Mini bus driver caught on viral video threatening to hit foreigner with iron bar in Phuket

A video has gone viral of a Thai minibus driver threatening to strike a foreigner with an iron bar in Phuket. The case is under investigation by the police.

In the video shared yesterday, July 2, a white minivan is seen parked on a roadside in front of a coffee shop on Ratsada Road in Phuket. The driver, dressed in a red shirt and jeans, steps out of the vehicle, while the foreign man retrieves his luggage and stands on the footpath.

The driver then approaches the foreigner with an iron bar in his hand and attempts to strike the foreigner on the head. The foreign victim avoided the blow and tried to walk away from the driver. The driver followed the foreigner and continued to threaten him.

The side of the minibus displays the name of the touring agency, Haad Yai River Tour. Unfortunately, the video does not reveal the vehicle’s registration plate

According to ThaiRath, the minibus was full of passengers, leading many netizens to express concern not only about the driver’s aggressive behaviour towards the foreigner but also about the safety of other passengers on board.

Mueang Phuket Police Station officers investigated the scene after the video went viral. Officers also questioned locals who witnessed the incident and today managed to identify the minibus driver as Paramate Sorrakate.

Officers then contacted the foreigner in the video, later identified as a 35 year old Singaporean man named Faris Bin Abdulkadia Basarahel, to file a complaint against Paramate. Basarahel explained that Paramate demanded an additional fee of 100 baht for his intended destination, the Grand Supicha City Hotel.

Basarahel said he refused to pay, so Paramate was angry and chased him away. Paramate parked his minibus at the bus stop in front of the coffee shop and threw his luggage on the footpath and tried to hit him before a coffee shop customer intervened just in time.

Police officers did not mention the charges or penalties that Paramate may face but any person who commits a forcible attack against another shall, if the attack is not serious to the extent causing the victim to sustain any bodily or mental harm, be liable to imprisonment for not more than one month, or a fine not exceeding 1,000 baht or both.