A 31-year-old Sri Lankan tourist has told Pattaya police he was pressured into paying 3,300 baht for coconut oil and herbal products at a shop already linked to a similar complaint from an Indian visitor.
The man reported the matter at Pattaya City Police Station at about 10.40pm on 15 September. He said the experience had left him upset and disappointed during his holiday in Pattaya.
Tourist says he felt unsafe in shop
According to the tourist, an unidentified foreign man who appeared to be Indian approached him and said he worked in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
The man allegedly began discussing coconut oil and herbal goods, claiming they could promote hair growth. He initially quoted a price of about 250 baht per gram before persuading the Sri Lankan visitor to enter a shop.
Picture courtesy of แจ็ค โพธิ์แดง
Once inside, the tourist said he noticed several other people and began to feel unsafe. He said he paid 3,300 baht in order to end the encounter and leave.
Afterwards, he checked the products and believed some appeared to be ordinary coconut oil that would normally cost considerably less than he had paid. He then went to police and asked officers to act against those
Same shop named in earlier complaint
Police later established that the shop was the same business connected to a complaint made by an Indian tourist on 7 September.
In that case, the Indian visitor said he had also been persuaded to enter the shop to buy herbal products. He claimed he later felt unsafe and paid more than 11,000 baht.
Pattaya police and investigators subsequently visited the premises, where a 21-year-old sales employee identified only as Sathaphon spoke with them. The shop contacted its owner and returned 10,000 baht to the Indian tourist in an attempt to settle the dispute without further legal action.
Sathaphon acknowledged at the time that the sale had taken place, but did not respond to the allegations surrounding the incident.
When reporters returned following the latest complaint, Sathaphon confirmed that the business had sold coconut oil and herbal products to the Sri Lankan tourist. He asked whether the visitor had made a police report and, when told that he had, declined further comment before calling someone believed to be the owner.
The police investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
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17 September 2026
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