BANGKOK, THAILAND – A widely shared video appeared to show a suspected British tourist attacking a Thai police officer inside a 7-Eleven before store staff intervened.
Attack on officer inside convenience store
The footage showed the man assaulting the officer and forcing him to the ground while several bystanders moved in and tried to separate the two. A second foreign man and multiple store employees joined the intervention and attempted to pull the attacker away from the officer.
After a prolonged struggle, the officer and staff together managed to pin the man down. The clip ended before the final outcome of the confrontation was visible.
Shortly before the end of the video, an employee appeared to try to stop the person who was filming. There had been no official statement on how the incident concluded.
Clip spreads quickly on social media
The clip was posted on 8 March by X user @JamesPGoddard90 and was subsequently shared by foreign users and Thai media outlets. The original source of the recording remained unclear.
Background information on what led up to the altercation and the motive for the incident had not been officially confirmed. No details were available on the identities of those involved beyond the description of the main suspect as a presumed British tourist.
Possible legal consequences under Thai law
Under Section 138 of the Thai Criminal Code, the use of violence to obstruct an officer in the performance of duty could be punished with up to two years in prison, a fine of up to 40,000 baht, or both. In addition, Section 295 on bodily harm might apply, carrying the same maximum penalties of two years’ imprisonment, a 40,000-baht fine, or both.
Authorities had not yet announced whether any specific charges would be pursued in connection with the case. There was also no public information on whether the man seen in the video had been detained.
Similar incidents reported in Bangkok and Phuket
In January, a case became known in which a Thai police officer in Bangkok was attacked on an open road after an argument with another road user. Separately, in Phuket in September of the previous year, a foreign man assaulted a traffic police officer after the officer had intervened.
The suspect in the Phuket incident was arrested, but there were no public disclosures about any subsequent punishment. These cases added to ongoing public debate about confrontations involving police and both local and foreign motorists in Thailand.