Local Expat Beaten Down By The Tukmaf

[intoxicajun]

I have a friend who is a local chef here in S. Phuket. He went to a friend’s birthday party in Patong after a grueling day at work, and had a little too much to drink. He managed to walk to the end of Bang-La (TukMaf Central) where he asked a TukMaf driver to take him home. His pasa Thai is nit noi, so he couldn't really say his exact address to the man, so he said, Take me to Chalong Circle, and I will show you where to go when we get there. As the TukMaf Driver arrived at the Chalong Circle, he stopped and checked on my friend. He had "fallen asleep" in the back, and the driver tried to wake him. When he awoke, he realized his wallet had gone missing from the time he got into the Tuk Tuk till the time he arrived at Chalong Circle. Amazingly enough, the TukMaf Driver demanded he pay for the ride and refused to take him any further. My friend replied that he was missing his wallet, so the driver left to speak with other drivers. He returned with 3-4 men, and then they proceeded to kick the living sh*t out of my friend. While this was going on, he told the men that if they took him to his home, his wife could pay them for the fair. They ignored him and proceeded to break his jaw, his nose, dislocate his shoulder, give him a severe concussion, and knock out 2 teeth. My friend is now in intensive care in Bangkok, in fear for his life. When it was over, he flagged down a Motorbike Taxi, bleeding and crying from pain, he asked to be taken home. The driver did so, and was promptly paid in full upon arrival. His wife saw the injuries, called the ambulance, and rushed him to Phuket-Bangkok Hospital. The following morning, he flew to Bangkok where he is going to stay. He is currently in the process of arranging for his family to move to Bangkok. He is terrified, and will never return to Phuket, where he lived for 4+ years.

He begged us not to involve the police, or the newspapers.

I would attach a photo of him, but many of you probably know him, and he would be upset if I spread it around. If you do know him, you may be wondering where he has been lately.

I have TukMaf license number. :D

[DragonLad]

Sorry to hear about your friend Is he going to be OK? I alway's fear Taxi's for some reason but I still use them when I am in Bangkok. I also keep some money in my pocket and not in my wallet for reasons such as this.

I hope he will be OK, Good Luck to both of you

DL

[thaigerd]

Regards to him from another Chef here in Phuket!

Gerd

[Galong]

I assume that all Thai men are cowards and won't do anything without extreme odds.

Rolling a drunk is a very cowardly act. The image of Phuket is increasingly being chipped away by this sort of thing. The world needs to hear about this!

I think that you the victim's position is wrong. Get the international press involved. Make Thailand lose face and THAT will get results.

Another option is to go to the tuk tuk pussies and have a little batting practice. But of course, the farangs will get in trouble for not being jai yen yen.

[Old Croc]

It is time something was done to rid Phuket of these guys and their infernal machines.

I think they themselves are their own worst enemy.

I hope your friend recovers.

[Briggsy]

This sounds very serious.

Why doesn't your friend want anybody involved? He is no longer on Phuket.

[britmaveric]

This sounds very serious.

Why doesn't your friend want anybody involved? He is no longer on Phuket.

Doesnt want to die I suspect.

[Vespa]

There has got to be more to this story.

[intoxicajun]

There has got to be more to this story.

Believe me, Vespa, there is more to this story, but it just hasn't happened yet. I am stuck on a drilling rig south of Udon Thani, so the story will continue. I am EX-Spec-Ops US Navy, and when the guys from my previous team come down for my wedding in January, the story will continue.

These guys have families to feed, and liquor to pay for, so I can forgive them for wronging a man unable to pay a fare. But beating him up with others has proven it was not about the fare, but something deeper. I will spend the next few weeks trying to find out just what it is that would make them choose to beat him up rather than take him to the police station. There is an army of Tuk Tuk drivers, and to challenge them would be the end of me. I just don't understand how they have come to such control. They honestly feel that they have the right to rip people off. Police are useless when it comes to this racket. I am sure that if say, I wanted to buy a Tuk-Tuk, and get a work permit and taxi tourists around the island that there would be some red tape, and maybe a license fee or something, but I imagine it would be more. For instance, I am sure I would get threatened, and scolded by the local tuk-tuks. I would be forced to pay or "kick-up" as Tony Soprano has said. I am sure there would be unwritten fines, and fees that would be applicable. Police would get some and so would the Street Bosses. But I could never get them to accept me as one of them. I would have to fight like the first woman in combat.

