The attack, which occurred around midnight on October 7, was captured on video by a bystander who later posted the disturbing footage on Facebook. (See story here.)
“We, the management of White Room Night Club, are shocked and upset by the violent incident,” said Ittipol Nguennuey, the manager of the club.
“We strongly reject all forms of violence and we are currently reviewing the necessary measures to ensure nothing like this will ever happen again.
“Needless to add, the culprits of this despicable act have had their employment at White Room immediately terminated,” he said.
The move restores some confidence in tourists’ security on the island’s busiest party street, though the White Room was ordered to close for seven days from last Saturday (Oct 10).
“The White Room has suffered financially from the order to close and it will have to work really hard to bring back its good reputation,” said Entertainment Business Association President Weerawit Kurasombat.
However, Mr Weerawit admitted that the incident has tarnished Phuket’s tourism reputation abroad.
“This whole situation really affected tourism image for us especially in Bangla Rd, Patong,” he said.
“We wanted to be fair with all parties. The authorities urged the victims to come forward and file a complaint, but they never came and it is unfair that after they returned to their country, they finally spoke about the incident to the press over there.”
The two Australians beaten by the security staffers returned home and by last Saturday had recounted their version of events on national television and to the Australian media.
One of the tourists, named only as Aaron, dismissed the claim that he and his friends had refused to pay for drinks, saying that they had bought “all you can drink” vouchers issued by the White Room valid from 10pm to 1am. He also presented the voucher to the Australian national media voucher to prove it.
In the hope of preventing any further violence by entertainment business workers from inflicting even more harm to Phuket’s lucrative tourism industry, Mr Weerawit has called for a meeting between Patong nightlife venue operators and local officials to discuss the issue.
* The Phuket News earlier today posted a story quoting Mr Weerawit, saying that the five security guards had kept their jobs. The story was pulled down promptly after the White Room explained otherwise. Mr Weerawit was not available for comment this afternoon.