An Italian woman in a viral attack video claimed she was “drunk and angry” when she randomly yanked a Thai woman’s hair until the victim fell off her chair inside a McDonald’s on Khaosan Road. The victim alleged that she had never met or spoke to the crazed tourist before.
Italian national Laura Predosa, 29, was identified yesterday as the foreign attacker in the viral video. The footage of the early Saturday incident, narrated by the victim’s friend, shows Predosa in a black tank top, ordering food at the junk food joint’s counter with three friends.
The narrator explained that Predosa seemed to have gotten in an argument with her friends at the counter. The footage shows them yelling at each other before hugging. Unexpectedly, as Predosa was walking out of McDonald’s, she turned back to the victim, who was sitting by the door. The tourist is seen yanking the Thai woman by her hair until the victim fell onto the ground. Predosa then kicked her in the head one time.
“My friend had nothing to do with this gang. She was confused. Like, ‘What the hell?” the narrator is heard saying in the video.
The video was submitted by the victim’s friend to Facebook page “Queen of Black Spades,” an influential social media account in Thailand that helps bring public attention to criminal cases. The name of the victim was not disclosed.
The page wrote on Saturday morning that the police first turned the victim away when she came to the Chanasongkram station to file a report, saying it was a “waste of time.”
The Royal Thai Police later responded that the victim got the suspect to accompany her to Chanasongkram police station after the incident at 3am on Saturday, but the victim didn’t want to pursue legal action and only wanted the foreigner to apologize.
“The victim said she only wanted the suspect to apologize. We instructed the patrol police to bring the CCTV footage of the incident for inspection. In the meantime, the police on duty made the suspect and victim wait while obtaining the footage, but then they disappeared,” the Facebook statement, published on Saturday, said.
The victim reportedly returned to the station accompanied by a friend at 4am, but the suspect did not return.
“At 5am, the police had the footage proving that the foreign suspect had assaulted the Thai victim, and a report was filed.”
The statement said the victim only suffered minor injuries.
Later that morning, police tracked down Predosa, 29, who was staying at a condominium in the Suan Luang area. During questioning, the tourist said that she was “drunk and angry” because the victim displayed a “negative attitude towards her physically and verbally.”
Although in the video, we only see the victim minding her own business.
Thairath reported that the Italian suspect, who works as a graphic designer in her country, apologized to the victim.
Predosa was charged with assault. If convicted, the tourist could face up to one month in prison and/or a fine of THB10,000.
Predosa entered Thailand on July 17 and is scheduled to return to Italy on Sept. 15.
