Irishman reports alleged assault by Pattaya Baht Bus Driver

[dotpoom]

Tip of the iceberg. Consider how many similar incidents are not reported to police or so called press.

Baht bus drivers often have short fuses. Yes their jobs probably crush their souls, but so many jobs are like that.

Take care out there.

Do not confront the drivers in any way.

By all means, do not flip the finger at them or say the F word at them! That is taken much more seriously by Thais ... to westerners it is minor.

If you encounter an obviously crazed driver (you can often tell by their driving and braking style) take extra care ... and consider AVOIDANCE of conflict or even engagement with them in any way ... even eye contact.

Yes, be aware that some indeed may be armed in some ways ... such as knives, stun guns, or worse ...

If you get into a conflict with a driver, you can't win. They have friends on the streets which can be summoned on a moment's notice and you are the outsider.

An excellent post and sound advice.....everybody should take note. It can also be the added matter of "Face" for the Thai person....and for the Farang it's "Ego" that gets him into the same trouble.

[garrya]

I get so tired of people putting a crime back on the victim.

He shouldnt have been sat at the park.

She shouldnt have been out late.

The parents should have been more watchful of their child.

She was wearing a short skirt.

He should not have been drunk.

He should not be angry.

The blame must be squarely on the shoulders of those who commit the crime.

We have the right to be out in public.

We have the right to let our children out to play.

We have The right to complain.

We have the right to express anger in a non violent way. Raising a voice is non violent.

In a court of law the one who hit first is guilty.

Stop giving violent criminals a right of way.

You are right, but you missed one tiny detail. This is Thailand and no one gives a monkeys who is right or wrong.

[Doc50]

Baht Bus drivers I have to give the scum of the Earth award to!

[petercool]

two posts adding nothing to the the thread were removed

[Junkyarddog]

Here's what I think happened. The tourist who was drunk, gets in a Baht bus and tells the driver where he wants to go. That alone tells me he does not know what is going on. No need to tell the driver where your going, the bus drives around in a big circle and you hit the bell when you want to get out. They also stop and try to pickup more customers along the way as we all know. The idiot tourist sounds like he expected the Baht bus to work like a taxi and run him direct to his hotel for 10 Baht. When that did not happen he gets pissed off and starts raising hell with the driver. The tourist is in the wrong and if I had been the driver I would have knocked the krap out of this guy as well. Hope the tourist has learned a lesson. He is a guest here, act like it or go home. The locals in any place are only going to put up with so much BS off a bunch of tourist. I've been wandering around Pattaya for 30 years and never had any problem from a Baht bus driver, but then I am aways polite to them and don't expect them to put up with any verbal abuse I might send their way.

[Ridler]

Tip of the iceberg. Consider how many similar incidents are not reported to police or so called press.

Baht bus drivers often have short fuses. Yes their jobs probably crush their souls, but so many jobs are like that.

Take care out there.

Do not confront the drivers in any way.

By all means, do not flip the finger at them or say the F word at them! That is taken much more seriously by Thais ... to westerners it is minor.

If you encounter an obviously crazed driver (you can often tell by their driving and braking style) take extra care ... and consider AVOIDANCE of conflict or even engagement with them in any way ... even eye contact.

Yes, be aware that some indeed may be armed in some ways ... such as knives, stun guns, or worse ...

If you get into a conflict with a driver, you can't win. They have friends on the streets which can be summoned on a moment's notice and you are the outsider.

Please take your nose out of the Do's and Don't section of your travel guide.

Assault is assault, no matter where in the world, or what culture you are in. Just because someone does a soul crushing job, does not mean they can assault someone.

It annoys me when people continue to go on about thai culture like it is backward and uncivilized, and forgiving anything they do wrong as being 'the thai way'.

[Benmart]

If you are in a hurry to get home then take a taxi.

If you have spent the night drinking then be wise enough to keep your mouth shut.

Raising your voice and giving orders to a bus driver is not going to get you home any quicker anywhere in the world.

The Irishman didn't deserve to get bashed but he certainly created the situation.

I wasn't there, so I can't comment on who "created the situation".

I'm not in the habit of passing on any wisdom about keeping ones mouth shut. I prefer to let people make their own decisions.

I do agree about being civil and being polite when interacting with people in general.

[Benmart]

Here's what I think happened. The tourist who was drunk, gets in a Baht bus and tells the driver where he wants to go. That alone tells me he does not know what is going on. No need to tell the driver where your going, the bus drives around in a big circle and you hit the bell when you want to get out. They also stop and try to pickup more customers along the way as we all know. The idiot tourist sounds like he expected the Baht bus to work like a taxi and run him direct to his hotel for 10 Baht. When that did not happen he gets pissed off and starts raising hell with the driver. The tourist is in the wrong and if I had been the driver I would have knocked the krap out of this guy as well. Hope the tourist has learned a lesson. He is a guest here, act like it or go home. The locals in any place are only going to put up with so much BS off a bunch of tourist. I've been wandering around Pattaya for 30 years and never had any problem from a Baht bus driver, but then I am aways polite to them and don't expect them to put up with any verbal abuse I might send their way.

