We would never know what the so called victim Mr. Andresen said to the taxi driver, as he had only booked an ride for 1km to his accommodation. Maybe the taxi driver wanted more money for the fare as it was only 1km away and wanted to compensated for the early morning pick up, we will never know what was said in the car from both parties, it will always be conflicting stores
But why did Mr. Andresen not just walk away and not retaliate, and what was said for the driver to react in the way he did. we will never know, so why all the bashing on Phuket
In all honestly, i don't like Phuket that much myself, having lived there for 4 year many years ago, its not an area of Thailand that i enjoy, but for you 1 or 2 week tourists its fine and as the quality of tourist coming now don't seem to have the same respect for the locals or it might be the locals don't have the same respect for the tourists. and with the advent of more social media and CCTV, incidents like this get more exposure then years past.
If you go to Phuket enjoy yourself and be respectful to the locals and i am sure you will get the same respect back.