A Naklua beach chair vendor captured on video chasing a foreign family off the beach for not renting an umbrella was among four dealers banned from the shoreline for encroaching on public land.
The video posted to Facebook by user ‘Chana Riddhimat’ showed the female vendor rousting the woman and her children from the sand where they had sat down on their own mats and not rented a chair.
Police move in on Wong Amat Beach to “help” remove banned vendors. They said banned vendors can appeal to city hall for reconsideration at a later date.
“Pattaya can say goodbye to tourism,” Chana wrote in the comments with clip that was actually put online by a competing beach vendor under the pseudonym.
After the video went viral, police paid a visit to Winit Mahaprab, 51, and that competing vendor, Kampol Yomduang, 29, who operates next to where the incident occurred.
Winit claimed that the tourists were laying their own mats too close to where she operates so she decided to chase them away. She then apologized for her behavior and dragging the city’s image down.
Kampol said the clip was actually captured about a month ago but he shared it via social media again after having an argument with Winit. He said he never thought that the issue would get as much publicity as it did and later deleted the clip.
Winit was fined 1,000 baht and both vendors were given a warning.
However, Region 2 Police stepped in after the video went national and banned the woman and three other vendors from Wong Amat Beach.
Region 2 commander Maj. Gen. Thanet Pinmueng-ngam led a group of Banglamung District officials, soldiers, police and Marine Department representatives to Wong Amat Oct. 28.
They determined the vendors there actually had exceeded their leased space and were encroaching on public land.
The four vendors said they’d been operating this way without issue for years even though they were aware of their encroachment. They had never been told to move until the video went viral.
All four, including Winit, were stripped of their concessions and told to remove their property by Oct. 29 or face prosecution.
Pol. Lt. Col. Pawatchai Sudsakorn and Pol. Lt. Col. Kowit Sawatmongkol returned to the beach that day with a posse of officers to help the vendors move their furniture. All the chairs were taken away with only some tables remaining for a second trip.
Police said the banned vendors can appeal to city hall for reconsideration of their banishment.
