Phuket Tuk-tuk Driver Attacks French Family

[TimeBandit2]

I can't believe there are people saying "they should have moved" or "the guy was poor." Are you nuts? Are Thais just always right no matter what the circumstances and anything they do to foreigners is o.k because it's "their country?" Wake up and notice it's a country of 64 million people and sometimes people are restrained and considerate and sometimes they're freakshow crazy.

[anon8]

The Thai Police allowed their main international airport to be overrun and occupied by a gang of protesters

Their Prime Ministers motorcade to be attacked.

And also an international ASEAN Summit to be invaded.

A gang of rip off Tuk Tuk drivers should not even raise an eyelid.

Seriously.

agreed.

we need to vent, we live here

the reason this thread had 1400 ACTIVE viewers few hours ago is because we know we can be beaten or worse at any given moment..

by 'we' I mean farangs living in a major tourist area.

Simple fact is that nothing will ever change here. We learn to live here, we know never to argue with a local, we learn not to make eye contact, we get used to keep our eyes focused on a ground.

Because we have made our homes here we are slowly turning into something less than humans.. maybe that is the price we need to pay.. a permission to live in a foreign land.. never to be equal to locals. This makes me sad. It used to make me angry, it now just makes me sad. Slowly I get used to being a dog.

[Frankster]

Never had a problem in Phuket but i rent a motorbike it's cheap and easy .. The tourists may never have been in Thailand or Asia before so it's not there fault .. The Thai is a sh-t attacking a family with a pipe and any farang or Thai who stood by and did nothing is a coward sh-t but Thailand is full of farang sheep these days who would do nothing to heilp anyone .. Thailand was always a sh-t hole full of Thai scum it's was even worse 20 years ago in Phuket and Thailand .. Thais are cowards and scum ...

[steveyinasia]

Better to come to Chiang Mai, I took a Tuk Tuk home from a night out the other night, 200Baht from central city area to home at San Kempang and it was a little cool in the evening for the driver to go all that way. Stay away from dirt holes like Pattaya and Phuket.

Yes I agree 100% the tuk tuk drivers in Chiangmai are wonderful decent people who will go out of thier way to help you for no charge. In general the Chiangmai people are the Land of Smiles. My concern is that the tourists will start flocking here and drag the place down as they have done in Pattaya and Phuket. Chiangmai is heaven on earth at the moment and we don't need it to be turned into another Pattaya. It is a great family area.

Very true Moetown, however without a beach I believe that Chiang Mai will not attract the same calibre(as low as that is) visitor as Pattaya and Phuket. Having only lived here for a year, wasted a year in Bangkok, I find the Tuk Tuk guys to be very friendly and at no point have I felt like I was ripped off. I was crowd watching at Starbucks near the gate the other day watching the tourists interact with the Tuk Tuk guys, no problems or argument seemed to be forthcoming. Also, sorry for forgetting in my orginal post, I hope the family is Ok and safe.

[surangw]

"Many people saw the incident"

and not a one had a video camera or cell phone handy to record the incident??

I bet if the tuk tuker had been injured there would have been swift police action

[Beggar]

the problems with criminals in Phuket has been going on and on for far to long.

This issue with the tuk tuks is just one of many problems. People complain time and time

again but nothing is done. This is the typical response on this island. Paper over it and draw

attention to other things.

Why Phuket has no real meter taxi's that use their meters, no public transport and no trains etc

is never questioned. People come here, they get ripped off and they leave with negative experiences.

This kills the potential tourism. People who live and work here are constantly annoyed by the fact they

cannot park and they cannot take a taxi some place they want to go for a fair price.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE PHUKET AND MAKE THE NECESSARY CHANGES FOR THE FIRST TIME

BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.

