A Chinese businessman and a former Ayutthaya Prison commander gave 3,000 sets of food to the Pattaya needy in the area during the Covid-19 crisis.


The donation event took place in front of a restaurant owned by the Viet Thai 2017 company yesterday (October 24th). Hundreds of local residents were seen standing in line for the event hours before the giveaway, showing that even though most business sectors, with the notable exception of the entertainment and nightlife economy, have been allowed to re-open after prior restrictions and mandates, that many local residents were still struggling to make ends meet.


By the time the event began, over a thousand had arrived although were being socially distanced, temperature checked, and ensured that Covid-19 precautions were being followed by law enforcement officers.

Mr. Arkhun Leeja, 53, a Chinese national and the president of VietThai 2017 company, and Mr. Uthai Thaparsa the former Ayutthaya Prison Commander and now the head of Toe Ratchatan Boxing Gym donated 3,000 sets of five kilograms of rice and cooking oil to the needy in total over several hours.


Mr. Uthai told the Pattaya News team, “Many people locally are suffering from the Covid -19 pandemic and economic crisis even the Covid -19 confirmed cases in Pattaya and Chonburi have continued to reduce. We want to encourage them to fight and assist those in need by giving this food to them. Pattaya is scheduled to reopen to tourists in the near future and everyone hopes this will help bring things back to some normality and allow many people to get back to work and earn an income. Thousands of businesses locally are still shut, some by government orders like bars and some by business owner decisions due to lack of customers. Even some places that are open have dramatically reduced the numbers of available staff, leaving many people out of work.”

Pattaya City Police and the Pattaya City Law Enforcement officers assisted at the donation.

Chinese businessman and former Ayutthaya Prison Commander give 3,000 sets of food to Pattaya needy - The Pattaya News