Pattaya —
An unidentified foreigner who an eyewitness said dressed like a police officer attacked a Chinese driver over a traffic accident in a fit of what appeared to be road rage in Pattaya.
A video of a tall foreign-looking man dressed like a police officer, who was attacking a defenseless Chinese man on Pattaya Third Road in South Pattaya, went viral on social media early this morning, May 26th.
The incident was recorded and uploaded on social media by a Thai eyewitness Ms. Pom, (alias). Her actual name was withheld by Thai media as she feared possible retaliation from the suspect for posting the video and sharing it online. She said she witnessed the assault at 03:00 AM near a traffic light on Third Road in the Nongprue sub-district of Banglamung district, Chonburi province.
At the scene of the incident, Ms. Pom said she noticed a large crowd of people gathering on the roadside, so she decided to stop her motorbike for a closer look. To her surprise, the woman discovered a foreign man allegedly assaulting an unidentified Chinese man, knocking him onto the pedestrian walkway and rendering him unconscious.
Motorcycle taxi drivers and passersby who witnessed the incident tried to intervene and prevent the foreign man, who was unidentified, from further harming the Chinese man. Despite their efforts, the foreign man ignored their warnings and even chased them away to keep them from interfering, Ms. Pom said.
An unidentified Thai woman who was accompanying the foreign attacker shouted at people, telling them to go away. According to Ms. Pom and her recording, this woman said: “Nobody can stop him. Do you understand? This Chinese guy almost killed us with his sedan. What would you do if we died? Don’t you know who we are?”
As for the nature of the entire incident, the female eyewitness said it appeared that the Chinese man got into a traffic accident with the attacker before the assault. The man was driving a sedan and suddenly stopped at a red light, which was followed by the foreign man and a Thai woman on a motorcycle.
The foreign man yanked the door of the sedan open and forcefully pulled the Chinese man out, assaulting him until he fell on the ground, according to the video and eyewitnesses. The Chinese man tried to defend himself and pleaded for the other man to stop, but he was overpowered by the more physically imposing foreigner, Ms. Pom commented.
After one witness called the cops, Pattaya police arrived to halt the fight. Ms. Pom gave the video as evidence to the authorities, however, she claimed that she was approached by the unidentified Thai woman who warned her to go away and not post the video if she did not want problems.
Ms. Pom then went to check on other people at the scene, and after a while, decided to return to her accommodation. She later decided to release the video online where it immediately went viral despite the threats, believing it a matter of public interest.
At 10:30 AM today, Thai media after the video went viral and was widely shared on major Thai networks like Thairath contacted Pol. Col. Thanapong Phothi, superintendent of Pattaya Police Station, to inquire about the incident. He said he had already summoned and spoken to all parties involved and that the Chinese man had admitted to him that he was not a very good driver, and he had almost collided with the foreigner’s motorcycle in the video which had set off the road rage incident.
As for the foreigner, Pol. Col. Thanapong confirmed that he was not a Thai police officer or volunteer but merely a foreign tourist who dressed similarly to an officer, wearing a jacket with foreign police insignia. Pol. Col. Thanapong declined, however, to give the name or nationality of the suspect.
The Chinese man apologized for his lack of driving skills, while the foreigner apologized for beating him up, before both parties agreed to separate and move on, the superintendent said.
No legal action was taken, reports said. Pattaya police considered the incident settled and stated that both sides had apologized to each other and the issue was resolved privately.
The video is still widely available online but as it was not shot or released by our own teams TPN media has decided not to share it within the context of this article.
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