Pattaya —
Early this morning, nearly 20 Thai transgender individuals physically assaulted Saudi Arabian and Palestinian tourists at the Pattaya beachfront. The incident occurred after one of the tourists questioned one of the transgender people about their gender during an alleged escort service negotiation. The “misgendering” offended the transgender group who then attacked the tourists.
On August 2nd, at 3:30 AM, tourist police officers from the Pattaya police station received a report of an assault involving a group of transgender individuals and three Saudi Arabian and Palestinian tourists (two men and one woman).
The incident happened near Pattaya Beach in front of the Baywalk Shopping Center. Upon arriving at the scene, Pattaya Police officers encountered the tourists (names withheld upon request), who were visibly shaken and frightened by the event, some with torn clothing. The police officers then invited the tourists to the Pattaya police station to provide their statements.
Upon their arrival at the station, the police also encountered a lot of transgender individuals waiting at the station, making loud noises and shouting at police. Seemingly in connection with the incident, the police officers requested the unrelated individuals to wait outside the station, while interviewing two injured individuals, both transgender.
Identified as Thiraphat Paladchai, 23, and Narisara Ratchabutsri, 20, the two sustained injuries including swollen and bruised lips with bleeding and minor scratches on their arms. After the questioning with police, they claimed to The Pattaya News that they were paid companions working by the beach.
Narisara alleged that one of the involved tourists approached them, so they offered the tourist companionship services, inviting him to a nearby hotel. However, the tourist’s friend suddenly interrupted them and asked about Narisara’s gender, calling Narisara a man and allegedly asked if Narisara was homosexual. This angered Narisara and led to an exchange of words that swiftly escalated into a physical confrontation. Narisara then called upon their fellow transgender friends standing nearby for help, resulting in the chaotic assault as an estimated twenty transgender individuals began attacking the tourists.
Subsequently, The Pattaya News went to the beach where the incident took place and asked a local resident and eyewitness named Mr. Jakree Sriarun, 34, about the incident. He said that a group of over 20 transgender individuals attacked the foreign victims and claimed the transgender group were the aggressive party. Feeling compassion, many Thais, foreigners, and he intervened and tried to stop the assault.
Jakree noted that these transgender individuals are known to work by Pattaya Beach and often engage in disputes and altercations with foreign tourists. Upon his intervention, the transgender group also verbally abused him. He urged the Pattaya police to take serious action against them, as they were harming Pattaya’s reputation.
It is unclear to what extent the foreign tourists were harmed, but according to the police, three of them were transferred to Pattaya Hospital for medical checks. The tourists and the involved transgender people will later be summoned to the station for another questioning and legal proceedings and possible fines.
