PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: A beach food shop in Hua Hin district has been fined for incorrect prices but investigators found no ground to take action against it for overcharging.
Prasopchai Poonkerd, the provincial office chief of the Commerce Ministry, on Monday fined Pa Kaew Seafood 1,000 baht for conflicting prices of ice on its two menus. Ice on the menu was quoted at 20 baht per bucket but a customer was charged 60 baht for two, the official added.
A tourist earlier claimed she and her family had been overcharged by the shop during their visit to the resort town on Saturday without mentioning the shop by name on her Facebook account.
Nanthamonlak Woratharathorn wrote she and her family visited the beach and was looking for some beach beds to relax there. A food shop employee approached them and said her shop could lend them if she ordered some food.
The Facebook account owner ordered two dishes but she was told to order a set of four. She complied and ended up receiving two dishes of each totalling eight.
"You take eight beds so it has to be two sets," she quoted the staff as saying.
After using the beds for one hour, she was charged 2,300 baht. That included 240 baht for two glasses of coconut smoothies, 40 baht for a bucket of ice, 500 baht for two plates of spicy seafood salad, 400 for two plates of fried rice with shrimp, 500 baht for oyster and 500 for batter-fried prawns.
"You're right. We should buy your food because we took your beds. I didn't mean to use them for free. But it should not turn out this way," she complained on social media.
Hua Hin authorities checked the information posted by the tourist and found the food shop was Pa Kaew Seafood, one of 22 food shops providing beach beds on the beach.
Pa Kaew Seafood shopowner Aree Numcharoen said the visitor had ordered the food and used the beds from her shop. But Ms Aree denied the accusations.
The shopowner said she had asked a man in the group to check the bill before paying and he just said it was expensive. Fresh seafood was costly, she claimed.
Nareekan Thongkrai, the employee who served the group on that day, said she had explained to the woman that she should order dishes that matched the number of occupied beds.
Ms Nareekan said she also offered another choice of paying 100 baht for a bed for the entire day instead of ordering the food.
District chief Thanon Phanpeepas promised fairness in the investigation and the team comprised district authorities and officials from the commercial office and provincial consumer protection office based in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
Mr Prasopchai of the commercial office said the shop was only fined for the different prices of ice because the evidence was obvious. The charge carries the maximum fine of 10,000 baht but Pa Kaew Seafood was fined 1,000 baht as it was its first violation, he added.
The official said there are no laws or measures to prosecute the shop for the allegedly overcharged prices.
Prices set by shops or restaurants depend on several factors, ranging from tastiness, the freshness of ingredients and locations to satisfaction of customers, he added.
Mr Prasopchai advised tourists file a complaint with police if they think they are ripped off by food shops or restaurants.
The shopowner on Monday paid the fine and said she filed a complaint with the Hua Hin police station against the tourist, accusing her of posting wrong information that damaged the reputation of her shop and the resort town.
Earlier on Monday, the Facebook user posted she meant well and only intended to warn others. "No fabrication," she wrote.
"I have no reason to make up a story or put others in trouble," she wrote.
Netizens supported her and many shared the same experience during their trips to Hua Hin.
Hua Hin is famous for local and foreign tourists. It is also infamous for unusually high food prices.
In November, famous writer Win Lyovarin complained about paying 4,000 baht for four grilled prawns at a seafood restaurant in a market.
