Asian Motorcycle Adventures Trouble in Laos
- Thread starter Peter1
- Start date
Many GT-Riders and friends have been following this story and have shown great concern in their thoughts, best wishes and in many cases their pocket book. I surely hope a translation is forthcoming so we can all share in the comments from the only person who truly knows all that occurred........Davidfl wrote: A statement & thank you in Thai from Yoi for all you Thai forum members....
Silverhawk
English translations of Yoi's statement are coming, along with one other that Capt Chaos / AMA tried to stitch Yoi up with & totally absolving RR / AMA from any personal / corporate responsibility whatsoever. It would all be unbelievable if it were not Capt. Chaos (RR) himself!
English translations of Yoi's statement are coming, along with one other that Capt Chaos / AMA tried to stitch Yoi up with & totally absolving RR / AMA from any personal / corporate responsibility whatsoever. It would all be unbelievable if it were not Capt. Chaos (RR) himself!
What Captain Chaos & Co. asked Yoi to sign when he got off the plane in Chiang Mai, after 19 months in jail in LPQ.
This document was prepared in advance without Yoi's knowledge, hoping to snare him on arrival with a non-Thai version. Needless to say, now that he has it translated he is not very impressed. The extremely laughable bit: "I hold him in the highest esteem."
This document was prepared in advance without Yoi's knowledge, hoping to snare him on arrival with a non-Thai version. Needless to say, now that he has it translated he is not very impressed. The extremely laughable bit: "I hold him in the highest esteem."
Here is a link to a story in the current City Life magazine which describes life in a S.E. Asia jail and gives an example of what Yoi must have had to endure, shameful! :x
http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=2289
Also see;
http://foreignprisoners.com/
http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=2289
Also see;
http://foreignprisoners.com/
That english language document is a serious joke. Very interesting to see that the "witnesses" have already signed it before the intended party, Yoi. That would be a tadbit pointless me thinks. But then it's intended to point fingers away from a certain party(ies) so that originator can act big. Pretty sad, but I am very happy that Yoi is out and back in LOS. He lost nearly two years of his live only to get another dagger thrust towards his back. Good thing someone was there watching it for him!
Good luck brother!
Good luck brother!
Happy Feet
The doc Yoi was asked to sign was presented to him in English by RR's associate & pre signed. No mistake there, but the facts are wrong. Why Yoi would not sign!
Translations have been done by a professional translation company from Bkk & Yoi is checking them first. No mistakes there either.
An incredible story indeed. Even more distressing is that I am hearing rumors of people here going in partnership or at least assisting RR in continuing to operate tours in some form here.
I can only say that I hope this isn't true. To me maintaining ones integrity and moral character far outweighs what monetary gains may be had by participating in any way with someone who has directly or indirectly allowed the above mega-tragedy to occur.
Yoi, thank you for maintaining your beliefs and sharing your thoughts after such an ordeal. It was a pleasure meeting you.
I can only say that I hope this isn't true. To me maintaining ones integrity and moral character far outweighs what monetary gains may be had by participating in any way with someone who has directly or indirectly allowed the above mega-tragedy to occur.
Yoi, thank you for maintaining your beliefs and sharing your thoughts after such an ordeal. It was a pleasure meeting you.
No, my concern is not to improve motorcycling in Southeast Asia, although that would be nice to see. My concern is when an employee and allegedly a friend winds up in great difficulty and jail and the owner/operator runs off and deserts them.
I too have never met R/R. I would not know him if I saw him. Yoi indeed violated laws himself. Negligent driving could put you in jail in any country. This was not any country, this was Laos where the jails are notorious worldwide.
Forget about the tour allegations if you want. Yoi needed food, clothing, medicine, where was R/R? I made more than one trip myself to Luang Prabang delivering money donated by many who were concerned of his welfare as did others. Davidfl had to take up collections, solicit care from people and try to keep Yoi at least alive. R/R I understand is a person of means. Where was he?
