PHUKET: This is Simon Wilson Menzies, the Australian who owns a Phuket bar and whose 33rd birthday party went horribly wrong when he and American Junie Browning came to blows.
Just who was the aggressor remains the key issue.
Both men visited a Phuket police station yesterday, still walking wounded from their encounter at the Native Bar in Phuket's beachside Karon district, a violent encounter that continued later at a local hospital.
Mr Menzies yesterday showed Phuketwan the back brace he is wearing, and the 18 stitches in one hand, along with a leg wound that is home to five stitches.
The tall Aussie went to Chalong Police Station with his Thai wife, Sukanya Sisomboon, 25, who had eight stitches in a finger.
Yesterday it was strictly shadow-boxing as both parties in the now-notorious brawl that spread from the bar to Patong Hospital met with police.
First, Mr Menzies' lawyer went to talk to police, followed by the couple. Junie Browning and his girlfriend Laura are thought to have been in a nearby coffee shop, waiting for a call.
Mr Menzies told police he did not wish to mediate a solution. The biggest point of difference in the two accounts of how the birthday party went wrong centres on which man threw the first punch.
Browning, 26, and his girlfriend told police that he was set upon by about 15 expats at the bar that night, and that his heart stopped twice in the ambulance on the way to hospital.
Later, after the brawl continued at the hospital, the pair fled and collected their belongings before catching a taxi off Phuket to a quieter neighboring province, Krabi.
On the way off the island, the couple told police, Mr Browning received a telephone call from Mr Menzies.
The men did not know each other before that Sunday night but the Brownings had been invited to the birthday party by a mutual friend, Maryjane Castro.
She had given Mr Menzies the phone number of Mr Browning, who has fought as ''The Lunatic''.
While Ms Castro remains central to both accounts of the men's bruising encouter, she is reported to have since left Phuket.
The Brownings say that Junie and Menzies didn't get on from the beginning at the birthday party. Mr Menzies interrupted a conversation between Junie and Ms Castro and the fight began.
Browning's girlfriend Laura says that only expats were involved, and that she was punched and bruised as beer bottles were broken and the fight escalated.
Mr Menzies and his wife tell a different story. He says Browning and Ms Castro were arguing outside the bar. When he interrupted and told them to enjoy themselves, Browning started the fight, Mr Menzies says.
Taxi drivers from a nearby cab rank dragged Mr Browning away three times, but each time he cam back fighting, Mr Menzies told police.
Whether the two men will eventually settle for mediation remains undetermined at this stage.
Mr Browning told police that in the telephone call he received from Mr Menzies, Mr Menzies demanded 300,000 baht in compensation and added: ''If you don't pay up, get out of the country.''
Mr Browning went to Krabi then flew from the nearby city of Had Yai to Bangkok where he stayed with friends until returning to Phuket on Monday.
Mr Menzies is due to make a visa run off Phuket on December 26. Police told him yesterday that he is free to travel.
Mr Browning says he will require more medical treatment and needs to consult a specialist about his head injuries.
He says he will not be able to even train as a mixed martial arts fighter for six months.
Just who was the aggressor remains the key issue.
Both men visited a Phuket police station yesterday, still walking wounded from their encounter at the Native Bar in Phuket's beachside Karon district, a violent encounter that continued later at a local hospital.
Mr Menzies yesterday showed Phuketwan the back brace he is wearing, and the 18 stitches in one hand, along with a leg wound that is home to five stitches.
The tall Aussie went to Chalong Police Station with his Thai wife, Sukanya Sisomboon, 25, who had eight stitches in a finger.
Yesterday it was strictly shadow-boxing as both parties in the now-notorious brawl that spread from the bar to Patong Hospital met with police.
First, Mr Menzies' lawyer went to talk to police, followed by the couple. Junie Browning and his girlfriend Laura are thought to have been in a nearby coffee shop, waiting for a call.
Mr Menzies told police he did not wish to mediate a solution. The biggest point of difference in the two accounts of how the birthday party went wrong centres on which man threw the first punch.
Browning, 26, and his girlfriend told police that he was set upon by about 15 expats at the bar that night, and that his heart stopped twice in the ambulance on the way to hospital.
Later, after the brawl continued at the hospital, the pair fled and collected their belongings before catching a taxi off Phuket to a quieter neighboring province, Krabi.
On the way off the island, the couple told police, Mr Browning received a telephone call from Mr Menzies.
The men did not know each other before that Sunday night but the Brownings had been invited to the birthday party by a mutual friend, Maryjane Castro.
She had given Mr Menzies the phone number of Mr Browning, who has fought as ''The Lunatic''.
While Ms Castro remains central to both accounts of the men's bruising encouter, she is reported to have since left Phuket.
The Brownings say that Junie and Menzies didn't get on from the beginning at the birthday party. Mr Menzies interrupted a conversation between Junie and Ms Castro and the fight began.
Browning's girlfriend Laura says that only expats were involved, and that she was punched and bruised as beer bottles were broken and the fight escalated.
Mr Menzies and his wife tell a different story. He says Browning and Ms Castro were arguing outside the bar. When he interrupted and told them to enjoy themselves, Browning started the fight, Mr Menzies says.
Taxi drivers from a nearby cab rank dragged Mr Browning away three times, but each time he cam back fighting, Mr Menzies told police.
Whether the two men will eventually settle for mediation remains undetermined at this stage.
Mr Browning told police that in the telephone call he received from Mr Menzies, Mr Menzies demanded 300,000 baht in compensation and added: ''If you don't pay up, get out of the country.''
Mr Browning went to Krabi then flew from the nearby city of Had Yai to Bangkok where he stayed with friends until returning to Phuket on Monday.
Mr Menzies is due to make a visa run off Phuket on December 26. Police told him yesterday that he is free to travel.
Mr Browning says he will require more medical treatment and needs to consult a specialist about his head injuries.
He says he will not be able to even train as a mixed martial arts fighter for six months.
No damage to property, just to a couple of egos... What's the problem here???
Time to grow up and walk away, gents.
Posted by kobee77 on December 22, 2011 10:46