Kittiphon Chuensrinuan, 39, from Phuket, blasted a seafood vendor stall called “Chao Lay” for loading the scales when he took his family for a meal out on Sunday.
“At 12:40pm, me and my family went to Rawai beach for lunch. I bought fresh seafood from a seafood stall from a female vendor on the beach. I bought one kilogram of sea snails for B120,” he said.
Mr Kittiphon said he took the sea snails to the Mook Dee Restaurant nearby to cook for his family.
“While I was eating, I bit on a big rock. I checked the plate and found more rocks. In total, there were about 15 to 16 rocks and only 30 to 40 of sea snails.
“Each rock was about the thumb size, similar in size to the sea snails. I thought it was not an accident. They intended to put rocks in to make more weight,” Mr Kittiphon alleged.
“I feel very bad about the seafood stalls. Lots of foreign tourists buy seafood from these stalls every day. They might have found rocks in their seafood like me. They might think negatively about Rawai and Phuket seafood,” he said.
“I posted this on social media because I want everyone responsible for this to check. I also want to warn other seafood stalls to be honest to their customers. This damages the reputation of Rawai and the Phuket people,” he added.
Mr Kittiphon also slighted the restaurant. “They should be more hygienic, otherwise their reputation will suffer,” he said.
In response, Kunlasatree Srijan, 20, who is the niece of Dokbua Tangae, 39, who owns the Chao Lay seafood stall, said “We did not check if there were rocks with the sea snails when we bought them (from fishermen), but it is normal that some rocks, pebbles and sand will be found with shells.
“Some shells are empty, and when this happens we are happy to replace them and sometimes we give them a few extra,” Ms Kunlasatree explained.
“We insist that we do not add rocks for more weight. My aunt is a real ‘Chao Lay’ (sea gypsy) who has ran this stall for more than 10 years. We will not damage our reputation,” she added.
The manager of the Mook Dee Restaurant was not available for comment.