The arrests on Monday come in the same week police said they were trying to persuade district councillors to turn parts of Sai Kung's waterfront into a pedestrian walkway, to drive triad-run parking rackets out of business.

Car jockeys belonging to the Luen Ying She and the 14K Hau triads monopolise Sai Kung's seafront parking meters for payment from restaurants, intimidating motorists who try to park there.

The assault on the schoolboy happened when the victim and friends got off a ferry on the Sai Kung seafront and were confronted by a group of the car jockeys, said Sai Kung police divisional commander Mark Johnson.

They did not like the way he looked at them and five men, all believed to be triad members, set upon the 14-year-old. They kicked and punched him, leaving him with a broken nose and extensive cuts and bruises.

Police arrested two suspects inside a seafood restaurant after a chase. They were questioned about the assault before being released on bail and ordered to report back. Chief Inspector Johnson said the incident highlighted how important it was to drive the triad-run car-parking rackets out of Sai Kung.

'This is not the first incident of its kind,' he said. 'Just before Christmas another car jockey walked into the 7-Eleven in Sai Kung, didn't like the way he was treated by a member of staff there and came back with a baseball bat and hit the lady on the head.

'He is now serving a three-month sentence.'

District councillors will tomorrow be asked by police to consider a range of options to tackle the problem, including shutting the meters and pedestrianising part of the seafront 'horse-shoe' that runs along Man Nin Street and Yi Chun Street.

A police report to the meeting estimates the triad gangs rake in $3 million a year in payment from restaurants and diners.

Speaking on an RTHK phone-in show where the Sai Kung problem was discussed yesterday, assistant district commander (crime) Steve Tarrant dismissed suggestions that triads were accepted because they had existed in Chinese society for centuries.

'Triads are just common criminals,' he said. 'There's nothing romantic or patriotic about them at all. They are just scum.'

Police have spent more than 300 man-hours dealing with problems caused by Sai Kung's car jockey gangs so far this year, but in most cases officers have been powerless to do more than hand out parking tickets or issue verbal warnings.