ttaaee
12-02-05, 06:06 PM
Almost 2 months ago, around 9.30 pm, I rode a Skytrain from Asoke to Taksin Bridge station. It was almost 10 o'clock when I got off the train. While I was walking down from the platform level, carrying my favorite backpack on my back, I kind of felt that somebody was walking right behind me but I didn't pay attention to him/her. Walking down to the street level with only a few other passengers, I could feel that my backpack was weirdly bouncing up and down. So I checked it.
Surprise! :eek: , it was fully opened. Its 2 compartments were unzipped all the way down. I was sure that I had them zipped up before I boarded the train and was pretty darn sure that they were closed during the ride because I put my backpack on an empty seat next to me, as always, if available.
Being unzipped all the way down like that, somebody, which wasn't me, had to do it. Once I realized that my backpack was opened, I noticed a guy hurrily passing me down the stairs and quickly dissappearing into one of the dark alleys. And then the "what-ifs" panic attacked me. What if I hadn't noticed the way my backpack oddly bouncing up and down. What if that guy had a knife, or worse, a gun. What if that guy had attacked and forced me to give in my belongings. I could felt an adrenaline rush. :eek:
I'm not a small guy, actually, I'm quite bigger and taller that most Thai men, but I was picked as a target which I have no idea why. Most probably, because I didn't have the "look" of a local yet (well, I have to admit, I was somewhat americanized during my stay abroad). I think, I looked just like an Asian tourist traveling alone, not knowing the city very well... an easy target.
I'm concerned for other passengers' safety, especially ladies and tourists, who use Skytrain during late night hours. :(
That was the first time that I felt unsafe here, in my very own hometown.
PS. The reason I hadn't posted this story a while back because it happened in the very night before the tsunamis hitting the south. The tsunami incident was a national disaster not a personal one like mine. No one, not even myself, would pay attention to my quite exciting experience. So I almost forgot it... until today.
Surprise! :eek: , it was fully opened. Its 2 compartments were unzipped all the way down. I was sure that I had them zipped up before I boarded the train and was pretty darn sure that they were closed during the ride because I put my backpack on an empty seat next to me, as always, if available.
Being unzipped all the way down like that, somebody, which wasn't me, had to do it. Once I realized that my backpack was opened, I noticed a guy hurrily passing me down the stairs and quickly dissappearing into one of the dark alleys. And then the "what-ifs" panic attacked me. What if I hadn't noticed the way my backpack oddly bouncing up and down. What if that guy had a knife, or worse, a gun. What if that guy had attacked and forced me to give in my belongings. I could felt an adrenaline rush. :eek:
I'm not a small guy, actually, I'm quite bigger and taller that most Thai men, but I was picked as a target which I have no idea why. Most probably, because I didn't have the "look" of a local yet (well, I have to admit, I was somewhat americanized during my stay abroad). I think, I looked just like an Asian tourist traveling alone, not knowing the city very well... an easy target.
I'm concerned for other passengers' safety, especially ladies and tourists, who use Skytrain during late night hours. :(
That was the first time that I felt unsafe here, in my very own hometown.
PS. The reason I hadn't posted this story a while back because it happened in the very night before the tsunamis hitting the south. The tsunami incident was a national disaster not a personal one like mine. No one, not even myself, would pay attention to my quite exciting experience. So I almost forgot it... until today.