One person was injured when rival teenage gangs clashed with rocks, knives and homemade grenades.
A 17-year-old employee of the Jay Nooch fruit shop at the Photisan Fresh Market in north Pattaya suffered a blow to the head from a thrown rock during the 5 a.m. April 22 brawl.
Shopkeeper Warunee Nangngam, 29, said the teen and other boys that work with her had a conflict with a group of teenagers during Songkran. She said that the night before, the group returned and it appeared they made peace with each other and she was relieved to see that the problem was over. She was wrong.
They showed up at the market again and other vendors called the police. They fled as officers arrived, but returned early Sunday morning as the market opened, blocking the exits and confronting Jay Nooch’s employees.
A fight broke out. The assailants brandished knives and one pulled a gun, possibly firing in the air several times. Rocks were thrown back and forth, along with handmade bombs. One unexploded grenade was found by a tree and will be dusted for fingerprints.
The melee ended with the nearly 20 teens fleeing again as police arrived.
