British Tourist Who Complained Of Noise Strangled To Death By Norwegian In Thai Resort

A Malaysian born man, Amitpal Singh Bajaj, 34, who later became a British Citizen was killed at a Thailand resort after being put in a chokehold and strangled by a Norwegian man named Roger Bullman, 53. Bullman was charged with manslaughter and was granted bail in the amount of 400,000 baht (about $13,000 USD). Bajaj leaves behind a widow, Bandhna Kaur Bajaj, 34 and a son who will turn 2 in December.

According to the Phuket News, the incident happened at the Centara Grand Resort in Karon, a resort town on the west coast of Phuket Island. Major Techin Deethongon of the Karon Police who was the first responder noted, “We received notice at 4 a.m. on August 21 that there were tourists fighting at the Centara Grand Resort. Karon Police went to the scene.”

He continued, “There we found Mr. Roger Bullman, 53 years old, with a cut wound from a sharp object on his left shoulder and he had bruises on the left side of his face. British national Amitpal Singh Bajaj, 34, was lying face down in front of his room. His nose and mouth were bleeding, his breathing was weak. He was taken to Patong Hospital directly…”

Other reports have the incident beginning when Mr. Bajaj confronted Mr. Bullman for making too much noise because his wife and child wanted to sleep. The two families had adjoining rooms and Bullman was supposedly singing on the balcony in the early hours of August 25. An argument began when Bajaj complained about the singing and Bullman broke down the adjoining door and entered the room.

During the altercation al least one bottle was used in the fight and the fight progressed to outside the room. Bullman was the larger of the two men and soon had his opponent in the lethal chokehold. A security guard arrived at the scene and saw Mr. Bullman on top of Mr. Bajaj while choking him with his arm. Bullman immediately released the hold when the security guard shouted at him to stop.

A member of the Phuket Tourist Police, Major Ekkachai Siri told The Independent that, “Mr. Bullman had previously been trained in martial arts, but he said he did not attempt to kill Mr. Bajaj. He didn’t think that Mr. Bajaj had died.” He also said that the Norwegian had been intoxicated and had been warned twice by hotel personnel for making too much noise.

Bandhna, who witnessed the whole event maintained a stoic pose when she calmly said, “It’s actually been very, very hard, because it was almost like I (am) living a nightmare that I just wish I could wake up from. When I close my eyes, I can still see the whole incident ... but I keep telling myself I can't break down. I need to be brave for my son." She also says her son keeps looking for his dad.