CHIANG MAI — A food delivery service said it fired one of its deliverymen for sending sexually-charged messages to a customer, while the police on Thursday said that a fine was all they could do.
A policeman in Chiang Mai province said ex-Foodpanda delivery man Natjipong Laokum, 22, was charged with public nuisance and fined 1,500 baht for the harassment. Foodpanda said Natjipong has been blacklisted from the service.
“He caused a disturbance, and we have his actions down in the record. That’s all we can do,” Capt. Jirat Bootwong of Phuping Rajanivej Police Station, who handled the case, said by phone Thursday.
The incident took place on March 5, when a 19-year-old female student ordered food to her dorm. Natjipong replied to her in the Foodpanda app that he wanted to use her bathroom and insisted on coming into her room.
“Please. Come on. I’m horny,” read one of the messages he sent.
The woman did not leave her dorm to meet the deliveryman and posted about her experience online.
The woman then went to the police the next day, Capt. Jirat said. Natjipong was arrested, charged, and fined on Tuesday.
On Wednesday afternoon, Foodpanda Thailand posted online that they had terminated the employee and blacklisted him from the company.
“This employee is no longer a deliveryman for Foodpanda. Our Chiang Mai manager also contacted the customer to confirm that she is okay and encouraged her to go to the police,” the statement said. “We cooperated with the police fully to confirm the employee’s identity.”
Capt. Jirat also said Natjipong was using the Foodpanda ID of another driver, Chatri Burut, 36. Chatri went to the police on Wednesday to file a report that his identity had been stolen and that he was not involved in the harassment.
Sexual harassment by staff of delivery service is not unknown in Thailand.
In April 2019, deliverymen for the Kerry Express courier service unboxed a customer’s sex toys, played with them, posted photos to their social media, and even forwarded the client’s private details to coworkers.
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