Briton Stabbed By Tuk-tuk Driver

[true blue]

tuk tuk drivers are alaw to themselves in patong they do there best to fleece the tourist at every opportunity they charge you double if it rain and they are pretty aggresive people after 2 years here i could write a book on there bad practices

[Jiu-Jitsu]

It sound highly unlikely the the Welshman threw the first punch. Why would he try to punch the driver after paying him? It's just nonsense.

The fact that a 'moderator' here goes along with that sequence of events alarms me.

I think I must be the ONLY person who has ever paid 20 baht for a Tuk-Tuk ride on Phuket, at night.

Initially, I may have agreed a higher price to charter the whole vehicle, but on the way, there was a chance to pick up some affluent looking customers. He asked me if I minded. I said no, as I wasn't in a hurry. So I sat with the driver whilst the new passengers sat in the back.

When we got the the destination, they paid the driver and tried to give me 100 baht.

I declined, impolitely, as I wasn't too enamoured by their drunken behaviour in the back of the cab. Clearly more money than sense.

I showed him my Coutts card and explained to him that having money shouldn't be used as a passport to Arseland.

Anyway, the driver carried on to my destination and accepted 20 baht as payment.

Ok, this was in 1998.

Moving on to the Songthaew drivers in Pattaya and Samui. I don't speak with them. I hand them the correct fare on disembarking and then walk away.

If I don't have the correct fare, I wait for my change.

No raised voices.

It's not about the money, it's about being downtrodden.

The few that have squared up, generally get back into their cabs and drive off because they know that they are wrong.

sometimes shouting nonsense about Mafia.

Those girls don't even know the meaning of the word.

Don't think that the rip offs are confined to foreign tourists. The motorcyles drivers and songthaews prey on the girls of Pattaya because they know the girls are paid well by the foreigners. Driving off without giving change and overcharging is common.

In the end, one should try to stay away from these situations. Have the right change and negotiate the price, if that's necessary, before you get on.

All this nonsense about football hooligans has no place here.

Edited November 28, 2006 by Jiu-Jitsu

[martin19thhole]

Drunken yob rips off driver, then assaults him. Driver fights back and gets charged.

<deleted> if he was drunken yob, why give him 120 bhat and not just give him a slap for his cheek. It's about time they got with the times if they were a bit nicer and more helpful they may get bigger tips. I don't be;lieve in violence for one miute but it seems to be the Thai way that they are either mob handed or tooled up.

[austallia_1980]

not giving in to being ripped off is one thing. allowing it to escalate into a physical fight it another thing.

LOL at the poster who said "he then came out with a large piece of wood. I figured he was just trying to intimidate me, so i continued to refuse to pay him an extra 50 baht. when he finally started swinging it at me, i gave in and handed him the 50 baht".

Most have been about "the principle". you idiots give me a laugh.

[austallia_1980]

Drunken yob rips off driver, then assaults him. Driver fights back and gets charged.

<deleted> if he was drunken yob, why give him 120 bhat and not just give him a slap for his cheek. It's about time they got with the times if they were a bit nicer and more helpful they may get bigger tips. I don't be;lieve in violence for one miute but it seems to be the Thai way that they are either mob handed or tooled up.

go back to where you came from if the thais are so horrible.

[gazzz]

australia_1980 is just another lost person that still belives in the land of smiles

and probably sends money back to his tilak for the sick buffalo

if he was out on the piss and a tuk tuk demanded more he would probably give it away saying ahhhhh the lovely thai nature !!!!

you go back people like you make it worse for normal people like us

[Tolley]

It sound highly unlikely the the Welshman threw the first punch. Why would he try to punch the driver after paying him? It's just nonsense.

The fact that a 'moderator' here goes along with that sequence of events alarms me.

I think I must be the ONLY person who has ever paid 20 baht for a Tuk-Tuk ride on Phuket, at night.

Initially, I may have agreed a higher price to charter the whole vehicle, but on the way, there was a chance to pick up some affluent looking customers. He asked me if I minded. I said no, as I wasn't in a hurry. So I sat with the driver whilst the new passengers sat in the back.

