Father assaults man who bested young son at video game

CHUMPHON - A college student who beat a 7-year-old in a computer game at an internet café here was later allegedly beaten up by the boy’s father.

Worawut Yothaka, 20, a student at a vocational college in this southern province, reported to Chumphon police on Wednesday that he was assaulted around 8pm Tuesday by a group of four men led by the father of the boy he beat in "War Z Siam" at the shop in Muang district.

Mr Worawut told police he and a friend were playing when the 7-year-old asked to join their online team. By that point, the college student had already accumulated a stockpile of virtual weapons.

But the youngster reportedly shot his own virtual team member - a breach of video-gaming etiquette - so Mr Worawut challenged the impetuous lad to a one-on-one challenge, which he won easily.

The child reacted by crying and screaming at the victor and stormed out of the internet shop vowing to tell his father.

About 10 minutes later, the boy's dad and three friends entered and assaulted him without saying a word, Mr Worawut claimed, providing police with security-camera footage as proof.

Pol Lt Sawas Kongkaew, a case officer, said an initial investigation revealed that the boy gamer had behaved similarly at other internet shops when he lost, but usually it was his mother who came to try to get an explanation from staffers.

Video credit: CCTV outside internet cafe in Chumphon

Published: 5 Nov 2015