If he was afraid to surface personally why didn't his agents/family/ company come forward and try to help with only the humanitarian needs if not the the criminal defense? Where was his statements or defense if he was so innocent. A man should stand up and face his problems/mistakes not hide like a rat.
Happy feet, you say "............ that would 100% legitamise R/R operations would be taking a step in the right direction for all involved, from employees to the 140 customers that would be properly taken care of." I say, Why the f&*ck should anything about R/R operations now be legitimized? It was never legitimate and his luck finally ran out. As in any sport or business that requires a license he should be banned not legitimized! Yeah lets make sure his customers are "properly taken care of". Are you kidding me? What importance is that in comparison to how Yoi was taken care of?
Yes, other operators should develop and continue THEIR business and hopefully make a profit, but surely not in any way that is going to benefit or legitimize a person who has the character of the person shown in this incident.
We get selective vision here when it comes to the 100% legitimacy of our motorcycling. Just read the reports. There are very few of us that are not walking a very thin line. Our "motarding" through villages, "road racing" on the highways, etc, etc. It is only by luck we have not been in Yoi's driving predicament. How many GT-Riders have been hurt and even killed motorcycling here? 100% safety record, for how long? Legitimate? Do we really want the Thai officials to do their job without bribes or deals? Shall we take a look at Big bike imports? How about green books and changed numbers as an example? Yes, you can insert my name any place in this paragraph and I must say "guilty as charged". But if I am ever "officially" charged, I feel I can say with certainty that my friends will be standing next to me and supporting me not hiding in some hole!
Sorry for the rant, and don't take it personally, but I feel pretty strongly about this.
Mark
Unsubstantiated gossip??????
Look at the list of complaints against the guy.
Re read Nick Ascott North-By-North East's letter of complaint.
Fleeing the scene in Laos.
Sleeping in guesthouses away from his tour customers after the accident so the police could not find him for his illegal uninsured tour.
Jumping ship in Laos to avoid the Laos police & immigration waiting for him in Houei Xai = illegal departure from Laos / entry to Thailand.
Sorry but RR was totally irresponsible.
Yoi would have been out of jail in 3 months if RR had fronted up with money, & not run away like a coward & sewer rat.
He could not distance himself from the problem quick enough or far enough.
If he did nothing wrong was there any need to do any of that?
Totally disgusting IMHO.
In Nan province several years ago, what did he do when one his customers had a head on collision & killed someone. RR went & hid in his hotel room. Absolutely no effort or concern for his paying tour customer in hospital with head injuries, or the person killed / next of kin. Yoi & I sorted that problem out with the police / next of kin while RR was hiding in his hotel room. I never did anything / helped RR again after that shameless display...
Yoi pulled him from the wreckage of his car after a head on collision near Prachuap Khiri Khan.
Yoi negotiated with the police for another acident RR was involved in near Phrao. RR driving the white carribbean jeep sideswiped some kids on a motorbike. RR was negilgent but Yoi saved his arse.
Yoi's in jail for driving RR's uninsured car & what does RR do for Yoi - run away as quickly & as far away as possible.
Yeah yeah give RR a break, he's really a nice sincere victimized misunderstood gentleman. Absolutely NOT IMHO & speaking from 1st hand experience!
It is my understanding that this was done quite late in time. That is why the necessity of collections and deliveries to Laos and a lot of suffering before hand.
You are entitled to your opinion as am I. No hard feelings, this is a discussion forum.
edit: Double checking my statements by reading prior posts, it appears the first time any amount of money actually came forth was July 25th 2007. Yoi was incarcerated in December of 2006. The money even then went into an account in CNX and according to the post did not reach Yoi.
I really don't know how this can be construed as "unsubstantiated gossip". Read the letter from Nick Ascot. There are names and phone numbers of the police officers involved. Other facts are reported by people actually having direct contact with prosecutors and officials. Read the posts. Sure, each side has their own version but I think the overall picture is pretty clear.
