Gulf War veteran killed with one punch outside Thai bar

A Gulf War veteran from Wales was killed after a single punch from a guard working security at a Thailand bar.

Former Army officer Michael Jones-Mathias was on a business trip back in 2018 in Pattaya, a resort city along the Gulf coast in Thailand, when the fatal incident occurred, Yahoo reported. He enjoyed dinner with his co-workers on May 18, but opted to stop at a bar called Mandarin Agogo for drinks by himself on the way back to his hotel.

Security video from inside the bar that night revealed the 51-year-old called emergency officers in the moments leading up to the violence. It also shows him walking backwards out into the street as he is approached by two men.

Jones-Mathias can then reportedly be seen attempting to throw a punch before he is knocked down with one fatal strike.

Security guard Phumphat Tanosingh was charged with one count of grievous bodily harm in connection with the incident. He claimed he hit Jones-Mathis in self-defense after he refused to pay his bar tab.

Tanosingh was found not guilty of the crime following his trial in Thailand.

“For the record, I know my husband would never have left a bar without paying a bill,” Jones-Mathias’ wife, Veronica, said following the verdict.

“What could have happened in that establishment that could make that punch lawful?”

She added that her husband struggled to recover after his brain surgery in Thailand and was later flown back to where he lived in Cardiff, Wales, where he died on March 24 of this year after his health deteriorated.