CHON BURI: A hot-tempered vendor of crocodile leather goods at a beach in Pattaya was seen on video threatening to shoot Chinese tourists for refusing to pay for a wallet after agreeing to a bargained price.
The video was posted on social media and Somchai Kraipan, 43, was forced to face the music for his overt threat.
He was detained and taken to Bang Lamung police station on Tuesday night for questioning.
The video clip was recorded at Na Kluea beach in Bang Lamung district, in the Pattaya area, on Tuesday morning and uploaded on Facebook at 11.30am by user Wicha Tham.
It was a recording of a short conversation between a tour guide and the vendor.
The vendor was heard asking the guide to pay 200 yuan (about 1,000 baht) for a crocodile leather wallet a member of the Chinese tour group wanted to buy. The guide refused, and asked why he had to pay.
The vendor said the tourist had already bargained the price and was waiting for the guide to pay it.
Pol Lt Col Piyapong Ensarn, Pattaya tourist police inspector, left, and Pol Col Jakthip Parapanthakul, chief of Bang Lamung police, right, interrogate the leather wallet vendor about the incident. (Photo by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
The Chinese-speaking guide then asked the tourist about the matter.
The vendor became upset and vented his frustration at the group. He threatened to get a gun and shoot them for being "kuan teen'', a rude word roughly translated as stirring the temper. The guide and his group immediately left the beach.
The guide later asked Tourist Police Bureau deputy chief Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn to solve the problem, saying it had tarnished Pattaya's image as a tourist attraction.
Pol Lt Col Piyapong Ensarn, an inspector with the Pattaya tourist police, said on Wednesday that Pol Maj Gen Surachate had ordered police to track down the vendor. They quickly did just that.
Mr Somchai refused to talk to the media about the case, but admitted he was at fault. He apologised for what he had done. He also appealed to the tour guide to understand that he and many other vendors lived hand to mouth. His profits barely covered his family's daily living expenses.
Police fined him 5,000-baht and warned him not to do anything like it again as his actions had sullied Pattaya's image and affected the country.
clip by Wicha Tham via @Ruyangpattaya Facebook page.