The incident happened last night on Sai Kor Road in the busy nightlife destination where Abdullah Roti had positioned his food cart before leaving briefly to shower and pray.
Whilst praying he was notified by a friend that a foreign man was helping himself to the array of goods from the food truck and so rushed back to his cart.
He found the Russian man standing in front of the cart using a ladle to scoop up the various rice and curry dishes that Mr Abdullah had prepared and planned to sell throughout the evening.
Mr Abdullah said the Russian man was heavily intoxicated with alcohol and was unresponsive to the looks and comments of several bypassers who were lambasting his anti-social behaviour.
Mr Abdullah himself then said to the Russian man, in English, that the food was not avilable for free but had to be paid for, to which the Russian man did not respond.
The food cart owner then threatened to call the police in an attempt to settle the issue but once again the Russian man ignored him and carried on eating “without a care in the world,” according to Mr Abdullah.
True to his word, Mr Abdullah called Patong Police who arrived at the scene shortly afterwards before escorting the drunken Russian to the police station. Mr Abdullah joined them and expressed his anger and disappointment at the incident, claiming B30,000 in damages from the offender.
“I have never experienced a situation like this in over 20 years of selling food from my cart,” Mr Abdullah told The Phuket News’ sister paper Khao Phuket. “Such foreigners don’t listen and behave very badly. I am very disappointed,” he added.
It was not just the fact that the irresponsible Russian man had taken without paying but that the rest of the dishes were ruined as a result.
“There was chicken curry, shrimp, shellfish, crab, fish, roti and other dishes that I had prepared to sell which were ruined,” Mr Abdullah added. “There is no way I could continue to serve these dishes to other members of the public. Hygiene is very important for me and for my customers.”
This stance was echoed by netizens after a clip of the incident was published and heavily criticised on social media. One commenter suggested Mr Abdullah should have used the ladle to hit the Russian man in an attempt to stop his drunken splurge.
At time of press the situation had yet to be fully resolved, reports Khao Phuket. An further meeting will take place today at Patong Police station in an attempt to resolve things between Mr Abdullah and the Russian man.
No details on the Russian man were revealed by police, including whether he was a tourist or long-term expat living in Phuket.