Alleged drunk American stabs Australian man to death in Krabi

A reportedly drunk American man stabbed an Australian man to death in the southern province of Krabi, following a heated argument at a bar on Ao Nang Beach.

Officers from Ao Nang Police Station investigated the stabbing, which occurred on the roadside near Nopparat Thara Beach at 2am on July 22. Rescuers had already taken the injured Australian man, later identified as 35 year old Liam Michael Ross, to hospital before the police arrived.

Ross suffered a stab wound to his stomach and later died at Wattana Phat An Nang Hospital, Khao Phuket reported.

The perpetrator, 27 year old American Randall Owen Johnson, was arrested at the scene. Officers seized the knife used in the fatal attack from him.

Khao Phuket reported that the two men were friends who hung out at a bar on Ao Nang Beach before getting into a heated argument. The details of their disagreement were not made public. The argument escalated into a physical altercation. Johnson, reportedly unable to defend himself, stabbed Ross with the knife.

However, Ban Mueang news agency reported a different account, stating that the two men were not friends but met at the bar, where an argument led to the fatal stabbing.

Johnson has been charged under Section 290 of the Criminal Law: committing a fatal attack, which carries a penalty of three to 15 years’ imprisonment.

In a similar incident in May, a Thai man and a Frenchman engaged in a knife fight on a road in Phuket. Both were injured, with the Thai man in critical condition. The motive for their violent argument remains unknown.

Another similar altercation occurred between a Thai bar owner and a foreign man at a Pattaya bar in June. The bar owner’s girlfriend refused to serve the foreigner a beer because the bar was closing, angering him. He then pushed the woman and punched another foreign man who intervened.

The bar owner, unable to tolerate the foreigner’s behaviour, also intervened, and the situation escalated into a physical fight.