Pattaya Vendor Stabs Customer in Street Fight
A som tam vendor in Pattaya stabbed a customer in the neck during a street altercation on July 23, claiming self-defense after the woman threw ice and damaged her display case in Bang Lamung District.
On July 23, emergency responders in Pattaya were called to a dispute with injuries in the Pattaya Beachside Alley 13/2 area in Bang Lamung District, Chon Buri. Officers from Pattaya City Police Station and rescue volunteers rushed to the scene, where crowds of residents and tourists gathered in shock.
Ms. Wan, 33, a tomboy, was found with a knife wound to the neck and bleeding heavily. She recounted that she had intervened to stop the som tam vendor from bothering her mother figure (a neighboring food vendor, not a biological relative), but was instead cursed at and attacked with a cutting knife multiple times.
Ms. Rungarun, 55, the som tam vendor accused of the attack, explained that the injured woman had come in ranting that she had a problem with a nearby food stall owner—though there had been no actual conflict. The woman threw ice at her and smashed her display case. Unable to tolerate it, Rungarun grabbed her papaya-cutting knife and slashed in self-defense. She admitted to the attack and the verbal abuse, saying she had previously given the woman food and water out of kindness.
A nearby food vendor, known as P'Fa, 60, clarified that the injured woman was not Rungarun's biological child but liked to call her "mother." The woman had ordered food, then suddenly started quarreling with the som tam vendor, falsely claiming they had fought—which wasn't true.
Local residents added that the injured woman often caused trouble when drunk and was unpredictable. Pattaya City Police have questioned the som tam vendor at the station, while the injured woman is being treated and will give a statement once recovered to establish the true cause of the incident.
