Robbery Incident Against Kuwaiti Tourists at Pattaya Viewpoint Turns Out to Be Bad Prank, Tourists to be Blacklisted

Pattaya —

A male foreigner was seen in a viral video clip flaunting a gun at a group of Kuwaiti tourists and allegedly robbing them at a famous viewpoint in Pattaya on August 2nd. However, it later turned out that the whole harrowing incident was just a bad “prank” orchestrated by the Kuwaiti tourists themselves, according to the Pattaya police.

In a 1.39-minute-long video recording, a man who appeared to be in his 20s to 30s and of foreign descent was seen. He was dressed in a black shirt, dark trousers, and stood at approximately 170 centimeters tall. The man held a pistol and ordered to line up and sit down a group of more than 10 foreign tourists, who bore a resemblance to Middle Eastern men. The man seemed to be threatening the tourists with his weapon.

The video was recorded at the famous Voice of Navy 5 Viewpoint located in Pattaya on Tuesday, August 2nd. It quickly gained massive attention on social media as the gun-wielding man also seemed to blatantly rob the tourists at gunpoint, raising concerns over the safety of Pattaya as a world-famous tourist destination.

Many social media users, after seeing the video, urged Pattaya police to investigate the incident to find out what was really going on, citing the incident could badly hurt tourism.

The netizens’ calls quickly reached Pattaya police, who then went to inspect the viewpoint in question on August 2nd.

Led by police chief Pol Col Thanapong Phothi, the police officers collected CCTV recordings of the incident and interviewed nearby vendors for more clues. The new evidence, however, led to an unexpected turn of events as the police discovered that the entire harrowing robbery was just a bad joke pulled by the Kuwaiti tourists themselves, stated Pol Col Thanapong.

The police chief elaborated to The Pattaya News that his subordinators on August 2nd took custody of Mr. Kyaw Soe, 25, a Burmese national, and Mr. Nay Zin Latt, 22, also a Burmese national, at a convenience store within Soi Bongkot in Pattaya Klang under suspicion that they helped the Kuwaiti tourists made a TikTok video, in which the tourists pretended to be robbed by a mafia at a gunpoint.

Mr. Kyaw and Mr. Nay claimed that they were smoking tobacco at the viewpoint, when they were approached by a group of 10-15 Kuwaiti tourists seen in the video, who raced their motorbikes up to the viewpoint. One of the tourists then asked Mr. Gaew in English to use his “pistol lighter,” the one seen in the video, to pretend to rob them while acting as a mafia boss.

Promising it would be just for fun, the tourists also requested Mr. Kyaw to force them to sit in a row on the edge of a cliff and point a gun at them, while Mr. Nay was tasked with recording the prank, using the tourist’s phone.

Mr. Kyaw and Mr. Nay told the police that the tourists had uploaded the video to TikTok, but they never expected it to receive so much attention or damage Pattaya’s reputation. They apologized for their thoughtless actions, saying that they had only intended to help the tourists with their silly content.

The two Burmese men were found in possession of a black pistol lighter hidden under their motorcycle seat. The police were also able to collect clothing worn by the two suspects on the day of the incident.

Initially, Pol Col Thanapong charged the two suspects for collaborating to fabricate and disseminate false information with the intention to cause panic among the public, which is punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 month, a fine not exceeding 10,000 baht, or both imprisonment and fine.

If it is determined that the two individuals intentionally damaged Pattaya’s reputation with their video, they will also face charges under the Computer Crime Act, which carries a penalty of imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine not exceeding 100,000 baht, or both imprisonment and a fine.

Meanwhile, on August 3rd, Pattaya police were able to round up four Kuwaiti tourists in the video. They were identified as MR. Meshal Alazemi, 20, MR. Ahmad Alazemi, 19, MR .Moharnmad Alazemi, 19, and MR. Mobarak Alazemi, 20. All of them were using tourist visas valid for 30 days.

Six other tourists are still on the loose. The arrested were charged with the same offense as the two Burmese suspects. Pol Col Thanapong mentioned that he intends to submit a request to the relevant committee, seeking a decision on whether to deport and place these tourists on a blacklist to prohibit their future entry into Thailand due to their reckless conduct.

As a cautionary message, Pol Col Thanapong warned that the police will strictly proceed with legal action against any irresponsible content creators who produce content involving violent behavior of this nature without respect for the image of the country. The tourists in the video will also be hunted down for legal action, the police chief stated.

Young Kuwaiti tourists in Pattaya have been in the news a lot recently, mostly for alleged motorbike-related problems like this.

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Aim Tanakorn
The local news translator at The Pattaya News. Aim is a twenty-four year old who currently lives in Bangkok. Interested in English translation, story-telling, and entrepreneurship, he believes that hard-working is an indispensable component of every success in this world.