Pattaya-
An American soldier over the weekend with several friends who had just finished the Cobra Gold exercises in the Pattaya area was on liberty (An approved day off) when he got into a confrontation with watch sellers at a popular Beer Bar complex located right next to the Police Station on Soi 9 in Pattaya.
The video does not show the start of the confrontation however the American soldier, who is not identified, stated that he had been drinking at the bar when a watch seller approached him (Editors Note-This is very common at this particular beer bar complex). The soldier stated he declined and admitted he called the watches fake. This angered the watch seller and started a loud verbal altercation.
The altercation escalated, despite the soldier’s friends attempting to calm both sides and turned into a shoving match between the two men. Witnesses stated to officials and the press that the watch vendor took the first punch to the soldier and the soldier responded in kind. As the fight continued and the soldier got the upper hand, other Thai vendors and Thai men jumped in on the soldier. At this point, as can be seen on the video, the Thai police noticed the altercation and stopped it as the police station is roughly twenty feet away from this particular bar.
The police brought both primary suspects to the police station and will continue to investigate the incident and determine if charges will be brought forth.
An employee of the beer bar, who did not want to be named, stated that the watch sellers were often pushy and demanding and got offended if people called their watches fake. She stated that the vendors have been a problem for a long time but that both the police and the bar owners simply don’t care that much about enforcing the law. (Editors note-It is against the law, believe it or not, to simply sell products on the street without proper licenses, a shop, tax, etc.)
We here at The Pattaya news will keep you appraised of the situation. The video is below.
