Aggressive & dangerous street vendors (video)

Aggressive flower seller in Nakon Pathom pushes people around to sell her flowers & fake watch seller in Pattaya stabs Russian sitting at Starbucks.

Flower seller caught by citizen journalist on video physically forcing a woman to pay 40 baht for flowers. Several people nearby broke up the quarrel that followed.

Two recent incidents involving aggressive and sometimes dangerous street vendors have drawn public attention to everyday sorts of problems that usually do not reach the mainstream media. So-called "citizen journalism" where people who are not journalists or reporters post videos and stories, however, often does catch these sorts of incidents on video and bring them to public attention.  

CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Flower seller pushes people around and threatens them to sell her flowers

11/01/2015
Online Reporters

An elderly flower seller in Nakhon Pathom has been caught on video forcing people to buy her flowers after placing them in their hands and using intimidation.

A Facebook user who posted the video shown here wrote that she came across the flower seller shouting at a woman at a market in Nakhon Pathom province, as she went to work on Friday morning.

The seller tried to force the woman to pay 40 baht for the flowers but she refused. The seller became more aggressive and pulled the woman's bag, before several people nearby broke up the quarrel.



The flower seller allegedly collects flowers and lotuses from different temples and shrines and tries to sell them at the market. 

First, she asks strangers to hold the flowers and then she forces them to pay. If they refuse, she shouts and bullys them. If that doesn't work, she threatens them with her son who she claims is a high-ranking police officer.

Other vendors in the market are reportedly annoyed by her and have told her not to harass people but she doesn't listen to them.

Many netizens criticised the flower seller for her intimidation and "hard sell" tactics.

One wrote: "This grandma lives in Sai 7 and usually takes free bus rides. She likes to quarrel with others in the market and forces people to buy her goods. She often claims that her son is a high-ranking police or military officer."

Other internet users wrote that her family should take better care of her and prevent her from harassing other people.

Full story here

TOURISM SAFETY

Russian stabbed by fake watch seller while enjoying coffee at Starbucks 

10/01/2015 

On Friday night around 9pm, a 22-year-old Russian tourist was stabbed by an angry watch seller after refusing to buy a counterfeit watch in Pattaya.

Ivan Cherkashhin, 22, sustained a serious knife wound to his left rib cage in the attack that took place at a Starbucks coffee shop at the Central Pattaya Beach shopping mall.

Ivan was drinking coffee with his elder sister at Starbucks when a watch seller approached him. The seller tried to persuade her brother to buy his watch but he refused to do so after finding it was a fake.

The vendor, however, kept pestering him, causing him to get angry. The angry seller, who suddenly pulled out a knife and stabbed him, according to the elder sister.

Security guards at the shopping mall sent him to Pattaya Memorial Hospital. Police have examined closed-circuit (CCTV) cameras to identify and catch the vendor.

Read full story here

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