The "tourists" did not care about AIDS. They did not care about the Tsunami. Do you think they care about the public transport in Phuket? How often could I watch the game of the water scooter guys on the beach in Pattaya. Just 2 days ago I saw tourist paying again for a damage they did not do. I know the damage from before. What can you really do? You are surrounded by organized crime. You can try to play Jesus and might end up like him. And the tourists - an endless stream of new "idiots". Many years ago I was one of them. Today I know better. I am a careful person so I never made a bad experience. But what can I change if I know what is going on. I am afraid nothing but risking my life. But is it so much different in other tourist places in this world? And try to park in San Francisco in some areas without paying anything to the guy who wants to take care of your car. Perhaps it might look like paradise here for a while - if you don't think to much. But after a while you will see that the angels are missing in this paradise ;-)

[moskito]

agreed.

we need to vent, we live here

the reason this thread had 1400 ACTIVE viewers few hours ago is because we know we can be beaten or worse at any given moment..

by 'we' I mean farangs living in a major tourist area.

Simple fact is that nothing will ever change here. We learn to live here, we know never to argue with a local, we learn not to make eye contact, we get used to keep our eyes focused on a ground.

Because we have made our homes here we are slowly turning into something less than humans.. maybe that is the price we need to pay.. a permission to live in a foreign land.. never to be equal to locals. This makes me sad. It used to make me angry, it now just makes me sad. Slowly I get used to being a dog.

you wrote down what many of us who are living here thinking,

After one live for some years in Thailand he knows he has NO RIGHTS, NO SAFETY and if you once are short of money you are not more worth as the street dog on the garbage bin.

Sad but true, for many Thais Farangs are not human beings, they are just fat cows which they can milk and if they dont give enough milk anymore.........

But anyway, todays news are tomorrow forgotten...I just wonder sometimes how many bad news, like this one, Phuket needs before the governor or the government do something about it.....but for WHO? we are just stupid <deleted> which invest some money here and try to make a living......like many Thais all over the world do...the only different thing is THEY HAVE RIGHTS

keep this thread alive as long as possible to get more attention....if you are to lazy to drop a short message to your ministry of foreign affairs and ask them for travel warnings

[bcbuzz]

Hope they catch the man who attacked these Tourists.

Having said that though, It is like Parking the Car on a Motorcycle Taxi Rank - There are no signs telling us not to, we just use our common sense really and not park there to avoid this type of trouble.

The tourists on holiday should have moved on really to avoid this, afterall, they are visitors in this Country.

That is what I think anyway.

What are you talking about? In the absence of any posted signage, where exactly is someone to direct and employ their common sense?

Then to suggest that "the tourists should have moved on to avoid this as they are visitors in this country". What the F***....... I do not post much but you Sir have really pissed me off!!! Any man with a semblance of a backbone would have reacted the way this tourist did. After being confronted by this tuk-tuk scum bag he checked and found no "no parking" signs and begain to unpack his beach stuff. Did they deserve a beating for this? Speaking of scum bags, what about all the people that just stood there while this family was being visciously attacked???

I really love Thailand but I also really hate Thailand!!!!

Edited December 29, 2009 by bcbuzz

[balo]

That's it , I will never go on a vacation to Phuket .

I need to relax when I'm on a holiday , not fighting with tuk tuk drivers.

[roygsd]

Hope they catch the man who attacked these Tourists.

Having said that though, It is like Parking the Car on a Motorcycle Taxi Rank - There are no signs telling us not to, we just use our common sense really and not park there to avoid this type of trouble.

The tourists on holiday should have moved on really to avoid this, afterall, they are visitors in this Country.

That is what I think anyway.

So you think visitors should have submitted to this intimidation from this local bully who, at the end of the day would appear to be largely dependent upon visitors to provide his living?

lets have it right, this scumbag appears to have had no more legal right to park there than the visitors, who it would seem were not committing any traffic offences.

The fact that no one came to their aid, ( thai or otherwise!) would appear to confirm that its a case of " sod you , I am ok Jack", however you can bet a pound to a penny that those people that turned a blind eye on this incident would be outraged if no-one came to their aid in similar circumstances.

Bullys only rule because well meaning people people allow them to, each time they get away with it they get more confident and the situation just gets worse.

I doubt the local legal system will come down hard enough on this scumbag, and I for one would not be too unhappy to hear of somone ( thai or otherwise) hiring this thug to drop him off at some quiet spot where other like minded people were waiting to show him the error of his ways.

A bit strong maybe ? I dont think so, when in Rome ..............

