PATTAYA: Tourism authorities in Thailand are becoming increasingly concerned about a spate of attacks on Russian tourists in Pattaya.
In the latest incident two Russian women, aged 25 and 30, were shot dead on Saturday morning while sitting on deck chairs on Jomtien beach.
They were reported to be staying at the Dragon Beach Hotel.
They appeared to be victims of a contract-style shooting at around four in the morning. The Pattaya Daily News has carried graphic pictures of the two dead women.
The newspaper reported that both women were shot with a 9mm pistol. One received four bullets, one in her left arm and three in her abdomen; the other woman received one in the back.
Items on a table the women were using included a mobile phone, a pack of cigarettes, and two small bottles of Thai whisky. Footprints showed the gunman had been wearing combat type shoes.
In December, a Russian female walking along Jomtien Beach early in the morning was accosted by a motorcyclist bag-snatcher and subsequently shot. She survived after being rushed to hospital by a friend.
Pattaya Police Colonel Sutin Sahppoung is under pressure to solve the crimes and limit damage to the resort’s tourism sector.
The director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand in Pattaya, Khun Chaiwat Jaroensook, has held emergency talks with police and other tourism leaders in a bid to step up security in Pattaya.
