ONE OF OUR OWN WAS MURDERED IN BANGKOK

[gone fishin]

I just got an email informing me that tpilk, ie. Troy Pilkington or 'Chip' as he was known to his friends had an altercation with a taxi driver near his home in Bangkok and the taxi driver took a sword out of the trunk and stabbed Chip in the heart.  I met Chip on this forum and he had invited me to go fishing with him in Bangkok.  Recently, I had some business to attend to in Thailand so we were able to get in a total of 5 days of fishing.  It is hard to believe that just 3 weeks after saying goodbye that he was killed.  I know that some of you have met Chip and would want to know.  Keeping in mind that the media can't get 50% of its facts straight, you can learn more about the attack by Googling his name, Troy Pilkington.

Norm

[Bryan Young]

So very sad. My his soul rest in peace.

[Keta]

My dad lives in Bangkok and he sent me a article about this, bummer!

[Brendan]

I don't know him or what really occurred. Still don't like those kind of stories. It's just a waste.

[Ron Jones]

$1.60!!

I am just kind of speechless. Does anyone know if he had family? My prayers to all who cared for him, including us.

Ron

[gone fishin]

Ron, I was absolutely stunned.  I don't think the altercation was so much about the amount of money as the principle.  In the brief time that I knew Chip, I could tell that he had a very strong conviction of what was right and what was wrong and he would not hesitate to become physically involved.  Sometime during the dispute, the taxi driver apparently felt that he lost 'face' and escalated the dispute to deadly force.

Chip is survived by his Thai wife and her children from a previous marriage and his siblings and mother in Idaho.  His brother notified me of Chip's death.  Chip had no children of his own but was very supportive of his wife's family.  Chip had a good job working for Catepiller and his brother assured me that his wife will be well taken care of financially.

Thanks for the prayers; I need them.

Norm

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

just sad to hear of this, may  he rest in peace...

[conchydong]

just sad to hear of this, may  he rest in peace...

X2

[alantani]

chip has been over to the house a couple of times.  this is so tragic.   

[Cone]

This is very sad! May god take care of his family. Bob

[Fishnmike]

Never met him or talked to him but Wow! So sad.

[franky]

Speechless....

[broadway]

This is a very sad story... my deepest condolences to the family
Dom

[Bucktail]

Terrible.

[alantani]

there was something that chip had written a while back.  i pulled up some old e-mails and came across this. 

\

My recommendation is have a level-headed, but savvy Thai negotiate for you. You will need to decide your limit if you go ahead and pay the bribe. I'm sorry to say it's one of the many "realities" we face when we choose to live abroad. Being realistic about this country is the first step in accepting and subsequently being at peace with your new home. Many can't take it and become very negative towards Thais and this government and they eventually leave. I guess after 4 years I'm somewhere in the middle. I still want to be here but I struggle every day with the arrogance and aggression towards foreigners, as well as the blatant corruption. We can talk about safety in the future, but understand that foreigners are killed here on a regular basis. That said, most of those situations could have been avoided. A common example is a taxi driver will not start the meter and then throws a ridiculously high fare at the customer...the customer complains, then refuses and the taxi driver stabs or shoots him. Happens all the time. Life is incredibly cheap here - don't engage in a potentially fatal conflict over a few hundred baht. Unfortunately, some Thais will surely kill over such a small sum.

Don't mean to sound so negative, but as I said, accepting the reality is the first step in long-term happiness (and healthiness) here. It can be a wonderful place to live - it's by far my first choice in the region.

Take care

Chip