Fare and square: Taxi driver delivers boozy passenger to police

A Thai taxi driver decided to take a female passenger to the police station after she lured him into buying her alcohol and refused to pay for the alcohol and the transport fare.

The 60 year old taxi driver, Prayong, sought assistance from officers at Chaiyaphruek Police Station in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok yesterday, May 26, after he was unable to wake his drunk passenger to pay the fare.

Prayong revealed to the police that another taxi driver asked him to stop and pick up the woman, later identified as 44 year old Tai, near Lam Pho Canal at around 4.30pm on that day. The driver told him to send Tai to her sister’s house in a village in the Bang Bua Thong neighbourhood of Nonthaburi.

Prayong said Tai entered his car with luggage and a basket. She did not appear suspicious or drunk and communicated with him normally.

During the ride, Tai asked Prayong to stop and buy her a bottle of alcohol, worth 130 baht. She promised to pay him back when she paid the transport fare, saying she did not have any money and would ask her father for some.

Upon arrival at the destination, the security guard did not allow Prayong to enter, saying Tai’s sister did not want to welcome her. Tai, who was already drunk, ignored the issue and fell asleep in the cab.

Prayong tried to wake Tai up to pay the 285-baht transport fare and the 130-baht cost of the alcohol but was unsuccessful. He then drove her to the police station for help.

Prayong expressed his frustration to officers, saying he was sad to encounter this issue. He already earned very little and what he had earned that day was not even enough for fuel and the rental fee.

Police spent more than 30 minutes to wake Tai up and convince her to get out of Prayong’s car. Tai eventually spoke to police saying she took a taxi home and wanted to get drunk. She insisted that she did not have any stress or problems but simply wanted to drink alcohol.

Tai insisted she would pay the transport fee and the cost of the alcohol only after she sobered up. Officers decided to contact Tai’s sister to pick her up and pay for the transport and alcohol.

Later, Tai filed a complaint with the police, claiming she had lost her watch worth 300,000 baht in Prayong’s car. Prayong found the watch on the back seat and returned it to the police station.