PHUKET: Phuket ''dog pack attack'' victim Kurt Trotnow is out of intensive care at a Phuket City hospital, talking, and hoping to leave his bed to try walking again soon, his wife said today.

Mr Trotnow, 53, a German expat Phuket resident, recollects the party in Patong before he was knocked senseless into a coma in a dispute over whether a tuk-tuk journey of about 800 metres should cost 100 baht or 200 baht.

''But Kurt does not remember even getting into the tuk-tuk, or the dispute,'' his wife Jiraporn 'Joy' Choochep, 30, said today. ''He can talk and move in bed and he came out of ICU at Phuket International on Friday.

''When he came out of the coma the first thing he said was: 'What am I doing here?'

''He will probably be in hospital for one more week. He is looking forward to sitting up and walking again. But we just can't say whether his memory of what happened with the tuk-tuk will ever return.''

Mr Trotnow was beaten into a coma about 11.05pm on August 25 in Patong when a gang - probably tuk-tuk drivers - attacked after he disputed the 200 baht fare for a short trip by tuk-tuk from a rank near Soi Paradise to the Taipan nightclub at the top of Soi Bangla.

Potential witnesses have failed to name the attackers, security cameras failed to capture the incident, and even Khun Joy has been unable to identify the driver or his wife from photographs shown to her by police.

Mr Trotnow was considered to be the only chance of identifying them and a case being pursued against the men. Now that seems to be no longer likely.

The couple, who wed in July after being friends for three years, were planning to head back to Germany on September 7 so that Mr Trotnow could have an operation for a blood vessel condition. The flight and the operation have had to be postponed, Khun Joy said.

German honorary consul Dirk Naumann aims to pursue the matter with Phuket Police Commander Major General Pekad Tantipong because he was not informed officially about the incident until a week later, then was invited to Kathu Police Station to take part in ''mediation.''

No progress has been made by police in a second case involving violent tuk-tuk and taxi retaliation, an attack on a Phuket tour driver that took place outside a Kamala five-star resort on September 4.

Two men named by police have so far failed to present themselves to Kamala Police Station, the tour company manager, Sinlapachai Choosen, said today.

''I still can't figure why only two men are wanted by police when five were involved in the attack,'' he said.