A Thai man who posted a video on Facebook of a cockroach in his fried egg while eating at Central Chiang Mai Airport’s food court will sue the mall for THB6 million (about US$183,000), saying he hopes no more Thais will have to eat cockroach-infested food.
Thanapiphat Chaitanatanatat filed a complaint with the Damrongdhama Center in Chiang Mai yesterday and demanded the Office of the Consumer Protection Board to investigate how a cockroach got into his meal on Friday — a garlic pork with rice and fried egg.
“On Friday, I ate at this famous mall in Chiang Mai and found a cockroach after I ate half of the dish. I almost threw up!” he wrote on Facebook.
In his Facebook video, posted on Dec. 15, Thanapiphat showed a pretty large cockroach lying peacefully in the yolk of his fried egg, as the mall’s manager came to apologize to him at the table.
He wrote that the manager only offered to give him a refund, which he refused.
“I told them, ‘What if I cooked you a cockroach fried rice and made you eat half of it, and then I’d give you your money back. Would you want that?’ They just apologized and left,” he wrote.
Thanapiphat explained that the garlic pork was freshly cooked, but the fried eggs were prepared in advance and left on the side of the cooking area, just like how most Thai food stalls operate.
“The point is, I don’t know when it got on top of the fried egg. I just saw it when I saw it.”
Thanapiphat told Sanook that the mall also promised to fine the stall responsible for the cockroach egg, but it didn’t seem to address to the ultimate question, “What about the customers who eat these unsanitary foods?”
He said he’d like to set a new standard for consumer rights in Thailand and intends to use half of any money won to help other people sue for compensation.
“I’m suing THB6 million for two things. The first THB3 million is for all the filth I’ve absorbed [from eating that egg], and the rest will be spent to help other consumers,” he said.
Incidents of Thais finding cockroaches in their food happens more than it should. In October, another man found what he believed to be a cockroach leg in his McDonald’s coffee. In July, two people were offered 10 percent discount from a famous dim sum joint after they found a huge cockroach in their dumplings.
“You should google ‘Cockroach found’ and you’ll see how many food stalls popped up. No one has done anything about it. I want my case to be an example,” he said.
Thanapiphat said that he had come across worse things in his food, but he decided to sue Central because the shopping mall that makes huge profits should have better hygiene standards.