As far as taking over a legitimate company not making you a bad person, I believe the key word is LEGITIMATE!
I think my opinion is pretty clear and I have probably said enough already. We'll see what happens from here.......
Whether an insurance policy had been bought before hand, or, not; I believe Yoi would till have done some time.
Let us not forget that an influentially connected Laos official had been killed.
The insurance payout - if there still was one, as the company may well have tried to blame liability upon the driver, Yoi -
would have become the baseline from which backshish negotiations would have begun.
However, RR's actions of cutting & running the scene of a fatal accident, his customers and employee,
do not appear to have been satisfactorily explained.
Neither has the alleged fact that Manop absconded with the insurance dues given him by RR,
as well as money -again allegedly from RR- paid to get Yoi out.
These allegations, if they are proven, would certainly make RR a hapless as well as hopeless tour operator;
but IMO puts the criminality firmly upon Manop's shoulders.
If Manop is lurking in Hang Dong, as it has been said, then he should be brought to justice.
As for RR, I personally would not want to do business with him as he appears to be a liability on so many levels.
As a postscript...
I understand that Yoi has been offered employment by two board members who would like to give him a helping hand.
But he has rejected their offers.
After the harrowing experience of being incarcerated in a Laos gaol,
it would do him a lot of good to get back into a society by working with other people
and having some surrounding supportive structure.
I would urge that him & those he takes advice from, to reconsider.
As starting out alone in business, after such an ordeal, is a surefire way IMO to personal as well as financial disaster.
Let us not forget that an influentially connected Laos official had been killed.
The insurance payout - if there still was one, as the company may well have tried to blame liability upon the driver, Yoi -
would have become the baseline from which backshish negotiations would have begun.
However, RR's actions of cutting & running the scene of a fatal accident, his customers and employee,
do not appear to have been satisfactorily explained.
Neither has the alleged fact that Manop absconded with the insurance dues given him by RR,
as well as money -again allegedly from RR- paid to get Yoi out.
These allegations, if they are proven, would certainly make RR a hapless as well as hopeless tour operator;
but IMO puts the criminality firmly upon Manop's shoulders.
If Manop is lurking in Hang Dong, as it has been said, then he should be brought to justice.
As for RR, I personally would not want to do business with him as he appears to be a liability on so many levels.
As a postscript...
I understand that Yoi has been offered employment by two board members who would like to give him a helping hand.
But he has rejected their offers.
After the harrowing experience of being incarcerated in a Laos gaol,
it would do him a lot of good to get back into a society by working with other people
and having some surrounding supportive structure.
I would urge that him & those he takes advice from, to reconsider.
As starting out alone in business, after such an ordeal, is a surefire way IMO to personal as well as financial disaster.
Reed Resnikoff is bad, bad news. Stay as far away from the guy as you possibly can.
From his visits over the years at the Boat Landing Guest House, I found to Reed to be obnoxious, disorganized and deceitful. He is a pathological liar and in the end only looks out for himself.
HAVE NOTHING TO WITH ANY TOUR HE IS INVOLVED WITH!
Regarding the tour where the man was killed, not only did he leave his driver in the lurch, but a number of other people where fined and were threatened with disciplinary action as the result of him bribing officials do bring in the truck involved in the accident. He had no accident insurance and so had to bribe. The Lao guide on the trip was fined $100 because the tour did not have the proper licenses and permissions.
Reed never ever contacted the companies hosting his tour after the accident. He was grossly irresponsible.
You are warned! Reed Resnikoff is bad news!
From his visits over the years at the Boat Landing Guest House, I found to Reed to be obnoxious, disorganized and deceitful. He is a pathological liar and in the end only looks out for himself.
HAVE NOTHING TO WITH ANY TOUR HE IS INVOLVED WITH!
Regarding the tour where the man was killed, not only did he leave his driver in the lurch, but a number of other people where fined and were threatened with disciplinary action as the result of him bribing officials do bring in the truck involved in the accident. He had no accident insurance and so had to bribe. The Lao guide on the trip was fined $100 because the tour did not have the proper licenses and permissions.
