Pattaya Bag Vendor threatens to shoot haggling tourists, arrested

Pattaya police arrested a vendor on Tuesday night for allegedly intimidating Chinese tourists after they refused to buy his bags.

Tourist police in Pattaya and officers from the Pattaya police station arrested Somchai Kraiphan, 43, at a beach road off of Na Klua beach at 9:30PM.

Earlier, at 11.30am on Tuesday, a tour guide, whose Facebook identity is Wicha Tham, posted a 1.46-minute video clip showing Somchai shouting angrily at Chinese tourists.

The clip showed Somchai threaten to shoot the tourists for failing to buy his crocodile skin bags after they asked for discounts.

Wicha said in the post that he hoped Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal, deputy commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau, would see the post and take action

Pol Lt-Colonel Piyapong Ensarn, inspector of the sub-division 4 of the Tourist Police Division 2, said Surachet saw the clip and ordered the arrest.

After his arrest, Somchai stated that he was sorry for what he had done. He said his case should serve to remind other vendors to have patience. It is unclear if he has to pay a fine or penalty for the threats that give Pattaya a bad reputation.

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Adam Judd
Mr. Adam Judd is the Co-owner of TPN Media since December 2017. He is originally from Washington D.C., America, but has also lived in Dallas, Sarasota, and Portsmouth. His background is in retail sales, HR, and operations management, and has written about news and Thailand for many years. He has lived in Pattaya for over nine years as a full-time resident, is well known locally and been visiting the country as a regular visitor for over a decade. His full contact information, including office contact information, can be found on our Contact Us page below. Stories please e-mail Editor@ThePattayanews.com About Us: https://thepattayanews.com/about-us/ Contact Us: https://thepattayanews.com/contact-us/