PHUKET: Australian tourist Glenn Dawson, at the centre of the action when a tour driver was beaten by local Phuket taxi drivers outside a five-star Phuket resort yesterday, has given a full account of the incident.
The courage of Mr Dawson, the driver involved and the manager of the local tour company in speaking out to Phuketwan and other Phuket media is unusual.
Many resorts on Phuket submit to the intimidation of Phuket's tuk-tuk and taxi public transport monopoly and do not complain to police or even to their own brand managements.
Here is Mr Dawson's account of the incident. He and his wife Deidre were in the tour car outside the Cape Sienna Resort, a five-star in the west coast township of Kamala, when the attack began.
They were looking forward to enjoying a popular Phuket tourist holiday pastime, an elephant trek in the south of Phuket.
As the manager of a resort on the island of Lombok, near Bali, Mr Dawson remains astonished at what happened to him next on Phuket:
''The beating: It all started when the driver could not pick us up at Cape Sienna hotel at 12.30pm and we did not think much about it, just a little weird, but agreed to walk down the street.
''We found the driver and car about a three minute walk down the road from the hotel entrance. We got in and he needed to do a U-turn to get out of the road and had to go past Cape Sienna to do the turn.
''On the way back after the turn a car outside/opposite Cape Sienna pulled straight out in front of us and we stopped behind it. Then a guy walked up to the driver and the driver was very distressed at this point, asking me to do something, however I could not understand what he was saying.
''The guy reached in the window and turned the ignition off and proceeded to yell at the driver. We started saying 'What the hell is going on here' and he [the man outside the car] told us it was between him and the driver.
''Then more and more of them started coming around the car and they started punching the driver through the window and trying to drag him out of the car.
''He had his seatbelt on, so the guy just started kicking him once he got the door open, continuing to try and drag him out of the car. Thankfully he could not get him out - because of the seatbelt, I think. In the meantime we had gotten out of the car.
''I screamed in the face of one guy 'Do you think about tourism here?' to which he just said, 'Nothing to do with you.' So we ran across the road to the driveway of Cape Sienna and continued yelling at these guys to leave the driver alone.
''Then they just turned around, maybe five of them by this time and looked at me, one saying or screaming at me, 'F!@# OFF Tourist'.
''It was at this time that the driver got a chance to actually shut the door and start the car and proceeded to drive away.
''Then another guy came out of the sala and threw an iron bar ( about 500mm long) straight into the windscreen as he was taking off. Luckily for the driver, it hit side on as it could have gone straight through the windscreen.
''At this point we are screaming from the driveway to leave him alone still and I said to Dee (Deidre) 'Let's get up to some safety of the foyer at least.'
''The security [guard] of Cape Sienna was doing nothing and sat quietly at the end of the driveway. He did not move at all.
''We got into the foyer and we started screaming at the staff to help and demanded to see the manager on duty and for them to call the police, which they did not respond to at all and did not do at all.
''He came out and we were still shaking and extremely upset, with Dee in tears. The manager said they have had problems with these guys, but you could tell he did not want to go into it with us.
''He offered us the luxury car to take us on a tour to another elephant trek up north. We left maybe 30 minutes later. On the way back we stopped to pick up a suit I had had made in Kamala beach.
''I asked them [the tailors] to drop it off to Cape Sienna if it was not ready. They flatly refused saying no-one from any of the shops down below Cape Sienna Hotel goes up there.
''They are afraid of what could happen to their business and also asked me not to tell the hotel or anyone else for fear of repercussions.
''Nothing has been said to us since we got back by anyone working in Cape Sienna, which is a little poor on their behalf. However, the duty manager did inform us that he would be talking with the general manager tomorrow morning [Monday] and they would speak to the taxi mafia guys.''
Mr Dawson said he had posted his report of the attack on the powerful Internet tourism advisory service, tripadvisor. He said he was keen to have this kind of intimidation brought to a halt.
