Thai woman slashes Chinese tourist in row over Phuket tour package (video)
An angry Thai tour company owner slashed a Chinese tourist’s arm after a row over a tour package in Phuket. As a result, the woman’s tourism license has been suspended for six months from today and she faces imprisonment and a fine.
The Chinese victim revealed the story of her horrific trip to Phuket on TikTok. In the victim’s video caption, the woman says her family booked a one-day tour to Similan Island with Blue Ocean Travel on January 29 to travel on the next day.
The package cost 9,000 baht and they paid 5,000 baht as a deposit. The trip included a pick-up service from their hotel and a boat trip to the island.
The family waited for the tour operator to pick them up, but no one showed up. After trying to contact the tour company for an hour, the family eventually discovered that the staff had gone to the wrong hotel.
The family immediately cancelled the tour and asked for their deposit back because they thought they had been scammed. The company refused to return the money.
According to Chinese tourists, the female owner of the tour company arrived at their hotel in a fit of anger. She kicked the woman and slashed her arm.
The tourists said they reported the issue to the Thai police. The police went to suppress the incident and negotiated until they got the money back.
The tourists were disappointed the police did not issue any charges against the female attacker.
To maintain a positive image of Thai tourism in both Chinese and international communities, officers from Karon Police Station promptly launched an investigation into the case.
Karon Police Station Superintendent Khundate Na Nongkhai reported that the accused was 44 year old Wiree Sawangwit.
Wiree was questioned today at Karon Police Station. She admitted that the attacker featured in the video was her. She confessed that she slashed one of the Chinese tourists in the arm but insisted it was in self-defence.
Wiree reported that the altercation arose from a misunderstanding. Her team accidentally went to the wrong hotel and when the Chinese tourists asked for a refund on their deposit to cancel the trip, an agreement could not be reached, causing Wiree to become angry and eventually leading to the attack.
Wiree’s tour company license has been suspended for six months from today, February 7 onwards.
Wiree faced two charges including:
- Section 295 of the Criminal Law: whoever commits bodily harm to another person shall be punished with imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to 40,000 baht, or both.
- Section 371 of the Criminal Law: whoever carries a weapon in public places without a reasonable reason shall be punished with a fine up to 100 baht, and the weapon will be seized.
