Phuket tuk tuk drivers attack Saudi Arabian passenger over service fare

Officers from Patong Police Station arrested three thuggish Thai tuk tuk drivers for assaulting a Saudi Arabian passenger on Rat U Thit Road in Phuket after the foreigner paid them only 300 baht out of 400 baht for a 3-kilometre journey.

A video of three Thai tuk tuk driver thugs physically assaulting the Saudi man went viral on Thai social media. The video’s caption read…

“Tuk tuk drivers attacked a foreign tourist in front of a hotel on Rat U Thit Road on October 8.”

Thai netizens flooded the comments section with complaints against the three tuk tuk drivers in the video, suggesting that the drivers were trying to rip off the tourist and that the conflict was escalating. They also urged police to arrest and punish the drivers for their violent actions.

Patong police checked security cameras outside the hotel and identified the three drivers as 29 year old Anusorn, 26 year old Apisit and 29 year old Nasrullor. They were all brought in for questioning at the police station today.

The three drivers admitted to assaulting the foreigner, saying the man had only paid 300 baht for a 400 baht fare. One of the suspects, Anusorn, said he picked up the Saudi man on Soi Saen Sabai and took him to 7Q Hotel Patong. Anusorn said they agreed on a fare of 200 baht.

According to Anusorn, the foreigner changed his destination when he arrived at 7Q Hotel Patong. The foreigner said it was not his hotel and wanted to go to another. Upon arriving at the second destination, Anusorn told the foreigner that the fare was 400 baht but the man only paid 300 baht.

Anusorn said that the conflict between him and the foreigner started, so he called his friends to help him and the argument escalated into a physical assault. Anusorn claimed that the foreigner forcibly removed the key to his tuk tuk car, making him and his friend angry.

They face six months to 10 years in prison and a fine of 10,000 to 200,000 baht for assaulting another person under Section 295 of the Criminal Law.

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