A YouTube video showing a Koh Larn beach
vendor rudely abusing a woman tourist went viral, prompting police to
arrest the offender the very next day.
Boonlua Chatree
Police have arrested the Koh Larn beach attendant caught in an
Internet video kicking sand on a tourist who refused to rent a beach
chair from him.
A Cambodian identified only as Ping, 25, was taken into custody by
provincial and Pattaya police Sept. 6, a day after the YouTube video
went viral, sparking more calls for Thailand’s military regime to clear
the country’s beaches of all vendors.
The video depicted a Russian woman sitting on a towel on Koh Larn’s Nang
Nual Beach who is approached by the masked Ping. The Cambodian speaks to
her in broken English and Thai, telling her to rent a beach chair. When
she refuses, he circles around her, kicking sand on her and her towel.
She finally gets up and argues more, flinging the sand filled towel in
Ping’s face. He responds by shoving the tourist and pushing her off the
beach.
This Cambodian identified
only as Ping, 25, was taken into custody by provincial and Pattaya
police Sept. 6, a day after the YouTube video went viral.
While shot a year ago, the video plays perfectly into
the hands of those who want the National Council for Peace and Order to
sweep through Pattaya and do what it did in Phuket and Hua Hin: Remove
all beach chairs, umbrella and vendors from the sand. Pattaya officials
have been working hard to prevent military intervention and keep some
chairs on the beach.
Clearly, the video did not help their case, as evidenced by the swift
and stern response from the commander of Region 2’s police and Pattaya
officers, who tracked down the offender within a day.
Police said Ping admitted to being the masked figure on video, but said
he was ordered to roust the tourist by his boss, Pae “Charlie” Poaphim,
who owns a restaurant behind the beach chairs. It’s unknown whether
Pae’s restaurant encroaches on public beachfront, but based on
precedents set in Phuket, public officials may come in and demolish his
establishment if it does.
The Cambodian was charged with entering Thailand illegally, assault and
violating the tourist’s human rights.
