Bangkok: A former Australian Hells Angels motorcycle gang member has been beaten unconscious and kidnapped at gunpoint from his home in Thailand.
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Five masked men drove 38-year-old Wayne Rodney Schneider away in the back of a pick-up truck in the seaside tourist city of Pattaya, according to Thai media reports. Witnesses said the kidnappers appeared to be foreigners.
Blood and bullet casings were found at Mr Schneider's home in the Jomtien Park Villas housing estate after the kidnapping about 5am on Monday, Bangkok time.
Thai police suspect the leader of the kidnap gang is an Australian who is known to Mr Schneider.
For several years police in Thailand have been investigating the activities of Australian bikie gang members who appear to have extensive business interests in the country.
Investigators are examining CCTV footage of the kidnapping as well as footprints and other evidence.
Two security guards stationed at the entry to the housing estate told police they heard a cry for help and saw five men with scarves tied across their faces beating Mr Schneider, who was investigated for years by an organised-crime taskforce in New South Wales.
Amad Malkoun, 52, an Australian passport holder of Lebanese origin, went out drinking with Mr Schneider and a 26 year-old Australian associate on Sunday night, the Bangkok Post reports. He said he met the younger man at the house and the three men went drinking together on Sunday night.
Mr Malkoun was quoted as saying he felt ill and came home early, he talked to Mr Schneider and the other man for a short time when they returned to the house and continued their drinking.
But Mr Malkoun said he learned from police that Mr Schneider had been kidnapped only after he awoke.
Pattaya has long been known as a hideout for criminal networks, including some from Australia. The city where corruption is known to be endemic has a vast red-light area.
It is not known how long Mr Schneider has been living in the city.
He has had a turbulent history in Australia where in 2007 he was for 18 months on NSW's "most wanted" list over the shooting of a bouncer in the knee cap outside the Sapphire Suite nightclub in Kings Cross in 2006. He surrendered to police and denied he was among a group of eight men claiming to be Hells Angels who tried to force their way into the club.
The charges were dropped in 2010.
In 2009, NSW police confiscated more than $200,000 in betting chips and plaques from Melbourne's Crown Casino when they intercepted Mr Schneider in a vehicle in Sydney.
Police claimed the chips were suspected to be the proceeds of a crime. But Mr Schneider told police he won the chips in a big-punting spree with other Hells Angels at the casino's exclusive high roller rooms.