Reed never ever contacted the companies hosting his tour after the accident. He was grossly irresponsible.
You are warned! Reed Resnikoff is bad news!
HF-
This statement could cast dispersions on any number of people as you don't name the person you are calling a liar (probably not a good thing to do). As you and I have been public on here about our differing opinions I just want it clear you are not talking about me as I have not seen any emails that you allude to and I did not say you are in partnerships. I made a statement re: rumors and you seemed to jump to the defense for whatever reason.
Just so it is clear to other board readers that you and I not having any sort of personal battle here and are still friends. :wink:
The story starts with Reed arriving with his tour group in Chiang Khong. He is able to get a local tour company called Udomsay Travel to do the papers for the motorbikes. According to the police investigation, the were no documents showing the entry of the truck. It is assumed that he did not have insurance coverage inside Laos and therefore he had to pay people off to get the truck in.
Reed did not have papers to conduct a group tour in Laos. These papers can only be obtained from a licensed inbound operator. Nick for North by Northeast receives a call from Reed on his Thai phone. I pieceing things together later, at the time of the call Reed was already in Laos, although he led Nick to believe he was still in Chiang Khong, Thailand. Reed askes Nick why he hasn't processed the papers. Nick said we never had an agreement. Nick, however, tries to help Reed out and puts his staff on getting the approvals. North by Northeast is unable to get an escort guide to HX in time so they called Green Discovery in Luang Namtha to request an escort guide. The guide is briefed and ready to go.
Reed shows up at the Green Discovery office in Namtha and is surprised to find his escort guide and papers.
After this point Reed never contacts either Green Discovery or North by Northeast despite the fact that he driver killed a district governor while on a tour they were legally responsible for. North by Northeast never received one cent from Reed for all of the grief that he caused them.
THe escort guide was later fine 100% of the money he received for the trip as he was on an illegal tour and both Green Discovery and North by Northeast were censured by the tourism authorities. I will send David a copy of the Lao Tourism police report for about the tour guide. He can post it if he wants.
Reed left a lot people picking up the pieces for him. A lot people paid a price for his folly. Yoi may have been at fault for hitting and killing the governor. But he could have suffered a lot less if the truck had insurance and his employer took responsibilty for the situation.
I repeat Reed is pathological. Have nothing to do with him.[/img]
Reed did not have papers to conduct a group tour in Laos. These papers can only be obtained from a licensed inbound operator. Nick for North by Northeast receives a call from Reed on his Thai phone. I pieceing things together later, at the time of the call Reed was already in Laos, although he led Nick to believe he was still in Chiang Khong, Thailand. Reed askes Nick why he hasn't processed the papers. Nick said we never had an agreement. Nick, however, tries to help Reed out and puts his staff on getting the approvals. North by Northeast is unable to get an escort guide to HX in time so they called Green Discovery in Luang Namtha to request an escort guide. The guide is briefed and ready to go.
Reed shows up at the Green Discovery office in Namtha and is surprised to find his escort guide and papers.
After this point Reed never contacts either Green Discovery or North by Northeast despite the fact that he driver killed a district governor while on a tour they were legally responsible for. North by Northeast never received one cent from Reed for all of the grief that he caused them.
THe escort guide was later fine 100% of the money he received for the trip as he was on an illegal tour and both Green Discovery and North by Northeast were censured by the tourism authorities. I will send David a copy of the Lao Tourism police report for about the tour guide. He can post it if he wants.
Reed left a lot people picking up the pieces for him. A lot people paid a price for his folly. Yoi may have been at fault for hitting and killing the governor. But he could have suffered a lot less if the truck had insurance and his employer took responsibilty for the situation.