The last sentence, put up front, would have been sufficient and would eliminated the remaining absentee wisdom.

[Jingthing]

Tip of the iceberg. Consider how many similar incidents are not reported to police or so called press.

Baht bus drivers often have short fuses. Yes their jobs probably crush their souls, but so many jobs are like that.

Take care out there.

Do not confront the drivers in any way.

By all means, do not flip the finger at them or say the F word at them! That is taken much more seriously by Thais ... to westerners it is minor.

If you encounter an obviously crazed driver (you can often tell by their driving and braking style) take extra care ... and consider AVOIDANCE of conflict or even engagement with them in any way ... even eye contact.

Yes, be aware that some indeed may be armed in some ways ... such as knives, stun guns, or worse ...

If you get into a conflict with a driver, you can't win. They have friends on the streets which can be summoned on a moment's notice and you are the outsider.

Please take your nose out of the Do's and Don't section of your travel guide.

Assault is assault, no matter where in the world, or what culture you are in. Just because someone does a soul crushing job, does not mean they can assault someone.

It annoys me when people continue to go on about thai culture like it is backward and uncivilized, and forgiving anything they do wrong as being 'the thai way'.

You've got it all wrong. I'm not defending bad behaving baht bus drivers. Just sharing some tips so that people avoid being violently assaulted using the system.

[Don Aleman]

I think this guy is really Jerry Springer !

[steven100]

he got a free trip to the shopping mall .... what's he complaining about !!

[sailblue]

Someone said take a taxi ?? What taxi would that be ?

This is another example of why this huge city should have taxis same as BKK.

Of course that will start a war with the baht bus drivers, and the motor bike taxi/police businesses

[KhnomKhnom]

Another dumb, self important foreigner. Demanding is not gonna get it.

[sailblue]

Here's what I think happened. The tourist who was drunk, gets in a Baht bus and tells the driver where he wants to go. That alone tells me he does not know what is going on. No need to tell the driver where your going, the bus drives around in a big circle and you hit the bell when you want to get out. They also stop and try to pickup more customers along the way as we all know. The idiot tourist sounds like he expected the Baht bus to work like a taxi and run him direct to his hotel for 10 Baht. When that did not happen he gets pissed off and starts raising hell with the driver. The tourist is in the wrong and if I had been the driver I would have knocked the krap out of this guy as well. Hope the tourist has learned a lesson. He is a guest here, act like it or go home. The locals in any place are only going to put up with so much BS off a bunch of tourist. I've been wandering around Pattaya for 30 years and never had any problem from a Baht bus driver, but then I am aways polite to them and don't expect them to put up with any verbal abuse I might send their way.

The last sentence, put up front, would have been sufficient and would eliminated the remaining absentee wisdom.

sounds like you were there, they are not supposed to stop and wait for customers, whatever happened the guy should not have been assaulted. Maybe thrown off the bus at most. Thai guys hate us, many at least, and love a chance to beat us up, and usually with good backup. And I have known some Irish guys here that are hard work in the bars when it gets late.

[balo]

If he had installed GrabTaxi on his phone he could have avoided this . Yes we do have normal taxis in Pattaya.

http://grabtaxi.com/pattaya-thailand/

[sailblue]

Baht Bus are absolutly not like a taxi, they work normally with a number and have a precise line or road;they stop when you ring the bell....easy no? the difficult thing for a foreigner is that you need to know where you go and where you want to stop, otherwise it is your problem....!there is no point at all to argue with the driver who work all day long for a few baths .....so if you dont have a clue dont take that kind of local cheap transportation.

i hope that fellow will learn from his mistake, i think he deserved that eye, to many foreigners dont speak the local language, dont know s.h.i.t from the country they visit and after all they want to be understand and treated specially.

come on man! give them a break....for sure some locals i in these hudge tourist places must be really fedup of these stupid farangs behavior too.

Whats going on here, all the seniors and Platinums are blaming the guy that got assaulted. Maybe he could not speak Thai, and BTW, you could do with an English lesson. A tourist can not speak Thai, he is a tourist. He is also unaware of the Baht bus system, still no reason to be assaulted.

[Thomas Hannah]

They are cowards,They know the farrang cannot win,I warn people ,Dont go thailand,Unless you are with someone like me,The bitter people on here,Are the ones,who have been going to thailand for many years.And have seen the change,in attitude.Nothing will happen to the Driver.So it will happen again and again.It is well know for many years,Thai women ,will not get these buses on there own,Because so many have been raped.

[atyclb]

if the tourist offered to pay the 100 or 150 baht fee to get to his destination asap,and the baht bus driver stopped in front of the mall to pick customers......i am by the tourist side

if the tourist pretended to get to his destination asap just with 10 baht....i am by the driver side

Do you pay baht bus drivers 150 baht for rush deliveries?

i never did but many russian or chinese tourists do.thats also the fee they ask at the pattaya bus station

reminds me of the time 2 female chinese tourists (pattaya bus station) were listening to taxi drivers trying to take them to bangkok. they then asked me questions about bus vs taxi and i engaged them in conversation. next thing a taxi driver wanted to fight with me.

