I hope the original author would approve of me reproducing this tale- though I was there and had a part in the original editing. These are true events from while I was living in Asia (this event was in early-mid September 2003) told from the original author's perspective.
Some names and places have been changed to protect identities.
Vicious Attack on Foreigners at "Olympia" Nightclub
Last night I witnessed the unthinkable.
I showed up at a new bar which had not long opened for business, Olympia, to meet my girlfriend. The bar was rather busy and seemed to be doing quite well.
At about 3am the music stopped. We were sitting at a table near the exit. About a minute after the music stopped, a waitress said we had to leave. I replied "I just bought this drink two minutes ago and we will leave as soon as I have finished it.".
My girlfriend commented on it being rather abrupt service ie- If you want people to leave, dont sell them drinks two minutes earlier.
All that aside, we decided to just drink up and go. I am a Canadian and I teach English here. I saw that there was a group of about thirty Irish men and women who went to Olympia together. They were also asked to leave the bar. I did not see any confrontation and watched them start to pack up and move towards the door.
As they were slamming back the last of their drinks and getting ready to leave they were singing the popular "Fairytale in New York" song by the Pogues. They were very happy and friendly, and my girlfriend and I enjoyed listening to them sing.
They hadn't even finished singing that song and five or six local bouncers started circling the group. I was starting to feel uneasy. Then I watched as one of the bouncers, possibly the supervisor, began instructing the other bouncers to go somewhere. They diligently went back behind the bar and came out with bats and clubs.
I could not believe my eyes. Were they doing what I thought? They completely surrounded the group of Irish and started pushing them out. They knocked over chairs and physically pushed them towards the door. I have worked in bars and I have never, ever seen anything like this.
I was in absolute shock. Olympia served thirty or more expats people many, many drinks throughout the course of the night., who were not unruly, out of control or causing trouble They probably took over a thousand dolalrs from that group alone. Then five minutes after they serve the last round of drinks, they come over with bats and clubs and physically begin throwing them out.
This would be enough to start a major brawl in many bars, but I was impressed by the behaviour of the Irish group. They actually did not start fighting. Several of the group were angry but were being held back by fellow Irish men. The Irish were taking their own people out of the bar- but that still wasn't enough. The bouncers started hitting them with the clubs.
I was sick to my stomach. I was disgusted. olympia places advertisements in English magazines and newspapers. They claim to cater to foreigners. This is not the case. They was foreigners' money, but that is all. The minute they get your money, you had better get out quickly or you will regret it.
Trust me.
This is where things started to get really, really ugly. I had not witnessed this kind of violence carried out by bar staff anywhere. As a group of six or seven bouncers, they began to follow the Irish onto the street, even pushing one girl with a broken leg, already on crutches, down the stairs. Once they got the Irish onto the street, utter mayhem broke loose.
I am still in shock. I cannot believe this happened. The bouncers started hitting the expats with clubs, bats, spraying the area with pepper spray and shooting a canister gun of some sort. About twenty of us hit the ground when we heard the first round of what we thought was gun fire.
One of the Irish guys was shot in the head. We first thought it was a real bullet and he was going to die. I don't know what they shot at him with, but blood was racing down his head, neck and body. I was frozen for a second in disbelief. There were people scattered everywhere and trying to run away.
I am proud of my girlfriend. She quickly ran to the aid of the man who had been shot, With the help of his friend, she tore off his shirt and wrapped it around his head tightly to minimise the bleeding. We were trying to get some help and to get an ambulance.
They did not care. Not one bit. It was the most disgracedful lack of concern for human life I have ever seen. They shot the patron in the head and looked at us like annoying insects as we screamed for help and an ambulance.
They were completely unfazed and demanded we leave, now from a public street. We managed to carry the man who had been shot to a Taxi and send him to hospital with a friend. I do not know what happened or what the outcome was- I hope that he is alive, as there was a lot of blood.
My girlfriend was crying and crying, with her hands and legs covered in the man's blood. She screamed at the bouncers "WHY?!"
The ppolice soon arrived on the scene. My girlfriend has so much blood on her that they thought she was seriously injured, and she was now hysterical. The police asked what happened and she replied "the bouncer from Olympia attacked the expats in the club with pepper spray, bats and guns". As she started to describe this, one of the bouncers came running over and said she was lying.
I had been quiet until this point, but I could not believe the gall of this bouncer. I shouted "look at the blood on her! Where the fuck did that come from if she's making this up?!". As she held up her bloodied hands, one of the bouncers laughed.
Apparently it was not just Olympia that does not give a damn about foreigners. I am not a fighter. I don't even like to argue. At this point I took it apon myself to get the name of this "concerned officer" of the law, as they started to dismiss the situation and refuse to file a report by a foreigner against a local. He wouldn't give me his name. If you get hurt in this city you will certainly not get help from him.
Some people one the street had noticed the events and were gathere nearby- I asked if any of them had witnessed the events. Several came forward, but still the police refused to make a report. I started taking email addresses from people. There were so many people lining up to give me their details- outraged at what happened. Not just Irish, as were mostly attacked, but other non- local asians, African people, Russians, Morroccans, Canadians and others.
Seeing this, the police officer became concerned, and started shouting at me "Get away!" and trying to stop people from giving me their details. His only concern is that I would share this tale with the rest of the world. In this respect, he was right. I am doing that.
I am a journalist. I report events like this. In the eyes of the officer, I was now the most dangerous person there. They will blame me for saying negative things about the locals and try to stop this, and so I will not give me name. They will not be concerned about physically attacking foreigners.
The following night the Olympia management met with representatives of some of the victims, apologizing for the incident and admitting they had overreacted. They also offered to pay the medical bills (thousands of dollars) of the people who needed their scalps stitched etc. The bullets were rubber, and although wounds were not fatal they did create some large gashes in flesh that night.
Needless to say, the loss of goodwill from the incident was considerable.
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