The incident happened along Soi Seadragon, a small side street of bars off Bangla Rd, at 1am today (Aug 8), Patong Police Chief Col Anotai Jindamanee confirmed.
“It was just an argument,” Col Anotai said, though a video recording of the incident provided to The Phuket News clearly showed the security guard knocking the foreign man to the ground then stomping on his head before being separated by bystanders along the soi.
“Afterwards, the two talked together and everything became good. This was confirmed by witnesses along Soi Seadragon.” Col Anotai explained.
“Please don’t misunderstand. This video is very short is is not long enough to show the two men talking at the end. It could lead people to misunderstanding and impact our tourism image,” he added.
Col Anotai said his officers had confirmed that the foreign man was not a tourist.
“He is an expat with a business somewhere here,” he said.
Col Anotai noted that his officers were informed of the incident, and responded.
“Police went there and checked CCTV footage from along the street. It showed the men talking, having an argument and then fighting each other at 1 am today (Aug 8),” he said.
“The security guard works for a pub in Soi Seadragon,” Col Anotai confirmed, but said he had yet to learn the name of security guard or the bar or nightclub he works for.
“I will find out all that this evening, and learn why they were fighting,” he said.
“Then I will charge both men for causing physical injury to another person,” he added.