Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December of 2024, claims he once lost a fight with seven “ladyboys” in Thailand, just months before his arrest.
Luigi Mangione got beaten up by 7 ladyboys in Thailand months before assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO in Dec 2024 during his Asia backpacking trip. He sent friends a photo of his bruised arm after trying to leave a bar without paying a scam-inflated bill. pic.twitter.com/TLANPlorOe
— Lucra (@lucrafund) October 22, 2025
Luigi Mangione was so contemptible, Thai ladyboys had no other choice but to kick his ass. pic.twitter.com/799nWG4Euq
— Richard Spencer 🇺🇦 (@RichardBSpencer) October 22, 2025
In the year leading up to the assassination, Mangione traveled across Asia, climbing mountains in Japan and drinking with American expats in Thailand. It was there that he discovered how inexpensive medical procedures, like MRIs, could be outside the United States.
It was also in Thailand, in March 2024, that he found out he could lose a street fight to a group of “ladyboys” in Bangkok.
In the messages revealing his fight, it is unclear how serious the confrontation was. He shared images of scratches on his arm, but that was the extent. It must have been somewhat jarring for Mangione, as after the fight, he returned to Japan for a spiritual mountain hike, where women were not allowed to participate.
From Japan, he traveled to India, where he met with a writer who shared his interest in the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.
By December, Manigone had expressed disdain for the American healthcare industry and the desire to "whack" a CEO. He is also accused of wanting "to incite national debates" about the industry's failures.
With this new information, maybe it wasn’t ideology that pushed Mangione over the edge. Maybe it was just the lingering trauma of losing a fight to seven ladyboys over a bar tab. Regardless, there are better ways to deal with something like that.