Hong Kong Paralympic gold medallist Ho Yuen-kei has complained that a restaurant refused to serve her after a staff member said bringing her wheelchair inside would affect other diners.
The boccia athlete said on Tuesday that a staff member at Thai restaurant Ayutthaya in Causeway Bay had refused to let her inside on the grounds that “there was no space for a wheelchair”.
When Ho said her wheelchair was small, the staff member insisted it would block the way for other diners. The athlete added that she tried to explain that it could easily fit under a table, similar to any other chair.
The athlete added that there were not many diners inside the restaurant at the time.
“No wonder fewer and fewer people spend money in Hong Kong. The service is so bad now,” she wrote on social media.
Ken Ng Ka-hung, who runs the restaurant, apologised and pledged to improve services to better cater to those using wheelchairs.
He stressed that the eatery did not discriminate against wheelchair users, adding that it had served people with wheelchairs before.
