Nobody living in Thailand would dare not to consider that the Thai Police especially on Phuket are in the main opportunistic scammers. But your Kiwi buddies are either brain dead, or for sure have form and something to hide. The situation escalated by them fleeing the scene and attacking a police officer. There is no excuse they can proffer to excuse their idiocy. They will be fined imprisoned, abused and black listed. And rightly so. Scumbags.