Two Foreign Tourists Arrested on Pattaya Beach for Refusing to Pay for Beach Chairs

[NoDisplayName]

25 minutes ago, BE88 said:

And why do you think it's all free and that these Thais who work renting chairs don't pay the municipality a tax? If the police arrested them it was certainly for this reason.

 

That's the thing.  I don't know.  Are these actually legal businesses with city permits, or just dudes taking over space and paying off the cops for protection?  So if the police arrested the foreign tourists, it was protection racket money well spent.

 

You know, like the motorcycle taxi mafia that takes over parking spaces and portions of sidewalk preventing the rest of the public from using "their" space, or risk getting a tire iron upside the head. Or the street vendors that concrete in a permanent stall on the sidewalk forcing the public to walk in the roadway.  Or the guys with hotels off the main road that bolt signs down blocking the entire sidewalk.........

[KannikaP]

6 hours ago, bbko said:

Looking at the photos from the link, one of them looks poor and near homeless.

You really do have a vivid imagination. 

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, malibukid said:

7 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Send them back to wherever!  Probably India... given the location of the incident... but could just be your run of the mill entitled Europeans.

the Indians travel with their own beach chairs

By all accounts on here, if they had been Indian they would have shared the same chair.

[Bobthegimp]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Granted these guys do seem like losers for causing this incident to begin with, but arresting them seems like just a bit of an overreaction. Perhaps the police coming and escorting them away and making them pay a small fine? But arrest for an argument over beach chairs? Really?

 

This is more great publicity for the RTP and Thai tourism. 

 

How's that approach working out back home?  

 

The progressives have had their turn, now the "law and order" team should get theirs. 

 

My vote is for electrodes to the genitals and waterboarding, but I'm on the soft side.  You want this duo sobbing on camera as a warning to those who visit Thailand and commit crimes.   Just like that entitled Yank teen who spray painted cars in Singapore.  Caned and begged for mommy to save him. 

[PETERTHEEATER]

As a result, the men were arrested and taken to Pattaya Police station to face further legal charges.

 

Including riding in the tray of a pickup truck and not wearing seat belts?

[roo860]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

Man in black shorts appears to be wearing a wool (?) black and white scarf (?). As beach wear might be related to custom/nationality/religion than to something one would normally wear on a sunny beach like in Thailand. In which case the scarf wearer might be Persian?

Hamas for sure. 🇵🇸 💥💥

Edited January 19 by roo860

[alex8912]

2 hours ago, Toby1947 said:

Krauts getting there towels out for the next day 🤣🏖️😂

Jeeeez! So true! They are so bold that along with their towel marker a 2 year old copy of Der Spiegel is on top of it!  Scandinavian's love this rude practice too. 

[john donson]

did they sit there for hours or sat down not knowing it was not free, tried to leave, but forced to pay...

 

20+ years ago, I went to pirate island and thought chairs were from the hotel we booked... my GF , thai, thought it was free, but I had a hunch.. some dude came up to collect but we said, no need, the beach is free... towel on the sand...

[sambum]

Funny how the other headline post seems to have no problem in identifying the miscreant as being of French nationality, but these two are just "foreign tourists"?

[Confuscious]

6 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Total dumb nuts! They sit down and directly given information about the price. Instead of leaving, they start an argument, as they should be the owners of the chairs. People like this have no reason to be in Thailand.

 

Nor anywhere else on this planet.
But Pattaya has always attracted the worst of the human race ...

[sambum]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

No, they're from 100 KM Nth East of Manchester, can tell from the yellow bag thrown on the sand. 

 

In which case would it not be black and white?

[champers]

2 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Ferchrissake! What do the chairs cost, 100 or 200 baht? These beach vendors are struggling to get by and these losers want to take food out of their mouths? I've only used the chairs a couple of times, and was struck by how hard these folks try and make your time memorable.

50 Baht for a deck chair, 100 for a sun lounger.

[NoDisplayName]

49 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Hamas for sure. 🇵🇸 💥💥

 

British obviously.

House Slytherin.

 

[bradiston]

Got to be Israelis.

[CG1 Blue]

7 hours ago, bbko said:

Looking at the photos from the link, one of them looks poor and near homeless.

I think the bloke in the black t-shirt has been eating his mate's dinners

[BE88]

1 hour ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

That's the thing.  I don't know.  Are these actually legal businesses with city permits, or just dudes taking over space and paying off the cops for protection?  So if the police arrested the foreign tourists, it was protection racket money well spent.

 

You know, like the motorcycle taxi mafia that takes over parking spaces and portions of sidewalk preventing the rest of the public from using "their" space, or risk getting a tire iron upside the head. Or the street vendors that concrete in a permanent stall on the sidewalk forcing the public to walk in the roadway.  Or the guys with hotels off the main road that bolt signs down blocking the entire sidewalk.........

