Three stabbed in pub brawl

PHUKET TOWN: Three employees of the Dance Fever Pub on Rassada Rd were stabbed early yesterday morning after a group of young men were denied entry to the pub because they were deemed to be inappropriately dressed. Pol Capt Kanung Pitakkulthorn, of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette today that he received a phone call from Wachira Phuket Hospital at 2:30 am yesterday and was told that three men had been injured in a fight. At the hospital, the injured men told police that about 10 young men from Phang Nga arrived at the club at about 1 am, wanting to join a birthday party for a female friend. Staff refused to allow them in because they were wearing shorts and sandals. The men then started abusing the doormen before getting into a pick-up truck and driving away. At 2 am, as the staff left the pub, the young men returned and a brawl ensued. Three employees – Somyos Udom, Adisak Ngampan and Paitoon Hongsonpae – were stabbed, and a number of other people required hospital treatment. “The three injured men identified some of the other people at the hospital as being among their attackers, and asked officers to arrest them,” Capt Kanung said. “Those accused were questioned by officers at the hospital, but none of them admitted to the stabbings,” he added. No charges have yet been laid, and police are continuing their investigation.