Roy gsd

[roygsd]

Hope they catch the man who attacked these Tourists.

Having said that though, It is like Parking the Car on a Motorcycle Taxi Rank - There are no signs telling us not to, we just use our common sense really and not park there to avoid this type of trouble.

The tourists on holiday should have moved on really to avoid this, afterall, they are visitors in this Country.

That is what I think anyway.

Anyone who condones violence should be beaten to death with a blunt weapon.

That is what I think, anyway.

This is right on.

Any of you who are blaming the victims, are basically saying assault is o.k. with you.

On that note, why don't I come over there and beat the F**ck out of you for thinking like that?

It's o.k., right?

roygsd

[FarangSerbia]

I am coming to Thailand in February, first time in my life. I was planning, among other places, to stay in Phuket for 4-5 days, but now I will go straight from Phuket to islands and hope there is no taxi mafia on the islands...In spite of me being very peaceful person, when my rights are not respected, I could get myself into trouble. Same goes for seeing a woman/child/elders being beaten in front of me. Thus - no Phuket for me.

[Billion]

I know about the Phuket tuk-tuk scam but it’s not much compered to Vietnam taxi scam.

Don’t even think to take a taxi in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City for a second.

Very aggressive drivers, some drivers will beat you up if you refuse to pay the fare.

We had some lucky days in Vietnam and was not beaten up just ripped off!

[baht&sold]

What a sad and tragic event. The Phuket tuk-tuk 'mafia' are clearly out of control (or sadly 'in' control) and obviously this NEEDS to change.

On the 'upside' is the return for TV from typical hi-lighted low-brow breaking news alerts... =

All in all, a collateral narcissistic reciprocal recipe for 'disastrous' success!

Edited December 29, 2009 by baht&sold

[Jirapa]

A situation that could have, and should have been avoided.

As tourists they should have taken the guy's word and found another parking spot. You don't go to someone else's country and do what's you think is right in your country.

This guy who beat them is still a piece of human excrement and should be thrown in jail but I put some blame on the tourists.

Okay so a Thai guy and his family go to the Costa del Sol and park up on the beach front . No "no parking" signs and they end up getting bashed up by a local taxi driver with a metal bar who says "that's my spot!" According to you the Thai family must bare part of the blame, "they were asking for it!" Are you mad? Doesn't matter what country your in or where your from that's wrong

[FarmerJoe]

There go the French tourists and their money for the new year. Why do people still go to Phuket? Whats the attraction? Rip offs, high prices, no parking, scams, corruption. Jeez, I just spoke about the whole countrty.

[cognos]

"..This is all down to education and culture. When I see Thai people attacking someone like this (I've seen it so many times now) It's absolutlely sickening. We're told to never intervene because there is a serious risk we could be killed. We just stand there and watch 'cause even as foerigners here, we've been conditioned to do so..."

...and it also comes down to the low standard of living of tuk tuk drivers/ taxi drivers. Perhaps if LOS was not such a bargain price - wise, and the standard of living went up, scams would concomitantly go down.

It is unacceptable to stand by and do nothing in many instances, but the fear of retaliation stops many. Its a crying shame.

[britadders28]

I am coming to Thailand in February, first time in my life. I was planning, among other places, to stay in Phuket for 4-5 days, but now I will go straight from Phuket to islands and hope there is no taxi mafia on the islands...In spite of me being very peaceful person, when my rights are not respected, I could get myself into trouble. Same goes for seeing a woman/child/elders being beaten in front of me. Thus - no Phuket for me.

Do yourself a favour and go to malaysia as its the same all over thailand, there is only one good buddhist in thailand and we cant even mention him on here

[cotambear]

This argument is pointless unless evryone who has posted registering their shock at this cowardly attack and the tuk tuk extortion/lack of public transport CONTACTS TAT, THE WORLD NEWSPAPERS AND TELEVISION.

IF TOU CAN SPEND 5 MINUTES POSTING ON HERE SPEND 5 EMAILING A NEWSPAPER.

