Bangkok tuktuk driver who turned 'violent' towards S'porean over $6 fare turns himself in to police

Submitted by Stomper John

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The Bangkok tuktuk driver who turned "violent" towards a Singaporean has turned himself in after being contacted by the Thai Tourist Police.

Stomper John said that he was "attacked" by the driver after a dispute over the fare on Friday (Sept 2).

According to the Stomper, he and the driver had agreed on a fare, but before reaching the destination, the driver decided it was too far.

Sharing a video of the incident, the Stomper said: "The Bangkok tuktuk driver demanded more money. I did not agree so he stopped halfway and turned violent. A police report has been made."

The video shows a man next to a tuktuk pointing and shouting angrily at the person holding the camera. A woman is also in the video trying to calm the man down.

John recounted: "We took the tuktuk from CentralWorld at about 2.45pm on Sept 2. I told him to go to our condo near BTS Surasak and agreed to the price of 160 baht (S$6)."

CentralWorld is a shopping complex in the Thai capital. BTS stands for the Bangkok Mass Transit System. BTS Surasak and BTS Chong Nonsi are names of train stations.

The Stomper continued: "Close to BTS Chong Nonsi, he said that our condo is too far and asked for 300 baht. I did not agree. I told him if he did not want to go farther than BTS Surasak, then we will stop at BTS Surasak and pay him 160 baht as agreed.

"He stopped the tuktuk outside BTS Chong Nonsi and did not want to drive farther. We got out of the tuktuk.

"He asked for 200 baht. I did not agree and said that we agreed on 160 baht to go to the condo near BTS Surasak. So if he stopped at BTS Chong Nonsi, which is closer, we should not pay more.

"He claimed that we told him to go to BTS Chong Nonsi and kept yelling vulgarities: 'F*** you.' He appeared aggressive so I started to record the video. I said that we did not, and had agreed to go to BTS Surasak. 

"He didn't ask for money, but I thought maybe he is afraid we wouldn't pay him, So I paid him 100 baht, which he accepted and took it in his hand.

"Even after that, he pushed me violently and attempted to hit me, but I moved away. I told him that since he took us to BTS Chong Nonsi instead of BTS Surasak, I paid him 100 baht, which is fair for him.

"I did not want to quarrel further and walked away.

"Then I went to file a police report at Yan Nawa police station. They took my statement and asked me to bring the statement to Thung Maha Mek police station because the incident happened in their area of responsibility. Thung Maha Mek police station told me that they would file a complaint to the Land Transport Office."

The video has even made the news on Thai television.

On Monday (Sept 5), the Thai Tourist Police managed to contact the driver, Thongkham Cherdchai, who turned himself in.

Photos show him being interviewed by police in the Thai Tourist Police headquarters.

The 57-year-old was fined 1,000 baht for having the wrong licence to drive public transport, reported Bangkok Post.

He was also found to have used improper language with his passengers and was ordered to attend a three-hour course to improve his driving behaviour.

When contacted by Stomp, John said: "Good that they take action."

This is the second incident in recent months where Singaporeans were involved in a fare dispute with a Bangkok driver who turned "aggressive".

In July, a taxi driver pulled a knife on a Singapore couple at the airport. He was subsequently fined and had his driving license suspended by Thai authorities.