Thanawadee Klaikong, 40, the owner of the ‘Koh Kaew Kaeng Mueang Khon’ restaurant, on Thepkrasattri Rd northbound, just north of the intersection with the Thepkrasattri - Naiyang Road (Route 4031), went public with her denial of intimidation yesterday (Aug 1), saying that she was “calling for justice”.
The incident began when Facebook user “OA Waraphorn” on July 22 posted a complaint about the restaurant on the popular “พวกเราคือผู้บริโภค” (“We are the consumers”) Facebook group, which has more than 321,000 members.
Ms Woraphorn complained of receiving a small bag containing 12 small pieces of pork for the price of B60 after placing her order through the Grab Food app.
On Sunday (July 30), Ms Woraphorn made another post, this time saying that the owner of the restaurant and three other people had arrived at her house and “invaded her home”.
According to Ms Woraphorn, the owner said, “I did not come to apologise. I came to scold. I came to tell you not to review. [You have] made the shop’s sales fall to less than B100,000 a month. Doing this leaves me without money to pay staff… Other people have posted reviews that our food is delicious. You are the only one who posted a review like this.”
Ms Woraphorn said she was frightened by the incident. “Even though I did a true review… [I was] very scared and shocked because I was home alone.”
Ms Woraphorn noted, “I forgot to take a clip, so there’s no evidence”.
She did report the incident via the Grab app and was told they would contact the restaurant owner, and was assured that the customer had the right to post their reviews, she added.
Her post on Sunday (July 30) has so far received more than 6,800 responses.
Restaurant owner Ms Thanawadee yesterday (Aug 1) met with reporters and posted a public statement on the shop’s Facebook page.
In addition to operating the Koh Kaew Kaeng Mueang Khon restaurant in Tambon Thepkrasattri since at least 2015, Ms Thanawadee also operates a second shop, “Koh Kaew Kaeng Mueang Khon 2”.
After learning about the first complaint, shop staff sent a message to Ms Woraphorn, asking her to contact the shop to explain to them what happened, Ms Thanawadee said.
But the customer did not respond to the message at all, she said.
On Sunday, the same customer ordered again. Employees at the shop saw the order and called and sent the number to her, Ms Thanawadee continued.
Ms Thanawadee said she tried calling Ms Woraphorn “about five to six times”, but the calls went unanswered.
After closing the shop on Sunday night, Ms Thanawadee, he partner and two staffers went to the delivery address as given by the app.
She introduced herself as the owner of Koh Kaew Kaeng Mueang Khon restaurant and introduced his two staffers, while her male partner remained in their car, Ms Thanawadee said.
“There was no intimidation,” Ms Thanawadee said. “There was no trespass. They went because we could not contact [Ms Woraphorn] at all.
“We were in great trouble. We just went to talk and ask [her]... We were standing and talking normally, not having a quarrel,” she continued.
Ms Thanawadee explained to Ms Woraphorn that if she were unhappy with any orders, she could contact the restaurant and change her order.
“After that, they dispersed and returned home. At midnight the next day they went to sell pork and found there were a lot of comments on Facebook. Both the shop’s Facebook page and their own [person] Facebook page,” Ms Thanawadee said.
Ms Thanawadee pointed out that restaurant sales plunged after the comments were posted online, but noted, “From over B10,000 to B7,000-B8,000, not a B100,000 as claimed.”
“We did not intimidate at all,” said Ms. Thanawadee. “We did not intend to frighten anyone. We went just because we wanted to find a way to contact the customer only.”
A public response to the incident was posted on the Koh Kaew Kaeng Mueang Khon official Facebook page yesterday evening.
“There was no malicious intent. The shop agrees that this action [invading a person’s home] is extremely inappropriate. The shop must accept the mistake that has occurred and sincerely apologise.
“But the shop would like to explain honestly about the fact that the shop [representatives] did not enter the customer’s home. They just stood and waited in front of the front gate, which is the area along the road where cars travel, and had a conversation with the customer with mutual understanding. Both apologised and shook hands and bowed to each other very politely,” the statement said.
“The conversation was talking from outside the gates of the house… There was no threatening or doing anything that is threatening in any way. The shop therefore would like to clarify that there was no invasion as claimed,” the statement added.