Edited December 29, 2009 by cotambear

[britadders28]

This argument is pointless unless evryone who has posted registering their shock at this cowardly attack and the tuk tuk extortion/lack of public transport CONTACTS TAT, THE WORLD NEWSPAPERS AND TELEVISION.

IF TOU CAN SPEND 5 MINUTES POSTING ON HERE SPEND 5 EMAILING A NEWSPAPER.

Already done by many i am sure. TAT are a waste of space as are the government

Check out the foreign office in uk report on thailand - its not all temples and smiles beleive!

There are also various groups on facebook which can get many many people around the world, proved by the recent music chart wars in the uk on facebook (sorry not good example)

I think the chinese embassy is near the thai in london so there are already protest in that area why not move along to the thai embassy for the Hmong refugees or the cambodian boy that was burned alive or the boat people pushed out to sea etc.. etc... etc..

Stop eating in thai restaurants so the thais abroad can go back to thailand which is the attitude they give us!!

Soon i think thailand will only have israeli tourists and thats only because its hard for them to go many other countries!! If you beleive in karma then thailand will get what it deserves!!

This is just one incident there are thousands more every year

[jgarty38]

Can anyone say anything positive about any tuk-tuk anywhere in Thailand?

They are noisy, dirty (terrible pollution!) , rude, dangerous, dishonest and all around bad news.

I guess it may be part of Thailand's identity, but I feel they should make Tuk Tuks a thing of the the nostalgic past.

Yes, I can say something nice about tuk tuk drivers, at least the ones here in Aranyaprethet. I am always greated with a friendly smile when I pass walk past them sitting in their tuk tuk's. We have used them quite a few times in the past (before we got our car) never been ripped off, ok, had to bargain over the fare. It costs us around 200baht for a 22k trip, then they have to ride back to town. They would help load up the shopping and unload at home, always with a smile. I am sure that there must be some bad tuk tuk drivers here in Aran too, but there are good and bad all over, farangs too, yes?

[IvanDobsky]

"broke his arm" <deleted>???

This confirms my decision not to visit Phuket for the last 6 years.

Spot on, well said.

Phuket and Samui have never had and will never get a recommendation from me to my family or friends back home. If you've never been to them, avoid them like the plague. Nothing but hassle, aggravation, touts and rip-offs if you can speak Thai or not. Even my Thai friends and family won't go there.

If you like beaches, there are many other alternatives (eg. Trang, Satun)where you don't encounter low life scum like that.

"IF TOU CAN SPEND 5 MINUTES POSTING ON HERE SPEND 5 EMAILING A NEWSPAPER."

Yes, or post it on Hi5, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. At least that way, people are guaranteed to see it in print, newspapers are at the whim of the editor.

[KKK]

It is like Parking the Car on a Motorcycle Taxi Rank - There are no signs telling us not to, we just use our common sense really and not park there to avoid this type of trouble.

The reason for no signs is that there are no legal Motorcycle taxi ranks. They just occupy a place on the PUBLIC street and call it their own. Any legal and licensed vehicle has the right to park, on a first come first served basis, anywhere along a public street subject to any legal restrictions such as no waiting or no parking.

Same goes for many shop owners who block off parking outside their premises. They do not own the street and have no right to do so. Beach Road Pattaya is a prime example with all the motorcycles for rent (most which never do get rented) taking up public parking space. But they get there first so have a right to do so despite some years ago the local authority stating that only one motorcycle per renter would be allowed (no longer enforced). With the lack of public car parks parking is a nightmare.

And it not just Thais that think that the street outside their property is theirs. My Norweigen neighbour continually blocks access to my gate (our entrances are at right-angles to each other) stating that he has the right to park outside his house (yes) and then block my right of way (no). And as for him calling the public pavement his front garden (its full of pot plants and his rubbish bin) he just couldn't be more wrong. The electric meter reader man has to stretch over all his crap something awful to see my meter.

But as you said....best to avoid these kind of places and the trouble it may cause. The French tourists were probably not aware of local customs and the tuk-tuk driver was completely out of order.

[LivinLOS]

The Thai Police allowed their main international airport to be overrun and occupied by a gang of protesters

Their Prime Ministers motorcade to be attacked.