[paul955]

if the tourist offered to pay the 100 or 150 baht fee to get to his destination asap,and the baht bus driver stopped in front of the mall to pick customers......i am by the tourist side

if the tourist pretended to get to his destination asap just with 10 baht....i am by the driver side

Do you pay baht bus drivers 150 baht for rush deliveries?

i never did but many russian or chinese tourists do.thats also the fee they ask at the pattaya bus station

Interesting. I wrongfully thought that if people wanted to get somewhere in a hurry they would take a cab and not attempt to get a bus full of people to break its schedule.

Thanks

In Pattaya you avoid the limited number of taxis. They will not ever use the meter, it is always a set price. This is the same with the 1000's of baht buses in and around Pattaya. You can negotiate a set price with most baht buses and they will then take you direct, with no other passengers to your destination. Most often the baht bus direct price is considerably cheaper than the taxi direct price.

[Aceicol]

I get so tired of people putting a crime back on the victim.

He shouldnt have been sat at the park.

She shouldnt have been out late.

The parents should have been more watchful of their child.

She was wearing a short skirt.

He should not have been drunk.

He should not be angry.

The blame must be squarely on the shoulders of those who commit the crime.

We have the right to be out in public.

We have the right to let our children out to play.

We have The right to complain.

We have the right to express anger in a non violent way. Raising a voice is non violent.

In a court of law the one who hit first is guilty.

Stop giving violent criminals a right of way.

You've been reading ClutchClarks posts as well then.

[richusa]

The baht bus #xxx, needs a serious massage. As do many scammers.

[The manic]

I have seen it before when tourists think they have a personal taxi and not realise the bus has a set route and is a 'share bus.'

[Aceicol]

I have seen it before when tourists think they have a personal taxi and not realise the bus has a set route and is a 'share bus.'

Is there any reason to believe the tourist didn't know how they worked? I've been on them plenty of times and they've taken me off their usual route.

The one time I asked to take us to the Hilton, we motored past it and I assumed he was going in some other entrance, about 3 miles up the road I wonder where he's going but don't really have a chance to get out and ask, we ended up at a place called Healthland which was miles away.

I paid him extra as it was quite nice seeing some parts I'd not seen before.

[Alwyn]

if the tourist offered to pay the 100 or 150 baht fee to get to his destination asap,and the baht bus driver stopped in front of the mall to pick customers......i am by the tourist side

if the tourist pretended to get to his destination asap just with 10 baht....i am by the driver side

Do you pay baht bus drivers 150 baht for rush deliveries?

In Chiang Mai it happens, if a songtao is empty they will often take you direct for the standard fee or might go out of their way (off their "route") and charge a fee not unlike a taxi. It's not arm-breakingly expensive either as taxi drivers in CM use the meter, at least when I've traveled in them which is quite frequent.

[SOTIRIOS]

...had they been able to communicate with each other....he might have offered the driver 100 baht or so...

...that way they both win...rather than waiting....

...if his offer would have been met with an exaggerated rebuttal...that would have been unfortunate...

...300 baht to go anywhere in Pattaya on that mode of transportation would be excessive...

...if there was no malice intended.....and alcohol was not a factor.....too bad it did not end more amicably.....

[Alwyn]

I get so tired of people putting a crime back on the victim.

He shouldnt have been sat at the park.

She shouldnt have been out late.

The parents should have been more watchful of their child.

She was wearing a short skirt.

He should not have been drunk.

He should not be angry.

The blame must be squarely on the shoulders of those who commit the crime.

We have the right to be out in public.

We have the right to let our children out to play.

We have The right to complain.

We have the right to express anger in a non violent way. Raising a voice is non violent.

In a court of law the one who hit first is guilty.

Stop giving violent criminals a right of way.

It took me a moment to understand where you were coming from, it took me a moment to realise you were listing the the "reasons" people use to throw the onus on to the victim. I'm not sure about the second part of the post, whether you were being serious or what because there are some incorrect statements; Such as

1. Raising a voice is not violent. - It can be very violent if one considers intimidation as violence.

2. In a court of law the one who hits first is guilty. - Incorrect, in British law anyway. A pre-emptive strike is justified and totally legal if you believe you are in danger of being harmed by an aggressor (common law of self defence)

[mikiea]

this could happen anywhere ......dudes a crybaby.....needs to be spanked for the after whine .

Edited November 18, 2014 by petercool
edited large type

[Briggsy]

I recently had a foreigner approach me in Pattaya, he was, incidentally, Scottish, but no matter, and he asked me the time. I replied, "About 4 o'clock." He said, "morning or evening?" and it was a genuine question. The guy was so off his head, he had no idea. Imagine what a baht bus driver would have made of him.

[wotaplonker]

i believe it all started off when the thai driver said in a mock Irish accent

"is that yourself there now"

[mikemac]

if the tourist offered to pay the 100 or 150 baht fee to get to his destination asap,and the baht bus driver stopped in front of the mall to pick customers......i am by the tourist side

if the tourist pretended to get to his destination asap just with 10 baht....i am by the driver side

Yep, I would definitely punch someone in the face over 10 baht.............................