Singaporean 'attacked' by Bangkok tuktuk driver over $6 fare: 'He stops halfway and turns violent'
A Singaporean in Bangkok was reportedly "attacked" by a tuktuk driver in a dispute over the fare on Friday (Sept 2).
Sharing a video of the incident, Stomper M 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.
The Stomper 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.
@bkkdiaries BKK tuktuk driver demanded more money. i did not agree so he stops halfway and turns violent. police report has been made #bangkok #tuktuk #taxi #scam #violent ♬ original sound - bkkdiaries
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."
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.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
