I was once advised (it seemed in all seriousness) by a Thai that if hitting and injuring a bike rider or pedestrian.. Its far better to make sure you kill them as the blood money is less than the hospital costs.

Yes, that is the same worldwide. The same advice you'll be given anywhere, and I have been given in many different places.

Really ??

In the west the person isnt liable for accident costs.. Insurance companies are.. I would imagine the first thought or concern would be for any injured person.

I dont think thats true worldwide.

>>Who can we speak to to send complaints or questions about the Tuk Tuk behavior is there an official route to complain?

You could start with the mayor and his son the head of the patong tuk tuks

The point is that I was perfectly in the right to stand where I was, not blocking his business (on a public path anyway) and got assaulted because I stood up to him - why do they get away with it so much?? Its a known problem.

And there lies the bigger problem, not the high fares, but the above the law 'we can do what we want' attitude to it all..

I personally watched, just after they painted the no parking markers on beach rd, 2 tuktuks going over the paint, with black / dark paint to remove them, while a policeman stood less than 10m away guiding traffic. Its their Rd obviously.

Same goes for moving people on from every available parking spot, making Patong a black hole for parking, therefore making it more awkward to use a car and more likely to just shelve it and use tuktuks. Try even pausing with the engine running near the front on jungceylon, they seem to take great pleasure in jumping to move anyone on. Fastest you see anyone work !! Why ?? They seem to thrive on the bad boy element they can have, its part of the job appeal.

I was once advised (it seemed in all seriousness) by a Thai that if hitting and injuring a bike rider or pedestrian.. Its far better to make sure you kill them as the blood money is less than the hospital costs.

Yes, that is the same worldwide. The same advice you'll be given anywhere, and I have been given in many different places.

Really ??

In the west the person isnt liable for accident costs.. Insurance companies are.. I would imagine the first thought or concern would be for any injured person.

Same here. Dead people are cheaper, as simple as that. Only problem here, as in many developing countries, is quite some people won't have insurance. You won't here quotes like these from them though, because they won't care either way.