When we got the the destination, they paid the driver and tried to give me 100 baht.

I declined, impolitely, as I wasn't too enamoured by their drunken behaviour in the back of the cab. Clearly more money than sense.

I showed him my Coutts card and explained to him that having money shouldn't be used as a passport to Arseland.

Anyway, the driver carried on to my destination and accepted 20 baht as payment.

Ok, this was in 1998.

Moving on to the Songthaew drivers in Pattaya and Samui. I don't speak with them. I hand them the correct fare on disembarking and then walk away.

If I don't have the correct fare, I wait for my change.

No raised voices.

It's not about the money, it's about being downtrodden.

The few that have squared up, generally get back into their cabs and drive off because they know that they are wrong.

sometimes shouting nonsense about Mafia.

Those girls don't even know the meaning of the word.

Don't think that the rip offs are confined to foreign tourists. The motorcyles drivers and songthaews prey on the girls of Pattaya because they know the girls are paid well by the foreigners. Driving off without giving change and overcharging is common.

In the end, one should try to stay away from these situations. Have the right change and negotiate the price, if that's necessary, before you get on.

All this nonsense about football hooligans has no place here.

Good post.

The girls in Pattaya often get ripped off by the motor bike guys. Most won't say anything because they realise what these guys are capable of doing.

[chonabot]

and I cant begin to imagine what a drunk Welshman sounds like - bad enough to understand them when sober - same as the English - amazing they can get themselves understood anywhere --

Mate if you can't understand the English accent , then you should have listened more in your Kangaroo bothering training academy back in Alice Springs.

Dolt........

[austallia_1980]

australia_1980 is just another lost person that still belives in the land of smiles

and probably sends money back to his tilak for the sick buffalo

if he was out on the piss and a tuk tuk demanded more he would probably give it away saying ahhhhh the lovely thai nature !!!!

you go back people like you make it worse for normal people like us

sorry mate, i guess you guys are in such a foul mood cause you got fleeced by a bar girl and now have to get into fist fights with tuk tuk drivers over 20 baht. so sad....

happy i get to live my own life, and not yours!

[baboon]

I have not read all the posts here, but please bear with me. I lived in Phuket [Patong] for 2 years from 1998- 200 and even then the Thai locals despised the Tuk Tuks. I saw plenty of rows between THAIS and Tuk Tuk drivers with no farang passengers to be seen. The drivers did not pay heed to the argument "We are Thai, you are Thai, what the <deleted> is this?"

So, let us assume the Welshman was indeed drunk and obnoxious. He was overcharged for his journey. The driver was so beaten and shaken yet he still had time to go to his glove compartment and go for his knife when a kicking would have been more in order.

No, the Welshman may have been in need of a lesson in Thai culture, but I feel the response was dispraportunate. So if the Thais are also up in arms [which they are] about Tuk Tuks, should they also piss off back to Udon or wherever?

[chuchok]

to some money is everything if he negotiated and agreed to the price then why did he not pay i think he was just trying to take a chance and hope for a fight ....... looks like he got more than he bargained for.............!

You seem like a bright lad.How did you come to this magical conclusion,ESP?

[austallia_1980]

i am a good farang, but this welsh farang probably thought he was mafia or something. did he even talk clearly?

[sonnyJ]

I have not read all the posts here, but please bear with me. I lived in Phuket [Patong] for 2 years from 1998- 200 and even then the Thai locals despised the Tuk Tuks. I saw plenty of rows between THAIS and Tuk Tuk drivers with no farang passengers to be seen. The drivers did not pay heed to the argument "We are Thai, you are Thai, what the <deleted> is this?"

So, let us assume the Welshman was indeed drunk and obnoxious. He was overcharged for his journey. The driver was so beaten and shaken yet he still had time to go to his glove compartment and go for his knife when a kicking would have been more in order.

No, the Welshman may have been in need of a lesson in Thai culture, but I feel the response was dispraportunate. So if the Thais are also up in arms [which they are] about Tuk Tuks, should they also piss off back to Udon or wherever?

