big issue with headlights in Thailand is the use of xenon lights.it is almost blinding when a car uses those lights and specially SUV cars like Fortuner in this case.i am quite confident this was the case with this fortuner.likely to be some well connected gangster from Chonburi.things will go quiet and life will go on.rule of thumb caution note never horn and/or flashlight at pickups and SUVs, more often than not those are the short fuse angry ones
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