Pattaya mat rental operator arrested for threatening official with knife (video)

Police today arrested a mat rental operator who threatened a municipal official with a knife after being warned not to offer the service on Pattaya Beach.

The municipal official, 43 year old Chalermphon, filed a complaint with Mueang Pattaya Police Station at around 12.36am today, October 21, after narrowly avoiding the knife attack by the mat rental operator, later identified as Prayote “Yok” Robmanee, on Pattaya Beach.

Chalermphon explained to the police that he was patrolling the beach to issue warnings to food vendors and mat or chair rental operators, instructing them not to profit from public beach space. He encountered Yok, who took over a section of the beach and was forcibly charging beachgoers for mats, so he issued a warning to Yok.

Yok ran away from the beach, so the official followed him. Unexpectedly, Yok pulled out a knife and attempted to stab Chalermphon, prompting him to step back. Chalermphon managed to record the incident and later handed the video to the police as evidence.

In the video, Yok is seen walking away from the municipal official saying…

“What do you want from me? You took my 11 mats away last time.”

Yok hurled multiple vulgarities at the official as he fled the scene. However, Mueang Pattaya Police Station managed to arrest Yok the same day in Soi Buakhao.

Yok claimed he did not intend to attack anyone but said the municipal official threw rocks at him. He explained that he merely wanted to scare the official off.

Yok was charged with carrying a weapon in a public place without a valid reason. The penalty is a fine of up to 100 baht, and the weapon will be confiscated in accordance with Section 371 of the Criminal Law.

In a related incident, a municipal official is seeking justice after two Thai men attempted to assault him when he warned them not to urinate into the sea in Pattaya. The official revealed that the two men followed him to his office, displaying violent behaviour as though they were about to attack him.

The two suspects also refused to pay a fine for urinating into the sea, stating they would only pay if the court issued an official document ordering them to do so.