Three illegal Vietnamese vendors were injured when road rage boiled over into a knife fight in central Pattaya.
Congee sellers Tran Thanhcong, 37, and Luu Van Son, 36, suffered knife wounds to the arms and fruit vendor Tran Dinh Tang, 31, was slashed in the head in the Dec. 15 melee in front of shocked tourists on Soi Buakhao.
Paramedics provided first aid and all three victims fled the scene before police arrived, saying they would go to the hospital themselves.
Witness Pranee Nganrath, 35, said the congee vendors had confronted Luu and angry words were exchanged. Then Luu pulled a knife and attacked the soup sellers.
One of the injured hawkers said the argument stemmed over Luu driving his street cart dangerously near their soup carts. Luu left the fruit at the scene of the brawl.
Thai onlookers groused that the fight should never have taken place because Vietnamese and other foreigners are not legally allowed to work as street vendors. Had immigration police been doing their jobs, the incident never would have happened, they complained.
