Rudy Bachar, 53, immigrated from Israel to Thailand 26 years ago and settled in the city of Pattaya on the South Asian country’s eastern coast.
After three years he married a local woman with whom he had five children, two of them even immigrated to Israel and served in the IDF.
But recently, Bachar discovered that his wife was having an affair with a 51-year-old officer in the Thai army. He confronted the officer about two months ago and asked him to leave his family alone - but in response, he fired nine bullets at Bachar, all miraculously missed him.
Bachar says the shooting took place at the opening of a café he founded with his wife in her hometown, a long-held dream of hers.
Bachar’s wife first met the officer while the two-million-baht project was under construction and he supervised roadwork in the area.
"Three and a half years ago I saw a photo of the same guy with my wife on Facebook. I suspected there was something going on between them because in they were hugging in the photo,” Bachar tells Ynet.
“I asked her who he was, and she said he was a friend of hers and that he was gay. I didn't believe her and said I didn't want them to keep in touch, but I also didn't want to break up because we have five children, so I gave her a second chance."
Bachar says that he thought his wife’s affair was behind him, but in hindsight, it became clear to him that he was wrong.
"My wife continued seeing him secretly. I traveled to Israel from time to time to visit my eldest kids, and it turned out that on every trip she would spend time with him and also take our little son with her so that I would not be suspect,” he says.
Bachar finally found an opportunity to confront the officer at the café’s opening.
"My 14-year-old told me he recognized [the officer] at the event, so I calmly turned to him and told him to go to his wife and children and leave my family alone,” he says.
“He replied that he just came over to pick up a work tool that he had left there. He continued walking and suddenly I heard him cocking his gun and then firing, and all this with my son by my side and my niece on the other side. He continued shooting and yelled 'Die' in Thai. Miraculously, we were able to escape unharmed.”
Thai police at the scene of the shooting
To Bechar's astonishment, his wife refused to support him after he told her about the shooting.
"She didn't believe it and said that nothing had happened, but in the end, she agreed to accompany me to the police station after I told her we won’t stay together if she didn't come with me,” Bachar recounts.
He also claims that the local police tried to cover up the shooting.
“We filed the complaint and they summoned the guy to the station. I asked them to write in the report that he tried to kill me, but when I checked the next day, I saw that it wasn't written there. I was worried and contacted a lawyer to help us."Bachar says following his appeal to the lawyer, his wife’s paramour had all his weapons seized by police and that he was suspended from his post. After the shooting, Bechar separated from his wife and now raises his three youngest children by himself.
"Today I think my wife might have colluded with her lover to kill me. It was fishy that she didn't back me up right away even though he fired at me nine times,” he says.
“I fear that my children will be left without a father and a mother. The Thai police brought me personal security at their expense, but it won't last forever. I'm also considering returning to Israel, but it's not possible financially right now."