And also an international ASEAN Summit to be invaded.

A gang of rip off Tuk Tuk drivers should not even raise an eyelid.

Seriously.

agreed.

we need to vent, we live here

the reason this thread had 1400 ACTIVE viewers few hours ago is because we know we can be beaten or worse at any given moment..

by 'we' I mean farangs living in a major tourist area.

Simple fact is that nothing will ever change here. We learn to live here, we know never to argue with a local, we learn not to make eye contact, we get used to keep our eyes focused on a ground.

Because we have made our homes here we are slowly turning into something less than humans.. maybe that is the price we need to pay.. a permission to live in a foreign land.. never to be equal to locals. This makes me sad. It used to make me angry, it now just makes me sad. Slowly I get used to being a dog.

Your a farang sheep - dog .. Go home coward ..

Never had a problem in Phuket but i rent a motorbike it's cheap and easy ..

So you park that bike in the public parking spaces in front of Jungceylon do you ??

Are are you also a little bit of a farang sheep / coward ??

[LivinLOS]

This argument is pointless unless evryone who has posted registering their shock at this cowardly attack and the tuk tuk extortion/lack of public transport CONTACTS TAT, THE WORLD NEWSPAPERS AND TELEVISION.

IF TOU CAN SPEND 5 MINUTES POSTING ON HERE SPEND 5 EMAILING A NEWSPAPER.

The TAT say they havent had many / any complaints about tuktuks..

So CC tatphket (at ) tat.or.th into every complaint email you send to any news source.

[lioness]

Dear Sirs

I had a similar incident happen to my daughter and I at the end of November at Kata Noi. A Chinese shop owner tried to stop us from parking in front of his shop opposite The Boat House restaurant. I also noted no signs indicating no parking and parked out motorcycle. We returned about an hour later and set off for our hotel only to find that he had let down our front tyre, risking both our lives.

Regards

Mike Wall

If you were absent for an hour how do you know the shop owner let your tyre down. is it an assumtion on your part?

[nakachalet]

folks, let's confine our righteous indignation to just phuket.... ok?

i traveled some 900 kilo, 8 times this month, to bkk....

i used motocycle, tuktuk, metered taxi.... to get around bkk each day.... paying about 1200 baht per day for them to take me around and for my convenience....

they is no problem with any of those drivers at all....

neither did i ever have any problem with those drivers in hatyai either....

with each celebration in phuket.... we were offerred all expense paid to visit our relatives in phuket....

i told my close relatives.... why not come to visit me in my little devoided plantation instead.... but then there is no maid or anyone

to cater to your whimsicalities.... they always replied--YOUNG MAI MEE WAY-LAR KRUB, PHEE (no time yet, brother)

Edited December 29, 2009 by nakachalet

[kamalake]

Hope they catch the man who attacked these Tourists.

Having said that though, It is like Parking the Car on a Motorcycle Taxi Rank - There are no signs telling us not to, we just use our common sense really and not park there to avoid this type of trouble.

The tourists on holiday should have moved on really to avoid this, afterall, they are visitors in this Country.

That is what I think anyway.

So we live in your country,and that means you can do with us what you want?But at the end its we pay 3 a 4 times the price from what you pay?From who,s money are you living you think?

[aras]

lol I have never and will never go to phuket. F.CK phuket.

and for the people who think this is a word play, it is not. there is a taxi mafia have been told by taxidrivers who are decent and one even showed me one of the bosses of the airport taxi drivers. He was dirty and scary little dude who didnt drive a taxi himself of course.

anyone who goes to phuket is an idiote. people are shir, wether is shit compared to the east of the gulf it is....

[ppmacready]

Hope they catch the man who attacked these Tourists.

Having said that though, It is like Parking the Car on a Motorcycle Taxi Rank - There are no signs telling us not to, we just use our common sense really and not park there to avoid this type of trouble.

The tourists on holiday should have moved on really to avoid this, afterall, they are visitors in this Country.

That is what I think anyway.

Anyone who condones violence should be beaten to death with a blunt weapon.

That is what I think, anyway.

Thailand is well known for beautiful beaches and cheap women.Not law and order.