An American tourist has reportedly been stabbed to death by the backing band at a karaoke night in Thailand after the warbler lost his cool when the band refused to play his song selection, instead playing The Eagles‘ classic Hotel California.
NME reports that Bobby Ray Carter, a tourist from Dallas, Texas, was at the Little Longhorn Saloon in tourist spot Ao Nang and became enraged when the house band broke into Hotel California instead of the track he was expecting to sing.
He then refused to leave the stage, with Krabi city police chief Colonel Taksin Pochakorn telling Associated Press, “When the musicians decided to take a break, Carter stayed on the stage, singing and arguing with the band alongside his son.”
This allegedly led to a fight behind the pub between Carter, his 27-year-old son Adam and the house band, after the musicians refused to return the money Carter had paid. The wannabe singer was stabbed twice, once in the chest with an iron rod. He died from his injuries on the way to hospital.
The Daily Mail reports that police have arrested Sathit Somsa, 40, Ratikorn Romin, 27, and Noppanant Yoddecha, 26, who are being questioned over the murder, but Romin claims he attacked Carter in self defense:
“The father knocked me to the ground first, and I could not breathe because he was sitting on my chest. Then I spotted a sharp piece of metal nearby, so I grabbed it and stabbed him.”
The musicians remain in custody.