THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Apology for disabled woman over mall parking incident

Apology for disabled woman over mall parking incident

A security guard and a mall executive have apologised to a wheelchair-bound woman whose motorcycle and sidecar were removed from a mall parking space for the physically disabled, to make way for a sports car and its able-bodied driver.

A video clip of the incident, posted by a Facebook user named "Bam Poungkhak", showed Kamonwan Karatphetch's motorcycle being left in middle of the road while a Ford Mustang parked in the space designated for physically disabled persons. Many Thai social media users shared the story to friends and slammed Terminal 21 Pattaya shopping mall and the owner of the Ford Mustang. 
The shopping mall on Wednesday issued a letter to explain the case to customers, the media and others concerned. The mall owned up to "the mistake which stemmed from its security guard's action without consideration of consequence". 
The mall offered an apology to both sides - Kamonwan and the Ford Mustang owner – and said it had coordinated with the guard's supervisor to consider an appropriate punishment for the guard as per company policy. 

Apology for disabled woman over mall parking incident Kamonwan Karatphetch
It also vowed to improve services and prevent a re-occurrence.
Many social media members said that even if the guard signalled the Ford Mustang to park in the space after pulling the disable person's motorcycle out of the way, the driver should have declined.
The unnamed female owner of the Mustang later on Wednesday presented a fruit basket and apologised to Kamonwan at the Phra Mahathai Vocational School Pattaya, where she was studying and serving as the wheelchair athlete.
The mall representative and the security guard, Jirayut Apaipat, 32, also came along to apologise. 
While Jirayut admitted he did wrong and said he felt bad about the incident and the car owner admitted being careless, Kamonwan said she didn't realise that her post of the incident would spread so far and she just wanted the case to end now.

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