The couple had been enjoying what they described as an idyllic holiday in Phuket’s neighbouring province when they were set upon in an apparently unprovoked attack by a gang of between six to eight youths whilst walking along Krabi Pier.
Speaking from the Bangkok Hospital Phuket bed where he was receiving treatment last month Jack Cole told The Phuket News of that fateful night.
“We happened to walk past a group of eight young Thai teenagers sitting around on their motorbikes,” Jack said, which was when the trouble began.
He says that he didn’t think anything of the group and walked past, but when they got about 50 metres away, someone from the group threw a large piece of concrete that hit him in his lower back.
When he turned around to see who it was, all eight youths were already running toward he and his girlfriend April Clifton with “sticks, machetes and a butterfly knife”.
They both started running “screaming for help”, but the group caught up to them and started attacking him. Jack said he “thought that they were going to kill him and rape his girlfriend”, because she was being held back by two men around 20 metres away.
He remembers himself yelling “get off her”, to the group.
In the ensuing fracas, Jack was stabbed and slashed by one of the Thai teens and subsequently needed 30 stitches from the machete wound.
Two members of the group were recently charged, one is now in jail and the other, who is a minor, is in Krabi Youth Detention Centre.
The Sun reported that Jack has since returned to work and is having physiotherapy and has recommended all British travellers to Thailand to get travel insurance and to know the emergency services numbers.
For the record, they are: Tourist Police (1155), local police (191), rescue (1669).
Read The Phuket News’ original story here and The Sun’s story here.