A foreign man allegedly assaulted a tuk tuk driver with a beer bottle after refusing to pay his fare at a hotel in Kathu district, Phuket.
Phuket Times and MGR Online reported the alleged assault today, October 1. However, neither report specified the exact date or time of the incident.
According to the driver’s account, he picked up the foreign man and a woman from Bangla Road and took them to a hotel in the area. When they arrived, the man reportedly said he had no cash to pay the fare.
The man then handed his phone to the driver as security and asked him to return to the hotel an hour later to collect the payment. The driver agreed and returned at the agreed time.
Upon arriving, the driver approached the hotel reception and asked staff to call the man downstairs. The foreign man came down heavily intoxicated and told the driver that he had been arguing with his girlfriend.
The driver said he ignored the man’s personal dispute and asked him to pay the outstanding fare. However, the man allegedly became angry, refused to pay and took his phone back from the driver, leading to a heated argument.
The dispute reportedly escalated into a physical assault, with the man allegedly tearing the driver’s shirt and striking him on the head with a beer bottle. He then left the hotel without paying the fare.
The driver subsequently filed a complaint with police. No further information about the investigation or whether the alleged attacker had been identified was available in the reports.
The incident follows several other reported disputes involving foreign nationals and tuk tuk drivers in Phuket.
In February, three foreign men allegedly attacked a tuk tuk driver outside Jungceylon shopping mall in Patong following a parking dispute.
In August, a Phuket tuk tuk driver accused an Israeli family of threatening and attempting to attack him after he refused to join a trip involving his Australian passengers.
Another incident occurred in July, when a foreign man allegedly refused to pay a tuk tuk fare and assaulted a Thai driver outside a hotel on Soi Na Nai. The man was later reportedly arrested, fined and deported following the incident.
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