I repeat Reed is pathological. Have nothing to do with him.[/img]
With amazement I read here about my good friend Reed Resnikoff. A scholar and a Gentleman. He is a well educated nice New Yorker with a few "rough edges" as most Motor Bike riders. I happen to know a bit about this situation as I am also close with the guy that helped the whole Lao story (BTW that help started 1 month after the incident and never ceased)
AMA crossed the border and contacted a friend who does tours in Lao to be the guarantor (They received money for that). Furthermore at the border he paid 150.000 Baht to Manope,his guide,to be used for the insurance. The insurance company came, Manope (and Yoi for that matter) sat down with the woman and money changed hands as well as documents. All happened in Lao language so Reed didn't know what exactly was going on, papers are also in Lao (it turns out Manope had been "skimming" off this insurance money EVERY trip they had made, he pocketed it and paid some to the insurance person for the whole act, by the way Yoi KNEW this but never told Reed, afraid of whatever might evolve between him and Manope, if he told Reed).
The accident indeed occurred due to the fact that Yoi got off his side of the road at bit but the Lao car was travelling at extreme speed. The Lao car had also removed and sold it's airbags (3500B each to Thailand!)which would have obviously saved everyone inside. This is also why everyone in the sweep pick up truck that Yoi drove was only slightly bruised, eventhough both cars were "totalled". And yes, the Laos didn't wear seat belts. Reed and his group was 30K's away when all this occurred. He drove back and found the scene.
All awfull enough,himself and Yoi decided to wait but no help came for a while. They left with the group only to hear from Manope that there was no insurance (he had a fancy story about that). Now Reed was worried as he had told Yoi to wait for authorities (being confident he had a good insurance). Now in Luang Prabang he heard authorities were looking for him and that the Deceased was a Government official. He contacted the Tour operator and they said they had nothing to do with it and even pretended not to know him (people in Lao are very afraid when Government officials of, let's not forget, this communist regime, are involved, PLUS they are also very nice lovely people until you touch one of their own, then they become very vengefull...). Now there was only one thing to do if he wanted to be able to HELP Yoi (Don't forget he just lost lots of money, his truck was destroyed -that was the one Yoi drove- and his Tour was screwed up...). So he gave Manope about 12000 US$ that he had on him to try and salvage things and to help Yoi then and there.
This was once again a grave mistake: He just gave the money to the person that is the cause of the whole problem. Manope pocketed most of the money did not give any to Yoi to help him in jail (as that was clear and he was escorted there) and told Reed that he paid it all to the Ferry man who got the bikes back across (as that was another worry for Reed and he didn't wanna fail on the rented bikes and get the lessor into trouble. Then, as Reed had decided that the only way he could still help Yoi was if he would be free himself, he crossed the border and on the Thai side was picked up by another acquaintance of ours (a biker too). He met up with Manope gave him the last money he had and told him to make sure that Yoi would get this so that he'd be "comfortable" in jail, for whatever it's worth.
He then went back to Chiang Mai and started contacting lawyers and my friend whom told me the story. This friend lives in Chiang Mai 28 years and has lots of contacts but also advised Reed to try and get money as in the end that would be the only thing that would help Yoi. Reed therefore went back (as he was now illegal in Thailand, without his stamps and all, it cost him 70.000B to get it all legal again) to the USA to try and get more cash.
As his Motorcycle business was now completely wasted he had to get to work as the easiest job to get with (if you work long hours) good money: New York Cab driver. He quickly sent over money to get the lawyer to go to work (an asshole as most lawyers) and paid him a total of 100.000B to just GET TO WORK. The lawyer said he contacted Lao officials and needed to go here and there and whereever. Meanwhile through a woman that Yoi's sister met in Luang Prabang he tried to get money to Yoi but this was always stopped somehow as he was told Yoi got it but it turns out he didn't. Then the lawyer wanted money to travel to Lao and all was paid on various occassions but to no avail (I take it he just pocketed from the farang in trouble).
This went on for about 7 months and then the family of the victim started calling. Reed then sent money over from his hard earned wages to pay for the hospital bills of the wounded guy and the friend started negiotiating with the family of the deceased. They wanted 14 Million B. This was ofcourse an unrealistic sum especially as Manope had pocketed the money of the insurance (Do NOT be mistaken: if he had not pocketed that money there would have been hardly any problems except the very very sad fact that someone had died while speeding).
