A group of foreign tourists is being sought by the police after they assaulted staff at a restaurant in Soi San Sabai around 1am this morning. According to reports, the tourists, who are believed to be Jordanians and at least one Egyptian, were drunk, agitated and unruly when they were asked to queue properly.
They started throwing water bottles and attacked Thai staff before fleeing the scene.
The incident has gone viral on social media, with video footage of the brawl showing both foreign staff and tourists involved. Police say that they were notified of the fight at a bar/restaurant in Patong after midnight on Sunday.
They arrived to find only one party involved. According to The Phuket Express, three foreigners, Mohammad Jehad, a Jordanian, Mohammad Alomari, an Egyptian, and Mr. Wai Lu Soe (a Burmese name) told police that they “worked legally at the bar/restaurant”.
The staff told police that there were five foreign tourists who were extremely intoxicated and caused the brawl. The tourists demanded to be moved ahead in the queue for their food, but the staff declined, stating this would be unfair to other customers.
This allegedly led to the tourists throwing bottles at the restaurant staff. The staff fought back with the tourists, and both sides used various weapons such as kitchen utensils, chairs, pipes and more.
You can watch the video HERE. (Warning about violence depicted in the video)
The staff claimed that their actions were in self-defense, and the tourists had attacked them first. The staff immediately called the police, but the tourists had fled before the officers arrived at the scene. The Patong Police are investigating the incident and reviewing CCTV footage to determine the validity of the staff’s story and to help identify the group of tourists.
The actions of those involved will likely to earn them a yellow or red card under a new system designed to penalise and deport misbehaving tourists. That’s of course, if they can be identified.
SOURCE: The Phuket Express
