Pattaya bar brawl brews: Owner and tourist fight over last call

A Thai bar owner and a foreigner got into a bout of fisticuffs in Pattaya after the latter pushed the owner’s girlfriend in the chest for refusing to serve him because the bar was closing.

Mueang Pattaya Police Station officers intervened in the altercation between the Thai man and the foreigner outside a bar in Soi Pattaya 8, about 150 metres from the police station.

Both men were summoned to the police station for questioning. As they were still angry, the Thai man’s girlfriend, 44 year old Nukul, recounted the incident to the police.

Nukul explained that she, her boyfriend, and their employees were watching the football European Championship when the foreign man, who appeared drunk, arrived at the bar.

The foreigner ordered a beer but Nukul refused to serve him saying the bar was closing soon at 4am. The foreign man became angry and pushed her in the chest. He also pushed another foreign customer, who fell to the floor and injured his elbow.

Her boyfriend, who witnessed the incident, approached the foreign attacker. Nukul said her boyfriend asked the foreigner to meet him at the police station, and the two then engaged in a heated argument that quickly escalated into a physical fight.

Nukul said she tried to stop them but was unsuccessful, and the police eventually intervened. Both the Thai man and the foreigner face two charges each:

• Section 391 of the Criminal Law: physically assaulting another person without causing physical or mental injury. The penalty is imprisonment of up to one month, a fine of up to 10,000 baht, or both.
• Section 272 of the Criminal Law: engaging in a noisy or quarrelsome manner in a public way or place. The penalty is a fine of up to 5,000 baht.

A similar incident was reported at the Helicopter bar on Soi Pattaya 6 in May. In this case, three British men were attacked by a group of bar security guards over an unpaid bill. The attack left one of the British men in a critical condition.