Face-slapped: Ayutthaya hotel receptionist Panita “Nat” Kochprapa, who was slapped in the face by a Nakhon Ratchasima businessman for prohibiting him from smoking in the hotel’s restaurant on November 6, said on Tuesday that he no longer wished to talk about the matter after having given the Bt40,000 in compensation money he had received to charitable causes.
The 25-year-old ladyboy said he had also dropped the charge against Surasee Haengsisuwan, director of Nava Nakhon Sung None Industrial Estate in Nakhon Ratchasima, who had apologised and paid him the compensation.
Panita said he had already donated most of the money to Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya Hospital on Monday, and would spend some of the remainder on making merit, which made him feel better after being under a great deal of stress recently.
A video clip of the face-slapping incident was posted on Facebook and went viral last week, attracting moral support for Panita from social-media users, including from celebrity lawyer Atchariya Ruangratanapong, who offered to help fight his case.
Panita said he would not be afraid to warn customers in future to adhere to the no-smoking ban, as it was his duty to do so and he believed in the hotel’s regulations and society’s law on such behaviour.