I have never been to Phuket, only the airport when got a free flight from the military to help following the tsunami. In Phang nga the locals were nice though, to where I immediately headed.

I'm not saying locals in Phuket are not nice, I know a few and they are very nice people. It's because what I have heard of this extorsion of turists going on there and this thread has only strenghten that oppinion. I will never wish to visit Phuket as it remains in this way.

Total disgrace for Phuket and tourism in Thailand.

In Bangkok transportation is less hardcore, still so many locals are afraid of these taxis, motor bike taxis, tuk-tuks. Rarely have had problem with a taxi driver, nothing at stabbing level. More like tuktuks and motorbike drivesrs are either drunk or pushing you very hard. Except the one's you know personally.

In a year I learned the 'thing', how to behave like a local, even speak the local languge a little, so they think I understand more than I do. Therefore almost no problems at all. Many times the motor bikes ask me how much, Taxi meter is 41 or 43 you give them a 40 thats the local way. I never use tuk tuks cos them are more expensive than taxis, I never go to turist areas as pat pong, cos I know how these <deleted> there will behave, I don't like to get insulted like the tourists cos I understand the insult in the cultural consept.

The guys who say you better tip the driver cos he didn't try to rip you off/ or paying 400 THB to airport! You are making the life difficult for other 'poor normal people' who really live hear. Even more you are enhancing the consept that Farang Always Rich. I'm not saying never tip, I'm saying tip 10 not 100 THB. In Bangkok this is anyway.

[konangrit]

The guys who say you better tip the driver cos he didn't try to rip you off/ or paying 400 THB to airport!

400THB? Bargain! I recently went to meet a friends younger brother who was in Bangkok for 2 nights at the Bangkok Palace Hotel. Their taxi service to the airport was something like 850THB! For a <200B journey, and he had already paid it! It's not just the little guys that rip off naive tourists.

Upon leaving I had to get past the concierge trying to get us in the hotel taxi, then outside dozens of dodgy taxi drivers trying to drag us to some dodgy rip off massage joints, until finally being able to flag down a cab on the street. If I couldn't speak Thai I don't think we'd have managed to get past them all.

The guy I met had spent the previous 2 days getting completely ripped off by this lot totally oblivious to the fact.

[sonnyJ]

Yes the rip offs happen a lot on the tourist areas and from hotels, I'm not saying it's out of line, tourists have money, thats why they have holidays. Would never happen in my country by this scale though, but thats irrelevant, cos we have laws.

My point is if Thailand would like to think to develope maybe just a little bit probably to a beneficial tourist destination, on the long term, they would make laws and enforcement to make the tourists feel welcomed.

[The Skipper]

The guys who say you better tip the driver cos he didn't try to rip you off/ or paying 400 THB to airport!

400THB? Bargain! I recently went to meet a friends younger brother who was in Bangkok for 2 nights at the Bangkok Palace Hotel. Their taxi service to the airport was something like 850THB! For a <200B journey, and he had already paid it! It's not just the little guys that rip off naive tourists.

Upon leaving I had to get past the concierge trying to get us in the hotel taxi, then outside dozens of dodgy taxi drivers trying to drag us to some dodgy rip off massage joints, until finally being able to flag down a cab on the street. If I couldn't speak Thai I don't think we'd have managed to get past them all.

The guy I met had spent the previous 2 days getting completely ripped off by this lot totally oblivious to the fact.

YES BANGKOK PALACE is a ripoff.

Looks like things havnt changed since my brief stay there in 1991.

[Tornado]

chuchok, can you sort your kiwi mates out here, they are now posting under Australian aliases... An Australian couldnt be a dumb as Australia 80 surely?

Here's my scenerio...

Welsh (another country of sheep "herders". ) man gets into Tuk Tuk, says drive me to Royal Crown, Tuk Tuk driver says ok, they arrive, the Welsh man says thanks and hands him 120 baht, the Tuk Tuk driver says "not enough", the Welsh guy argues with him, the guy pulls out a knife and stabs him..... thats it, normal Patong day!

All of the other &lt;deleted&gt; on this thread, is just that, &lt;deleted&gt;.

