No Thais hurt during US violence, shops damaged

No Thais hurt during US violence, shops damaged

The Foreign Ministry on Monday said there have been no reports of Thais being injured in the mass protest against the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by police in the United States last week.

Cherdkiat Atthakor, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and director-general of the ministry's Department of Information, however, said some Thai-owned businesses and shops had been damaged.

Protests broke out in cities across the US on Wednesday in response to a police officer killing Floyd by kneeling on his neck in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As protests have intensified, looters have also looked to take advantage of the situation.

One Thai restaurant in Los Angeles was ransacked on Sunday, reported SiamTown US, an LA-based Thai newspaper.

Facebook user Sue Kiattisak Khamphanthong posted photos and videos of her damaged restaurant.

Ms Sue was not at the shop at the time of the incident and police called her at 4:30am. She returned to her shop to find multiple holes punched in the walls and items strewn across the ground.

"The police caught the bad guy, thank God, but everything is damaged," she said.

SiamTown US also reported that five looters had broken into a jewellery store in LA's Thai Town -- the largest Thai community in the US.

Mr Cherdkiat said the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington DC and other consulate generals are offering their assistance to Thai citizens.

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