PHUKET: Phuket taxi drivers beat up a tour driver when he tried to pick up tourists at well-known five-star resort in Kamala this afternoon.
Police are investigating the assault in which an iron bar was used to break a windscreen and the driver was punched and beaten.
The tourists in the vehicle at the time, Glenn Dawson and his wife Deidre, were shaken and shocked by the attack. The drivers swore at the couple, saying: "F@#@ off tourist."
Mr and Mrs Dawson were staying inside the Cape Sienna Resort in Kamala this evening, and will leave tomorrow on a flight to Bali. They run a small hotel on the neighboring island of Lombok.
''We will probably never come back to Thailand after this,'' Mr Dawson, 45, an Australian from Melbourne, said this evening.
He gave a complete account of the attack.
''We were going elephant trekking but when the driver arrived at the resort, we were advised that we'd have to meet him a bit further down the street.
''As he did a u-turn, drivers from the taxi rank at the resort attacked him.
''We couldn't believe what was happening. When we got out of the vehicle the drivers swore and abused us.
''The poor driver got back into his car and as he was driving off, another driver threw an iron bar that broke his windscreen.
''We were shaken, and we are still shaking.''
Mr Dawson said he and his wife had had a week's holiday at Cape Panwa and six days at Cape Sienna.
The assault is likely to sharpen focus on the power that local tuk-tuk and taxi drivers hold over Phuket resorts.
Almost all resorts on Phuket are obliged to kow-tow to the local drivers for fear of blockades, or risk assaults on their staff or their guests.
Today's incident follows an attack in Patong, believed to be by tuk-tuk drivers, that left a German expat resident in a Phuket City's hospital's intensive care unit.
A Dutchman suffered a wound to his head in another recent incident. In February, two young Australian men were knifed when attacked by a gang in what was later described as a case of attempted murder.
Australia and a group of European countries have threatened video warnings on You Tube and travel advisories about jet-skis and tuk-tuks on Phuket unless the Governor or the new government of Thailand takes rapid action to safeguard all tourists.
Mr Dawson said that Cape Sienna arranged a replacement tour in a resort car. He said he stopped off in Kamala village to pick up some garments and asked the tailor to drop the garments off at Cape Sienna later.
''The driver said he wasn't prepared to go near Cape Sienna because of the taxi drivers,'' Mr Dawson said.
''This shocks me. To think that they can do this on Phuket.''
Mr Dawson said the drivers appeared to sit around all day in part of the resort's driveway, watching television and doing nothing.
''It had been quite a nice holiday on Phuket until this afternoon. I don't think we will be coming back.''
The driver went to Kamala police station to report the attack. Lieutenant Aneak Mongkoln took a statement from Preecha Choowong, 38, who said a group of taxi drivers had attacked him outside Cape Sienna.
Khun Preecha, punched in the face, also went to Patong Hospital for treatment.
A duty manager at Cape Sienna said he suspected the problem was caused because of ''taxi zoning'' and the lack of appropriate paperwork that taxi drivers demanded from outside vehicles picking up guests.
''We are caught in the middle,'' he said.
Sinlapachai Choosen, the manager of the elephant trekking group involved, Kok Chang Kata Safari, said tonight: ''This situation has existed for a long time now.
''We and other businesses do all the marketing for Phuket and the taxi drivers have no understanding of how the tourism business works.
''These people have booked and paid online, as many do.
''This group is a mafia. We understand local people want local jobs, but to have this kind of hold over Phuket is a tragedy.''
He said he wanted to see these perpetrators punished, but it was also time that resorts all over Phuket did something to end the nightmare.
Cape Sienna was Phuketwan's Phuket Resort of the Year 2009.
Phuket's Tuk-Tuk Gangs Respond With Violence and Create FearPolice are investigating the assault in which an iron bar was used to break a windscreen and the driver was punched and beaten.
The tourists in the vehicle at the time, Glenn Dawson and his wife Deidre, were shaken and shocked by the attack. The drivers swore at the couple, saying: "F@#@ off tourist."
Mr and Mrs Dawson were staying inside the Cape Sienna Resort in Kamala this evening, and will leave tomorrow on a flight to Bali. They run a small hotel on the neighboring island of Lombok.
''We will probably never come back to Thailand after this,'' Mr Dawson, 45, an Australian from Melbourne, said this evening.
He gave a complete account of the attack.
''We were going elephant trekking but when the driver arrived at the resort, we were advised that we'd have to meet him a bit further down the street.
''As he did a u-turn, drivers from the taxi rank at the resort attacked him.
''We couldn't believe what was happening. When we got out of the vehicle the drivers swore and abused us.
''The poor driver got back into his car and as he was driving off, another driver threw an iron bar that broke his windscreen.
''We were shaken, and we are still shaking.''
Mr Dawson said he and his wife had had a week's holiday at Cape Panwa and six days at Cape Sienna.
The assault is likely to sharpen focus on the power that local tuk-tuk and taxi drivers hold over Phuket resorts.
Almost all resorts on Phuket are obliged to kow-tow to the local drivers for fear of blockades, or risk assaults on their staff or their guests.
Today's incident follows an attack in Patong, believed to be by tuk-tuk drivers, that left a German expat resident in a Phuket City's hospital's intensive care unit.
A Dutchman suffered a wound to his head in another recent incident. In February, two young Australian men were knifed when attacked by a gang in what was later described as a case of attempted murder.
Australia and a group of European countries have threatened video warnings on You Tube and travel advisories about jet-skis and tuk-tuks on Phuket unless the Governor or the new government of Thailand takes rapid action to safeguard all tourists.
Mr Dawson said that Cape Sienna arranged a replacement tour in a resort car. He said he stopped off in Kamala village to pick up some garments and asked the tailor to drop the garments off at Cape Sienna later.
''The driver said he wasn't prepared to go near Cape Sienna because of the taxi drivers,'' Mr Dawson said.
''This shocks me. To think that they can do this on Phuket.''
Mr Dawson said the drivers appeared to sit around all day in part of the resort's driveway, watching television and doing nothing.
''It had been quite a nice holiday on Phuket until this afternoon. I don't think we will be coming back.''
The driver went to Kamala police station to report the attack. Lieutenant Aneak Mongkoln took a statement from Preecha Choowong, 38, who said a group of taxi drivers had attacked him outside Cape Sienna.
Khun Preecha, punched in the face, also went to Patong Hospital for treatment.
A duty manager at Cape Sienna said he suspected the problem was caused because of ''taxi zoning'' and the lack of appropriate paperwork that taxi drivers demanded from outside vehicles picking up guests.
''We are caught in the middle,'' he said.
Sinlapachai Choosen, the manager of the elephant trekking group involved, Kok Chang Kata Safari, said tonight: ''This situation has existed for a long time now.
''We and other businesses do all the marketing for Phuket and the taxi drivers have no understanding of how the tourism business works.
''These people have booked and paid online, as many do.
''This group is a mafia. We understand local people want local jobs, but to have this kind of hold over Phuket is a tragedy.''
He said he wanted to see these perpetrators punished, but it was also time that resorts all over Phuket did something to end the nightmare.
Cape Sienna was Phuketwan's Phuket Resort of the Year 2009.
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[quote]
... as he was driving off, another driver threw an iron bar that broke his windscreen
[/quote]
Is an iron bar standard equipment in a taxi?
(Rhetorical question because the answer is obviously 'only in Phuket')
Simon
Posted by Simon Luttrell on September 4, 2011 21:12