He had a few drinks - big deal, why are the inbred posters here using this to boost there wacky stories..

over to the inbred for another round of wacky backy scenerios.

[Tornado]

Drunken yob rips off driver, then assaults him. Driver fights back and gets charged.

&lt;deleted&gt; if he was drunken yob, why give him 120 bhat and not just give him a slap for his cheek. It's about time they got with the times if they were a bit nicer and more helpful they may get bigger tips. I don't be;lieve in violence for one miute but it seems to be the Thai way that they are either mob handed or tooled up.

go back to where you came from if the thais are so horrible.

who the fluck are you child... What is posted is fact. Have you ever had an altercation with a Thai person? They carry weapons or depend on numbers to win. Fact..

Now apologise to the forum for being a ######.

[chuchok]

chuchok, can you sort your kiwi mates out here, they are now posting under Australian aliases... An Australian couldnt be a dumb as Australia 80 surely?

I'd give that a big yes!

[candoman89]

For the person who states that Canadians riot more than brits over football (I presume you mean soccer as real football is confined to Canada/US and some european countries that have farm teams for the National FOOTBALL League) the only reason we riot is that there is nothing on other than SOCCER and rioting breaks the boredome from this lame arse game of men in silk panties running around and falling down whenever someone gets within 5 m of them and crying until the referee (another silk pantied clad "man") informs the assaulter person that it wasn't really a penalty and no yellow card (how lame is that, why not make it pink or rainbow colored) will be issued.

[yimyai]

Well...I'm sure the drunken attacker deserved arrest, and I understand the driver's contempt, but you can't go back and get a knife without expecting to get arrested. The furrong should have been arrested as well. Being in Patong...he wasn't the kind of tourist that was probably there out of reverence for the Thais. Who cares about an extra 80 baht anyway...

[farang prince]

Well...I'm sure the drunken attacker deserved arrest, and I understand the driver's contempt, but you can't go back and get a knife without expecting to get arrested. The furrong should have been arrested as well. Being in Patong...he wasn't the kind of tourist that was probably there out of reverence for the Thais. Who cares about an extra 80 baht anyway...

The tuk tuk driver deserved arrest and I'm sure he is going to get some prison time. Why should the farang be arrested? Unless he actually struck the tuk tuk driver, he can't be arrested for having bad manners. But the farang should consider himself to be very lucky. If he continues to act that way in Thailand, his luck will eventually run out and the next knife thrust might be his last.

[TravelBUG]

Tuk-tuk driver stabs Welshman

about 3:30 am

Bennett, who Wisut said was drunk, began arguing about the fare, saying the normal rate was 100 baht.

Bennett then took out 120 baht and threw it in his face, then began throwing punches at him, the tuk-tuk driver told police.

--Phuket Gazette 2006-11-26

Yes, we do not know Bennett's side but

3:30 am

Arguing about 100 baht after spending how much prior to that for his evening's activities?

He had to have done some sh-t to get stabbed in front of a hotel.

Drunks get into all kinds of troubles and the troubles start with them being drunk.

Charging them double is compensation for the extra hastle they create.

Getting stabbed was a result of his not knowing about the place/people he chose to visit or if he knew, failing to behave appropriately.

I hope he recovers quickly.

I beg to differ with you....

But this sounds to me as a case of a tuk tuk driver preying on a drunk guy, thinking he will get away with attempting to rip off a drunk tourist. They probably agreed on a fare, then the tuk tuk driver tried to charge him more thinking the tourist wont realise cause he was drunk.

Id also like to add, the tuk tuk and taxi drivers in Phuket are a disgrace! Every price i was quoted while recently in Phuket was about 300% more than what i would pay at home in australia!

I urge tourists to hire a motorbike or car for thier transport during holidays, and only use the tuk tuks and taxi's when intoxicated.

When in thailand, whether its with retailers, market stalls sellers, and tuktuk/taxi's, I no longer bother bartering. Its plain exhausting, stressful and puts a dampener on the holiday! If i am presented with a ridiculous price first up, i walk away immediately. Hopefully more tourists will practice this, and maybe the thai's will learn not to try to rip us off so much!