Now the Chiang Mai friend put in a silent campaign. This was purely to make the family understand that if any money would change hands it would have to be within a person's private reach. At the same time money was sent to Yoi's sister on various occassions, be it for travel to LP be it to give to Yoi and even a few times for Air tickets when they thought there was a breakthrough. Finally after months of meddling there was the possibility for a real breakthrough (I am not familiair with the total amounts but in the end all together it was more than a million PLUS what was left of Reed's truck had to be given to the family). Remember this was all being coughed up by a man working his Butt off as a cabbie, who had lost everything that was dear to him: His job, his bike, his future his Truck and his money. Should he then also lose his reputation on this site, I don't think so.
He gave it all he got within his limited possibilities. In the meantime Yoi is back thanks to Reed (lest we forget...) and he even helped him with some cash to try and restart his repair shop (again within his possibilities) the family has been paid and charges have been dropped and it turns out that many bike riders see Manope riding around on Reed's private bike, and he also has two other bikes that aren't his, but he probably sold them. So yeah let's burn Reed on this site (Look his name up on Google and you will see mainly good stories from people that went on tour with him; I did it was great!) and praise Manope for all the troubles he's seen.
Hope I haven't lost your attention but thought it should be said out loud: RR is a nice guys, yeah sure, with some rough edges like most bikers,he can be grumpy at times, in the morning before coffee, but most who know him and have been riding with him know that he's knowledgable, and if anything very cautious. If anyhting he surrounded himself with people he trusted that turned out to be not trustworthy. Now Manope is riding along freely with bike tours that should have been RR's. Yoi is out and knowsthat it's because of Reed and his friend and all expenses as well as travel expenses of his Brother in Law and sister were paid by RR. Let's get this straight please! KTM Freak
AMA crossed the border and contacted a friend who does tours in Lao to be the guarantor (They received money for that). Furthermore at the border he paid 150.000 Baht to Manope,his guide,to be used for the insurance. The insurance company came, Manope (and Yoi for that matter) sat down with the woman and money changed hands as well as documents. All happened in Lao language so Reed didn't know what exactly was going on, papers are also in Lao (it turns out Manope had been "skimming" off this insurance money EVERY trip they had made, he pocketed it and paid some to the insurance person for the whole act, by the way Yoi KNEW this but never told Reed, afraid of whatever might evolve between him and Manope, if he told Reed).
The accident indeed occurred due to the fact that Yoi got off his side of the road at bit but the Lao car was travelling at extreme speed. The Lao car had also removed and sold it's airbags (3500B each to Thailand!)which would have obviously saved everyone inside. This is also why everyone in the sweep pick up truck that Yoi drove was only slightly bruised, eventhough both cars were "totalled". And yes, the Laos didn't wear seat belts. Reed and his group was 30K's away when all this occurred. He drove back and found the scene.
All awfull enough,himself and Yoi decided to wait but no help came for a while. They left with the group only to hear from Manope that there was no insurance (he had a fancy story about that). Now Reed was worried as he had told Yoi to wait for authorities (being confident he had a good insurance). Now in Luang Prabang he heard authorities were looking for him and that the Deceased was a Government official. He contacted the Tour operator and they said they had nothing to do with it and even pretended not to know him (people in Lao are very afraid when Government officials of, let's not forget, this communist regime, are involved, PLUS they are also very nice lovely people until you touch one of their own, then they become very vengefull...). Now there was only one thing to do if he wanted to be able to HELP Yoi (Don't forget he just lost lots of money, his truck was destroyed -that was the one Yoi drove- and his Tour was screwed up...). So he gave Manope about 12000 US$ that he had on him to try and salvage things and to help Yoi then and there.
