Quackdown: Rubber duck escorted to police station in Thailand

An inflatable rubber duck waddled down to the police station in Kanchanaburi, western Thailand, during the Songkran holidays after guests at a pool villa were accused of fowl play.

In a TikTok clip filmed on Saturday morning, the displeased customers carry the duck down to Ladya Police Station, explaining…

“Today we came to visit a pool villa, don’t ask me the name. We’ve exited the villa but we still can’t go home yet. The owner of the pool villa said that the duck is leaking and we are required to pay a fine of 500 baht.

“But the duck is in perfect condition, so we had to bring it to the police station. Now it lies with the police. We have provided evidence to confirm the duck is not leaking.”

The rubber duck was called in for interrogation over the alleged leak but wouldn’t quack under the pressure.

Police concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to suggest the customers caused any damage. Feeling deflated, the villa owner agreed not to charge them a fine. But that wasn’t the end of the story.

This morning, reporters travelled to Heaven Hill Pool Villa in Wang Dong subdistrict, Mueang district, to speak to 31 year old Saroj “Dan” Nimnuan and 30 year old Kamolthip “Fae” Pantaow, who showed reporters a small rip in the duck.

Dan and Fae, who manage the villa, said that they reduced the price of the pool villa to just 4,000 baht down from 12,900 baht for these guests and didn’t ask them to pay the deposit fee of 2,000 baht. The customers broke a glass but Dan and Fae didn’t charge them for it, they added.

On Saturday morning, the guests were checking out when Dan and Fae said they found a leak in the rubber duck and asked the guests to pay 500 baht for damaging it. The contract actually states that the fine is 700 baht because the duck is big, they said, but they said 500 baht would be enough.

If the duck is damaged it must be paid for, which is clearly written in the contract signed by the guests, said Dan and Fae. But the guests got away without paying the fine.

Dan and Fae say the whole fiasco is bad press for their pool villa and say they will sue the guests that took their duck to the police station for defamation for allegedly slandering them on social media and threatening them.

The Superintendent of Ladya Police Station Pol. Col. Techin Banchong confirmed that these events really took place on the weekend. He advised customers to take photos upon entering a hotel or rented property so no one is forced to bring an inflatable rubber duck to the police station.