A bar owner in Bangkok shaved the head of an 18-year-old customer after she accumulated a bill of 60,000 baht for 200 alcoholic drinks while using a fake identity card.
Police in the Thai capital are now investigating the venue operator following a formal complaint filed by the teenager and her mother, news outlet Mothership reported.
The incident took place on August 25 in Bangkok. A video showing a bar employee cutting off the woman's hair surfaced on social media two days later.
According to the bar administration, the customer, identified as Muay, ordered 200 portions of alcohol during her visit. She was unable to settle the final tab of 60,000 baht, which equals approximately 156,000 Russian rubles.
Disputed agreements and police complaint
Under Thai law, individuals must be at least 20 years old to enter drinking establishments or purchase alcoholic beverages. Muay allegedly gained access to the venue by presenting a falsified identity document.
The bar owner claimed that Muay voluntarily agreed to have her head shaved to erase the financial obligation. The management planned to sell her hair for 3,000 baht, or around 7,800 rubles, to recover a portion of the unpaid bill.
Muay and her mother disputed that account when they reported the matter to local law enforcement. Muay stated that staff members coerced her into agreeing by threatening to beat her if she refused.
Her mother reported that the bar owner rejected an alternative proposal to pay off the 60,000 baht debt through gradual installments. She added that her daughter suffered physical abuse during the ordeal and bore visible marks of beatings on her body.
Legal boundaries and rights advocacy
A representative from the Pen Nueng Foundation, a non-profit human rights organisation that intervened in the case, acknowledged that the bar suffered clear financial damage from the unpaid bill. However, the activist noted that shaving a person's head was an excessive and illegal punishment under national law.
Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, is home to strict commercial regulations governing night entertainment venues and consumer protection. Non-governmental rights organisations in the region frequently assist young people facing informal extrajudicial sanctions by local business owners.
Informal head shaving as a sanction has previously drawn public attention across Asia. In a past incident in Japan, a popular singer with the pop group AKB48 was forced to shave her head as punishment after meeting with a fan.
Ongoing police investigation
Law enforcement officers in Bangkok are currently investigating all circumstances surrounding the incident at the drinking establishment.