[TravelBUG]

Well...I'm sure the drunken attacker deserved arrest, and I understand the driver's contempt, but you can't go back and get a knife without expecting to get arrested. The furrong should have been arrested as well. Being in Patong...he wasn't the kind of tourist that was probably there out of reverence for the Thais. Who cares about an extra 80 baht anyway...

Who cares about an extra 80 baht anyway...

Well, when every single driver, market stall holder, retailer taxi driver, tour operator etc etc that expects an extra 80 baht... then it does get extremely frustrating!

If a driver gives me a good deal or doesnt try to rip me off from the start or doesnt try to take a detour to their friends gem/tailor shop, i give a 100 baht tip.

[Couthy]

Ermm......80 Baht is 3 meals + water.

And if someone threw money in my face, I would for sure deck them.

Stabbing is a bit over the top though.

To the Pakistani who posted earlier saying the Welsh guy should get 10 years:

Presumably you have read the Quoran and practise it?.

So many Muslims here and in UK scoffing whisky and shagging tarts - put your own morality in order before barking.

Oh- and learn to shower not wearing your underwear, it's cleaner you see.

Cheers,

Couthy

[Me&MrsJones]

[

Yes, we do not know Bennett's side but

3:30 am

Arguing about 100 baht after spending how much prior to that for his evening's activities?

He had to have done some sh-t to get stabbed in front of a hotel.

Charging them double is compensation for the extra hastle they create.

Getting stabbed was a result of his not knowing about the place/people he chose to visit or if he knew, failing to behave appropriately.

I hope he recovers quickly.

Arguing about 100 baht after spending how much prior to that for his evening's activities?

I find this comment alarming. Can someone please tell me the relevance of the amount of money the Welshman spent prior to the stabbing? What the hel_l has that got to do with it? So what if he spent 20 baht or a million baht. This justifies his stabbing?

I can hear it now at a court of law, during the case. "Oh hello my name's Relaxed Rhodri from Rhondda Valley - I spent a million baht on somtam and beer, on the night in question, your honour. Comandeered a Tuk-Tuk, got the little fellow to take me to the hotel. We agreed 100 baht, but when we arrived he tried to take advantage of me by asking for 200. I refused because i dont like to be ripped off. He stabbed me while calmly saying - syllabally synchronised to the stab thrusts, "YOU - YOU - YOU - SPEND - 1 - MILLION - baht TONIGHT......YOU - DESERVE - STAB.....YOU - BIG - MONEY.....NO GIVE I ME My SHE HE My IS FRIENDLY GO NOW.....NO GOOD MAN".

"Charging them double is compensation for all the hassle they create"

Charging them double is simple theft. An agreement is an agreement. If the Tuk-Tuk driver felt hassled, he could have either refused the job, given the job to his friend. The point is that an greement is an agreement. Who should pay more at the whim of the Tuk Tuk. If you buy a house, does the seller add 100% to the price because you hassled him? NO!

"He had to have done some sh-t to get stabbed in front of a hotel."

What sh*t are you talking about? If you mean that he defended his right to keep himself from being ripped off - i dont see that as sh*t. It's called self respect, defending oneself when trying to be ripped off. If more people did the same and had some self respect, less people would ripped off and we wouldn't have this Thai attitude here towards ripping off farangs.

Your comments are very short sighted.

[kmart]

Ermm......80 Baht is 3 meals + water.

And if someone threw money in my face, I would for sure deck them.

Stabbing is a bit over the top though.

To the Pakistani who posted earlier saying the Welsh guy should get 10 years:

Presumably you have read the Quoran and practise it?.

So many Muslims here and in UK scoffing whisky and shagging tarts - put your own morality in order before barking.

Oh- and learn to shower not wearing your underwear, it's cleaner you see.

Cheers,

Couthy

If thats "HenryB" you're referring to, he's a troll, and about as Pakistani as I am.

[helicoptor]

If the tuk tuk driver had time to run to his cab & get a knife - he had time to flee the scene. Undersized Thai escalates verbal abuse to attempted murder.

5 years sounds about right for GBH.

he wont do any time me thinks