A New Zealand man’s love of animals cost him his life when he was stabbed in a Pattaya bar fight about his dog.
Robert E. Hollick, 43, suffered three stab wounds to the neck in the after-midnight brawl at a Soi Diana beer bar near the Areca Hotel. Bystanders apprehended Swede Andreas Ringvall, who they said stabbed the heavily tattooed Kiwi after two arguments over a dog Hollick brought into the bar.
Drunk and bloody, Ringvall’s girlfriend, Daw Pholutsa, 26, screamed at police and witnesses that Hollick had started the fight and that the 40-year-old had only been defending himself. She was also arrested on conspiracy of murder charges.
Daw screamed at police and witnesses, saying that Hollick had started the fight and that Ringvall was defending himself.
Motorcycle taxi driver Muan Samat, 34, told police he witnessed Hollick coming into the bar and chatting with the drunk Swedish-Thai couple. Things were fine, he said, until Daw started to play with the dog. Ringvall got angry and his words set off a fight between the two men.
Daw pulled Ringvall away and presumably back to their hotel, but the Swede returned with a knife, started to argue again and then stabbed the New Zealander, Samat said.
New Zealand media reports said Hollick had moved to Thailand six months ago and was a devoted animal lover who took his dog everywhere he went.
The center of the argument – Hollick’s dog.
