In the early hours of Friday morning Pattaya police were called by a person to report that a man was seen severely slapping a young boy on Soi 10 off Pattaya Beach Road.   An officer was sent to the soi to investigate and came across the suspect man together with the 7 year old boy.  On questioning the man, 27 year old Cha, it turned out that he was Cambodian and could not produce any form of ID or Visa.  The frightened boy was also Cambodian.  They were taken back to the police station for questioning and the boy stated that he had been living with his grandmother but she had been deported back to Cambodia, leaving him to fend for himself and wander the streets.  It wasn’t long before he met up with Cha who took him in and taught him the art of begging.  However, it seems that Cha was a cruel bully and beat him if he did not bring in enough money, which happened that morning, resulting in a severe beating.  Cha denied the charges, but will be detained for further investigation as to his legal status in Thailand.  The boy was sent to a temporary shelter before deciding if to send him back to Cambodia.  Hopefully, relatives will be contacted in Cambodia to make sure the boy will be left in safe hands.

News stories placed on this website are short versions. If you would like the full story, please read the Pattaya People Weekly newspaper