My friend insists that involving the police would bring more trouble to him and his family. He has lived here long enough to know that this is a place where money talks and without it, you are screwed. They beat him up 10 meters from the Chalong Police station entrance. Why didn't they carry him somewhere else? Were they truly concerned of being caught by the police?

I am getting really sick of this business, and I feel that in order for me to live happy on the island, I must give these men a wide birth. I pledge to never ride in a Phuket Tuk Tuk again.

More to come....

[backflip]

"He had "fallen asleep" in the back"

Why did you put "fallen asleep" in parentheses? Doing so indicates that's not what happened.

"He begged us not to involve the police, or the newspapers."

Why would he do that? That doesn't make sense at all.

Your story does not seem right, and it appears to be simple fear-mongering. Why would you do that?

[jumnien]

Shouldn't this thread be moved to the "I drank too much" forum?

[Aussietraveller]

Being drunk and falling asleep/passing out should not be an invitation to be robbed and beaten.

All of this over a couple of hundred Baht fare...

This side of things is never, unfortunately, reported in the foriegn media, when they discuss thailand.

Hope the guy makes a swift recovery...

[womble]

We need to find a friendly foriegn journo and get every incident into a tabloid.

Now this may sound wierd but........

I bet we could find a journo for the sun or news of world that would put this in for a small fee (corruption Thai style), if we club together, put a quid or two in each, I bet we can get a few stories in print.

things will change very quickly when it gets into the international media!

[intoxicajun]

"He had "fallen asleep" in the back"

Why did you put "fallen asleep" in parentheses? Doing so indicates that's not what happened.

"He begged us not to involve the police, or the newspapers."

Why would he do that? That doesn't make sense at all.

Your story does not seem right, and it appears to be simple fear-mongering. Why would you do that?

Say flip, are we on the same island? Do you even live here? Fallen asleep in QUOTES, not parentheses, (geezer) is meant to say, passed out. As I said, had you been paying attention, he went to Patong after a grueling day at work. As far as your grammar, use spell check before you send notes from now on. These ( ) are parentheses, these are quotes " ".

http://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/parentheses.html

http://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html#errors

Why would I engage in fear-mongering. Why would I need to? With all the violence in and around Phuket, there needs to be little story telling, just look around.

("He begged us not to involve the police, or the newspapers."

Why would he do that? That doesn't make sense at all.)

Makes perfect sense. To alert the police would mean the possibility of one of the police knowing one of the assaliants, and maybe informing him. Same with the newspaper. It's funny that you would think someone would to such lengths to strike or attempt to strike fear in people. It is people like you, who choose to turn a blind or in fact, ignorant eye to what is going on. This is why violence happens here. Because people like you choose to ignore it when it does and will continue to happen. People like you need to wake up and realize that not everything around them is smiles and fresh fruit.

[john b good]

We need to find a friendly foriegn journo and get every incident into a tabloid.

Now this may sound wierd but........

I bet we could find a journo for the sun or news of world that would put this in for a small fee (corruption Thai style), if we club together, put a quid or two in each, I bet we can get a few stories in print.

things will change very quickly when it gets into the international media!

I tend to agree. You have to humble these people. Take away their livelihood. Make sure that all inbound tourists know what slimy little pieces of excrement these guys are. Make sure that they know not to be taken in by the smile.

Embarrass them on the world stage, so that the number of tourists decline. Perhaps then the powers in control might exterminate these dregs of society.

[kasi]

There has got to be more to this story.

Especially as Chalong circle is just a stones throw away from the police station. If he was able to get a moto taxi home it probably wasn't that late either so there would still be a fair amount of people and activity around there.

[teddy_bare]

We need to find a friendly foriegn journo and get every incident into a tabloid.

Now this may sound wierd but........

I bet we could find a journo for the sun or news of world that would put this in for a small fee (corruption Thai style), if we club together, put a quid or two in each, I bet we can get a few stories in print.

things will change very quickly when it gets into the international media!

I tend to agree. You have to humble these people. Take away their livelihood. Make sure that all inbound tourists know what slimy little pieces of excrement these guys are. Make sure that they know not to be taken in by the smile.

Embarrass them on the world stage, so that the number of tourists decline. Perhaps then the powers in control might exterminate these dregs of society.

Tips for tourist in Phuket

1. Airport Limos are a rip off.

2. Walk 100m outside and get a meter taxi

3. Ride the Limo bus to the dodgy Tourist Agent who will insist you can not enter (your final destination) unless you have booked a hotel (guess what) they will book one for you! helpful people and at only 200% above the real rate.

