Chon Buri: An American soldier who attended the multinational Cobra Gold Military exercise earlier this month was beaten by a group of street hawkers allegedly selling counterfeit watches in Pattaya in an incident captured on video on Saturday.
The 1-minute, 40 second clip of the brawl was uploaded on a Facebook page registered under the name of Julie Wolstencroft on Saturday.
The footage shows a foreigner and two Thai men shoving each other, with others trying to separate them, in front of a bar on the Pattaya beach road, close to Muang Pattaya police station. A group of Thai men then surround the foreigner and beat him.
The incident is said to have taken place at 5pm on Saturday.
Police nearby arrived quickly and questioned both sides. Officers said the foreigner is an American soldier who was on holiday in Pattaya after attending the 37th Cobra Gold exercises held from Feb 13 to 23 in Chon Buri, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Chachoengsao.
While having a drink in the bar, the foreigner was approached by watch sellers who were aggressively trying to make a sale, leading to a brawl, the officers said.
The foreigner was initially punched in the face and then fought back, according to the officers. The group of watch sellers then assaulted him.
Observers said foreigners are commonly targeted by hawkers selling counterfeit watches.
When foreigners refuse to buy the watches, saying they are not authentic, the sellers sometimes become angry and make threats. The problem has not yet been seriously addressed by authorities, according to observers.
(Video from Facebook page of Julie Wolstencroft)