This was once again a grave mistake: He just gave the money to the person that is the cause of the whole problem. Manope pocketed most of the money did not give any to Yoi to help him in jail (as that was clear and he was escorted there) and told Reed that he paid it all to the Ferry man who got the bikes back across (as that was another worry for Reed and he didn't wanna fail on the rented bikes and get the lessor into trouble. Then, as Reed had decided that the only way he could still help Yoi was if he would be free himself, he crossed the border and on the Thai side was picked up by another acquaintance of ours (a biker too). He met up with Manope gave him the last money he had and told him to make sure that Yoi would get this so that he'd be "comfortable" in jail, for whatever it's worth.
He then went back to Chiang Mai and started contacting lawyers and my friend whom told me the story. This friend lives in Chiang Mai 28 years and has lots of contacts but also advised Reed to try and get money as in the end that would be the only thing that would help Yoi. Reed therefore went back (as he was now illegal in Thailand, without his stamps and all, it cost him 70.000B to get it all legal again) to the USA to try and get more cash.
As his Motorcycle business was now completely wasted he had to get to work as the easiest job to get with (if you work long hours) good money: New York Cab driver. He quickly sent over money to get the lawyer to go to work (an asshole as most lawyers) and paid him a total of 100.000B to just GET TO WORK. The lawyer said he contacted Lao officials and needed to go here and there and whereever. Meanwhile through a woman that Yoi's sister met in Luang Prabang he tried to get money to Yoi but this was always stopped somehow as he was told Yoi got it but it turns out he didn't. Then the lawyer wanted money to travel to Lao and all was paid on various occassions but to no avail (I take it he just pocketed from the farang in trouble).
This went on for about 7 months and then the family of the victim started calling. Reed then sent money over from his hard earned wages to pay for the hospital bills of the wounded guy and the friend started negiotiating with the family of the deceased. They wanted 14 Million B. This was ofcourse an unrealistic sum especially as Manope had pocketed the money of the insurance (Do NOT be mistaken: if he had not pocketed that money there would have been hardly any problems except the very very sad fact that someone had died while speeding).
Now the Chiang Mai friend put in a silent campaign. This was purely to make the family understand that if any money would change hands it would have to be within a person's private reach. At the same time money was sent to Yoi's sister on various occassions, be it for travel to LP be it to give to Yoi and even a few times for Air tickets when they thought there was a breakthrough. Finally after months of meddling there was the possibility for a real breakthrough (I am not familiair with the total amounts but in the end all together it was more than a million PLUS what was left of Reed's truck had to be given to the family). Remember this was all being coughed up by a man working his Butt off as a cabbie, who had lost everything that was dear to him: His job, his bike, his future his Truck and his money. Should he then also lose his reputation on this site, I don't think so.
He gave it all he got within his limited possibilities. In the meantime Yoi is back thanks to Reed (lest we forget...) and he even helped him with some cash to try and restart his repair shop (again within his possibilities) the family has been paid and charges have been dropped and it turns out that many bike riders see Manope riding around on Reed's private bike, and he also has two other bikes that aren't his, but he probably sold them. So yeah let's burn Reed on this site (Look his name up on Google and you will see mainly good stories from people that went on tour with him; I did it was great!) and praise Manope for all the troubles he's seen.
Hope I haven't lost your attention but thought it should be said out loud: RR is a nice guys, yeah sure, with some rough edges like most bikers,he can be grumpy at times, in the morning before coffee, but most who know him and have been riding with him know that he's knowledgable, and if anything very cautious. If anyhting he surrounded himself with people he trusted that turned out to be not trustworthy. Now Manope is riding along freely with bike tours that should have been RR's. Yoi is out and knowsthat it's because of Reed and his friend and all expenses as well as travel expenses of his Brother in Law and sister were paid by RR. Let's get this straight please! KTM Freak
BY the way: None of this can help the ordeal that the family of the deceased had to go through, it's all very sad. And it's the same thing for Yoi ofcourse, life in a Laotian jail is no joke. He can also tell you stories that he was mistreated: even when he had money they wouldn't sell him anything: He was a killer of one of them...It also turned out that no matter what he would have had to be in jail for a while as that satisfies the family's feelings of revenge. As soon as that feeling subsides is when the authorities start working on a possibility of release, they have weird lines of thinking. I respect GT rider and RR they are pioneers of disovery, it's a shame they can't really get along but hey, we don't have to like someone to at least be righteous and polite towards them. 