 

What I know is that the taxes of the various municipalities are increasing everywhere and therefore the situation is tense for the sellers, if as you say it is a mafia of public spaces it could be but it is difficult to call the police rather they have some nice gorillas to do the dirty work.

 

[JimTripper]

3 hours ago, mikeymike100 said:

Quite so, is they just said we are not paying and walked off, fair enough!

Had the guys been sitting there foe some time, when the were asked for money???

My guess is they were requested to pay after just sitting down and the vendor saw it as a service utilized at that point that needed to be paid for (i.e. a money grab). I can't see anyone just not walking off and insisting on staying seated.

 

You can't just sit there a long time. Someone comes up and sells drinks or whatever immediately and if you don't buy anything they would ask for payment on the chair.

Edited January 19 by JimTripper

[pomchop]

1 hour ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

That's the thing.  I don't know.  Are these actually legal businesses with city permits, or just dudes taking over space and paying off the cops for protection?  So if the police arrested the foreign tourists, it was protection racket money well spent.

 

You know, like the motorcycle taxi mafia that takes over parking spaces and portions of sidewalk preventing the rest of the public from using "their" space, or risk getting a tire iron upside the head. Or the street vendors that concrete in a permanent stall on the sidewalk forcing the public to walk in the roadway.  Or the guys with hotels off the main road that bolt signs down blocking the entire sidewalk.........

The beach chair vendors all display a permit.  It is controlled by the city.   So now you do know.

[crazykopite]

Beaches in the kingdom are not private therefore you should be allowed to sit where you want.  I have a beachfront property and often get people sitting on towels sunbathing I don’t go to them demanding money because this morning like every morning I cleaned and raked the beach !

[twizzian]

Those beach beds must have a lot of sand on them before you lie down

[crazykopite]

10 minutes ago, pomchop said:

The beach chair vendors all display a permit.  It is controlled by the city.   So now you do know.

In 20 years I’ve never seen a vendor displaying a permit what I have seen is bars demanding you buy a refreshment of some sort if you want to sit on one of there chairs

[geisha]

Many of this type everywhere, Pattaya and Jomtien , sitting on beach walls all day and night with a bottle , drunks, homeless, if they don’t have an address and are not legally in Thailand, just deport on the next plane home.  Doubt they’d try that on in phuket, in 5 minutes they’d land in the sea.  Never seen mucking about there. 

[NextG]

4 hours ago, Joe Farang said:

Info missing from the article.

When they were "immediately" told of the charge.

 

Did they vacate the chairs, but the vendors wanted payment anyway.

 

Or

 

Did they remain in the chairs and refuse to pay.

There is a third option of them buying something from the vendors and then sitting down, not realising that buying a drink doesn’t cover them sitting down. 

[mrfill]

Did the argument start with "What do you mean 15000 baht an hour?"

[geisha]

5 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

In 20 years I’ve never seen a vendor displaying a permit what I have seen is bars demanding you buy a refreshment of some sort if you want to sit on one of there chairs

They do have permits and it’s normal you pay for their chairs. They pay their spot too, and don’t work on the beach 12 hrs a day for free.  Most foreigners have their drinks/ coconuts/ food so often the chair isn’t counted. Fair enough.

[proton]

These people think they own the beach and can tell you what to do, how much are they charging for sitting on a seat these days?

[JimTripper]

59 minutes ago, NextG said:

There is a third option of them buying something from the vendors and then sitting down, not realising that buying a drink doesn’t cover them sitting down. 

Not if the chair is not on the menu. It's not chargable.

Edited January 19 by JimTripper

[harleyclarkey]

4 hours ago, harleyclarkey said:

Really stupid prats. 

I just don't get the total lack of awareness of some people. 

"You horrid Thai people actually expect ME  to pay for a beach service? Do you not know who I am? " 

 

Bit of confusion with my post.

 

The section above my quote marks is what I wpuld think the 2 prats would be thinking. Not what I think about Thais!

This should be clear to those who posted sad/confused remarks about my post!! 

[pomchop]

1 hour ago, crazykopite said:

In 20 years I’ve never seen a vendor displaying a permit what I have seen is bars demanding you buy a refreshment of some sort if you want to sit on one of there chairs

Walk down beach road and you will see that all the chair vendors have a big blue number usually displayed on the front of their coolers....those are assigned by the city and indicate their permission.  If you rent a chair there is no requirement to buy anything else.  Some think that if you buy a drink you don't have to pay for the chair....some will allow that sometimes ...some won't.

[sirineou]

Quote

Two Foreign Tourists Arrested on Pattaya Beach for Refusing to Pay for Beach Chairs

Pay for chairs? 

They just wouldn't stand for it.