4. Never use a tuk tuk. Ask the hotel if they can provide a car pickup. Give the money to one of the staff's relatives rather than these tuk tuk criminals

5. Dont walk on the beach alone at night, the Katoy's will get you

6. Walk alone on the beach if you like Katoys

7. Try booking a hotel near the centre

8. Try walking

9. Dont think you can photograph the colourfully dress young men in Soi Katoy for free

10. If you take a girl back to your hotel, make sure you have agreed a price and what you are getting. don't encourage mediorce performance. if they dont perform as indicated reduce the final payment.

11. Go drink in the Kangeroo Bar on Soi Bangla. Full of divers and pretty girls (behing the bar).

12. Dont ring the bells in the bars unless you are rich

13. Stand next to rich men who are near the bells in the bar

14. Stand between the bars as you can step left or right and get those free bell ringing drinks

15. Motor bike rental gets cheaper the futher you go away from the beach

16. Sand and motor bikes are not friends

17. If the motor bike side car is indicating left, he will turn right

18. If a thai sez "maybe" expect it not to happen, but don't get upset they are trying to let you down nicely.

19. Dont go to Samui

[slackula]

I tend to agree. You have to humble these people. Take away their livelihood. Make sure that all inbound tourists know what slimy little pieces of excrement these guys are. Make sure that they know not to be taken in by the smile.

Embarrass them on the world stage, so that the number of tourists decline. Perhaps then the powers in control might exterminate these dregs of society.

In my humble experience taxi drivers around the world are rip-off merchants, those in Thailand are no better or worse.

Trying to reduce the number of tourists is not a solution, the victim in this story was a foreign chef who probably made his living catering to said tourists.

A passed out drunk getting his wallet lifted is not news. Sorry, but I think there is more to this story than has been posted. Why has the victim fled Phuket?

[Aussietraveller]

We need to find a friendly foriegn journo and get every incident into a tabloid.

Now this may sound wierd but........

I bet we could find a journo for the sun or news of world that would put this in for a small fee (corruption Thai style), if we club together, put a quid or two in each, I bet we can get a few stories in print.

things will change very quickly when it gets into the international media!

Where do we send donations for this most worthy cause?

[kasi]

wrong post

[kakalai]

I am sure that if say, I wanted to buy a Tuk-Tuk, and get a work permit and taxi tourists around the island that there would be some red tape, and maybe a license fee or something

This from the "Any Questions" section of the Phuket Gazette:

Q: Why is there no songtaew bus running between Karon and Patong?

A: “In 1994, we established a public transport route linking Patong and Karon. After just three days, however, the driver was pulled from his vehicle and badly beaten by competitors.

We would still like to have an investor operate a songtaew along that route, but since 1994 nobody has contacted us about it.

They are probably worried about having similar problems and losing their investment capital. Public transport in Phuket faces many problems of this nature. ”

Monday, May 10, 2004 Teerayuth Prasertphol, Deputy Director, Phuket Provincial Transportation Office.

To beat the tuktuk mafia I think we'd need a governer with balls and non-local police or army brought in.

[bkkmadness]

The army was used for a coup of the country, I think it'd be a bit overkill to use them to clear out a few Tuk Tuk drivers.

Definitely need to do something about this though, Phuket must be losing a lot of money because of this kind of rubbish going on.

[moebius]

While my sympathies go out to your friend for his apparent misfortune, I do have say it is just another story from just any country where someone gets beaten, robbed, etc... and then they don't involve the authorities.

So what chance does the law anywhere have to do anything?

I've been robbed and beaten, too, but please don't tell anyone. I wouldn't want to give Canada or the USA a bad name or, heaven forbid, cause an investigation!

Sure thieves are cowards; but victims can be cowards too... and no-one ever said fighting the good fight was easy. The problem is most victims just prefer to leave the past behind them.

I hope your friend heals up, is more careful in the future, and has a more peaceful life.

[chuchok]

I tend to agree. You have to humble these people. Take away their livelihood. Make sure that all inbound tourists know what slimy little pieces of excrement these guys are. Make sure that they know not to be taken in by the smile.

Embarrass them on the world stage, so that the number of tourists decline. Perhaps then the powers in control might exterminate these dregs of society.

In my humble experience taxi drivers around the world are rip-off merchants, those in Thailand are no better or worse.