Keep makin' them wheelies!
Keep makin' them wheelies!
Another unforgettable person is a Lao lady whom I didn’t know before, Miss Dao, the owner of a travel agency in Luang Prabang. I do not know her full name or the name of her company. She helped by sending food to me for a whole year. Another person is a high-ranking soldier named Brother Jai, who was also imprisoned but in an open cell. He always gave me food and medicine when I was sick. He sympathized with a Thai who was enduring hardships in jail. Thank you very much.
BTW: This is the woman that RR talks about which received funds through RR and his friend and even Yoi's sister sent money from RR to her or do they not remember?
BTW: This is the woman that RR talks about which received funds through RR and his friend and even Yoi's sister sent money from RR to her or do they not remember?
KTM Freak, nice of you to suddenly get on the GT Rider forum to anonymously defend RR "the scholar & a gentleman."
Reed did not pay any money to the lady who feed Yoi for months - I & other GT Riders did!
Reed only thought he was paying money via a 3rd hand to someone else. It never got there. RR was told this.
KTM Freak you are trying to do snow job on RR. He deserves nothing for running away like a coward. His tour was illegal - RR knew it & his actions were totally irresponsible, he could not distance himself far enough or quick enough from the problem.
I personally emailed & spoke to Capt Chaos, telling him for months that his money was not getting to Yoi & he was being ripped off. But stupid RR was in total self denial & would not believe me - someone who was in direct contact with Yoi in the jail by telephone, plus the police officer handling the case.
All RR wants to do is pass the buck & not accept any responsibility at all, but he was the one taking all the customers money & making the profit! The buck stops with the owner / operator = RR.
Again his actions were totally irresponsible (exactly the same as his did years ago in Nan - ran away & hid in his hotel room, when one of his tour customers killed someone)!
There is a warrant out for RR & Manop's arrest in LPQ, so they will be warmly welcomed back to LPQ one day.
Keep posting on this thread about how nice & innocent RR is & his name will continue to be ridiculed & tarnished.
Long time professional tour operators in North Thailand & Laos all took heat because of RR stupidity. He has never once apologized to them or has shown any remorse for his actions. And you expect people to feel sorry for RR? No way!
Whatever...let's not slack each other of mate... All I am saying I am getting different information. I told my friend about the letter Yoi posted and now it turns out he does NOT agree with what it says. Yoi IS gratefull and knows that my friend and Reed were the ones that paid the most money, if it was only through his sister and in Luang Prabang where the final deal was made, check it with Yoi I'd say! Yoi of course wanted to check the info on the letter that RR wanted him to sign. He did agree on some parts but not all, fair enough, views may be different plus it doesn't sound nice to say that you were solely to blame as that isn't a 100% true either. He said to my friend now that he does not agree with that other letter either now it's been translated to him. He will get a copy and he will get it translated for Yoi. Ask Yoi: He IS grateful for what RR AND GT riders did for him. And the reason I got on here was because I was looking for maps of the Om Koy area so please don't hold that against me us bike riders gotta always stick together I feel... Cheers!
I have never seen this unfortunate story before and what a sorry tale.
I believe WillyB sums things up very well. Every adventure in life requires differrent levels of homework lets hope bike lover's from outside South/East Asia will find good licensed bike tour operators when they enquire and GT Rider members offer sound advice if asked.
I believe WillyB sums things up very well. Every adventure in life requires differrent levels of homework lets hope bike lover's from outside South/East Asia will find good licensed bike tour operators when they enquire and GT Rider members offer sound advice if asked.