34-year-old UK national Amitpal Singh Bajaj was staying in an adjacent hotel room with his Singaporean wife and young child when the row escalated over the Norwegian’s noisy behaviour which could not be controlled by hotel security
A Norwegian on holiday in the Karon area of Phuket has been released on bail by the provincial court after causing the death of a UK man early on Wednesday morning at a hotel resort when an early morning row over noise turned lethally violent.
A Norwegian national on holiday on the west coast of the island of Phuket near Karon has told Thai police that he killed a UK national in the early hours of Wednesday morning after a fight ensued at a holiday resort over loud music.
The accused man has been named by Thai police as 53-year-old Roger Bullman from Oslo who says he was attacked by the UK man identified as 34-year-old Amitpal Singh Bajaj.
Violent confrontation occurred at 4 am
The incident began at approximately 4 am at the resort when hotel security had to be called on two occasions to the room of Mr Bullman who was reported to have been making excessive noise and drunk.
The UK national is reported to have come to Phuket for a holiday with his Singaporean wife and their baby boy who is 1 year and 8 months. The family were staying next to the hotel room of Mr Bullman.
UK man lost patience with his Norwegian hotel neighbour and entered his room with a knife
On Thursday, Major Ekkachai Siri of the Thai Tourist Police in Karon, Phuket spoke to the local newspaper, The Phuket News, about the tragic incident.
He explained that Mr Bajaj, at some point, lost patience with efforts to get the Norwegian resident at the resort to quieten down and took the matter into his hands. ‘Mr Bajaj carried a steak knife into Mr Bullman’s room. They started fighting and Mr Bajaj stabbed Mr Bullman in the left shoulder,’ the Thai police officer explained. This happened at approximately 4 am.
UK man succumbed to a chokehold
The Norwegian responded to the attack by the UK man and managed to get him to a chokehold position. The senior Thai police officer told the media that Mr Bullman had previously had martial arts training. The Norwegian told the Thai police that his intention was not to kill the UK man but this is what happened. When the UK man was released from the chokehold, he was dead.
Norwegian facing a charge of causing harm resulting in death before Phuket Provincial Court
Thai police have charged the Norwegian man with causing harm to another person resulting in death. The Norwegian was taken before the Phuket Provincial Court where bail was granted and set at ฿200,000.
Consequently, Mr Bullman has had to surrender his passport to police and cannot leave the country until the charge against him has been heard and disposed of by the court.
The current charge against the UK man is similar to the western one of manslaughter and could result in a prison term of between three to fifteen years if the Norwegian is found guilty.
