A Pattaya barbecue griller distressed over the loss of business set himself on fire.
Paramedics and fire crews responded to Sukhumvit Soi 75 July 1, where Somjet Withithum, 56, was severely burned, yet conscious, crying to authorities about losing all his customers amid the Covid-19 crisis and heavy debt to loan sharks.
Before being rushed to a local hospital, Somjet said he couldn’t pay back the loan sharks the money he borrowed to support his family as his business had dried up after domestic and international tourists stopped coming to Pattaya.
A relative who arrived at the scene said Somjet had no customers for his barbecued pork for ten days. He blamed authorities for imposing restrictions that stopped people from visiting Pattaya.
Witnesses saved the man’s life by dumping buckets of water on him after he poured a bottle of gasoline over his clothes and lit a cigarette lighter.
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