Trying to reduce the number of tourists is not a solution, the victim in this story was a foreign chef who probably made his living catering to said tourists.

A passed out drunk getting his wallet lifted is not news. Sorry, but I think there is more to this story than has been posted. Why has the victim fled Phuket?

prolly 'cause he had the living <deleted> beat out of him and may be a bit reluctant to return.

Most Taxi drivers around the world do not gang up on people and put them in hospital.

Were you trying to make a joke when you typed this,were you drunk or are you just trolling.

[slackula]

I tend to agree. You have to humble these people. Take away their livelihood. Make sure that all inbound tourists know what slimy little pieces of excrement these guys are. Make sure that they know not to be taken in by the smile.

Embarrass them on the world stage, so that the number of tourists decline. Perhaps then the powers in control might exterminate these dregs of society.

In my humble experience taxi drivers around the world are rip-off merchants, those in Thailand are no better or worse.

Trying to reduce the number of tourists is not a solution, the victim in this story was a foreign chef who probably made his living catering to said tourists.

A passed out drunk getting his wallet lifted is not news. Sorry, but I think there is more to this story than has been posted. Why has the victim fled Phuket?

prolly 'cause he had the living <deleted> beat out of him and may be a bit reluctant to return.

Most Taxi drivers around the world do not gang up on people and put them in hospital.

Were you trying to make a joke when you typed this,were you drunk or are you just trolling.

If he had the "living <deleted>" beaten out of him then he should report it to the authorities before leaving. A complaint lodged with the BIB will be investigated.

Most Taxi drivers around the world do not gang up on people and put them in hospital.

Exactly, which makes one wonder if there is more to this story than has been revealed.

Were you trying to make a joke when you typed this,were you drunk or are you just trolling.

Erm, no, no and no. But thanks for asking. Are you?

[chuchok]

I tend to agree. You have to humble these people. Take away their livelihood. Make sure that all inbound tourists know what slimy little pieces of excrement these guys are. Make sure that they know not to be taken in by the smile.

Embarrass them on the world stage, so that the number of tourists decline. Perhaps then the powers in control might exterminate these dregs of society.

In my humble experience taxi drivers around the world are rip-off merchants, those in Thailand are no better or worse.

Trying to reduce the number of tourists is not a solution, the victim in this story was a foreign chef who probably made his living catering to said tourists.

A passed out drunk getting his wallet lifted is not news. Sorry, but I think there is more to this story than has been posted. Why has the victim fled Phuket?

prolly 'cause he had the living <deleted> beat out of him and may be a bit reluctant to return.

Most Taxi drivers around the world do not gang up on people and put them in hospital.

Were you trying to make a joke when you typed this,were you drunk or are you just trolling.

If he had the "living <deleted>" beaten out of him then he should report it to the authorities before leaving. A complaint lodged with the BIB will be investigated.

And you think this will work?You silly begger!Have you ever gone to the police here when you are dealing with tuk tuk drivers??The mayor has enough trouble,how on earth do you think joue bloggs farang will get on.

Most Taxi drivers around the world do not gang up on people and put them in hospital.

Exactly, which makes one wonder if there is more to this story than has been revealed.

Were you trying to make a joke when you typed this,were you drunk or are you just trolling.

Erm, no, no and no. But thanks for asking. Are you?

No joke,but you are either plain silly,or plain thick.

[cdnvic]

If he had the "living <deleted>" beaten out of him then he should report it to the authorities before leaving. A complaint lodged with the BIB will be investigated.

BIB Sgt: Who investigated this tuk tuk beating?

BIB: I did.

BIB Sgt: Where's my percentage?

BIB: On your desk sir.

[smartecosse]

If he had the "living <deleted>" beaten out of him then he should report it to the authorities before leaving. A complaint lodged with the BIB will be investigated.

BIB Sgt: Who investigated this tuk tuk beating?

BIB: I did.

BIB Sgt: Where's my percentage?

BIB: On your desk sir.

[LivinLOS]

I have TukMaf license number. :D

Post number please..

[bendix]

*sigh*

Another farang gets drunk and ends up being stabbed or beaten up by the dreaded tuk-tuk mafia.

It's curious that the common denominator in all these war stories is the farang being pissed out of his head.

It's also curious that he's now fighting for his life in a Bangkok hospital, but was able to flag down another driver to take him home where (lo and behold) the wife paid his fare.

The story might be true. I dont doubt it. But I suspect there is more to it than we have been told.

Why do these things never happen to people i know?