The BTS has apologized to an Irish man who claims he was attacked by a security guard for trying to bring balloons on the train on March 16.
Irish teacher John Behan together with his wife and 7-year-old daughter reportedly tried to enter Phrom Pong BTS Station holding a bunch of balloons. He was allegedly told to stop by security guards but became combative, pushed a guard, and kicked the chief of the station, BTS executive Anat Arbhabhirama said,according to The Nation. A guard then hit Behan with a scanner in self-defense, Anat said. That guard has been removed and will face a disciplinary probe and action, he added.
Behan’s wife, Patcharamas Phusri, told her side of the story in a online message.
“The balloons are gifts from her teachers and other parents on her graduation day. They have much sentimental value to her,” Patcharamas said in the message. “My husband, his coworkers, our daughter and my mom took the Sktrain with the balloons before they ended up having problems at the Phrompong station.” She said that she wasn’t at the scene when the violence occurred but rushed to her husband when she heard it had happened. “When I arrived, I found my husband was bleeding,” she said.
She claimed the BTS security guards attacked her husband after they had already taken the balloons away.
Both the BTS and Behan’s family have filed complaints with Thonglor Police.
Behan allegedly received a threatening phone call at his school recently, saying that if he stayed in Thailand he would be harmed, another article in The Nation reported.
Video of the aftermath of the incident taken by a bystander is below.
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