''The hotel obviously does not warn guests of these people,'' he said. To be fair to Cape Sienna, most resorts on Phuket also never mention the taxi driver monopoly for fear of retaliation.
Australian honorary consul Larry Cunningham, who runs the Chava Resort north of Kamala in Surin, has spoken out about a group of drivers outside his resort at the regular quarterly meetings between the Phuket honorary consuls and Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha.
It was revealed at the last meeting this week that the minutes of the important regular summits, held primarily to discuss tourism and tourist safety on Phuket, have frequently been censored to remove damaging references to tuk-tuks, taxis, jet-skis and other negatives about Phuket.
As a result of yesterday's incident, the driver suffered cuts and bruises. He was treated at Patong Hospital and reported the attack to Kamala police. Officers say they are investigating.
The Dawsons, having been holidaying on Phuket for two weeks, were due to catch a flight back to Bali early today.
Phuket Taxi Thugs Attack Tour Driver; Tourists Left Shaking, Iron Bar Smashes WindscreenThe courage of Mr Dawson, the driver involved and the manager of the local tour company in speaking out to Phuketwan and other Phuket media is unusual.
Many resorts on Phuket submit to the intimidation of Phuket's tuk-tuk and taxi public transport monopoly and do not complain to police or even to their own brand managements.
Here is Mr Dawson's account of the incident. He and his wife Deidre were in the tour car outside the Cape Sienna Resort, a five-star in the west coast township of Kamala, when the attack began.
They were looking forward to enjoying a popular Phuket tourist holiday pastime, an elephant trek in the south of Phuket.
As the manager of a resort on the island of Lombok, near Bali, Mr Dawson remains astonished at what happened to him next on Phuket:
''The beating: It all started when the driver could not pick us up at Cape Sienna hotel at 12.30pm and we did not think much about it, just a little weird, but agreed to walk down the street.
''We found the driver and car about a three minute walk down the road from the hotel entrance. We got in and he needed to do a U-turn to get out of the road and had to go past Cape Sienna to do the turn.
''On the way back after the turn a car outside/opposite Cape Sienna pulled straight out in front of us and we stopped behind it. Then a guy walked up to the driver and the driver was very distressed at this point, asking me to do something, however I could not understand what he was saying.
''The guy reached in the window and turned the ignition off and proceeded to yell at the driver. We started saying 'What the hell is going on here' and he [the man outside the car] told us it was between him and the driver.
''Then more and more of them started coming around the car and they started punching the driver through the window and trying to drag him out of the car.
''He had his seatbelt on, so the guy just started kicking him once he got the door open, continuing to try and drag him out of the car. Thankfully he could not get him out - because of the seatbelt, I think. In the meantime we had gotten out of the car.
''I screamed in the face of one guy 'Do you think about tourism here?' to which he just said, 'Nothing to do with you.' So we ran across the road to the driveway of Cape Sienna and continued yelling at these guys to leave the driver alone.
''Then they just turned around, maybe five of them by this time and looked at me, one saying or screaming at me, 'F!@# OFF Tourist'.
''It was at this time that the driver got a chance to actually shut the door and start the car and proceeded to drive away.
''Then another guy came out of the sala and threw an iron bar ( about 500mm long) straight into the windscreen as he was taking off. Luckily for the driver, it hit side on as it could have gone straight through the windscreen.
''At this point we are screaming from the driveway to leave him alone still and I said to Dee (Deidre) 'Let's get up to some safety of the foyer at least.'
''The security [guard] of Cape Sienna was doing nothing and sat quietly at the end of the driveway. He did not move at all.
''We got into the foyer and we started screaming at the staff to help and demanded to see the manager on duty and for them to call the police, which they did not respond to at all and did not do at all.
''He came out and we were still shaking and extremely upset, with Dee in tears. The manager said they have had problems with these guys, but you could tell he did not want to go into it with us.
''He offered us the luxury car to take us on a tour to another elephant trek up north. We left maybe 30 minutes later. On the way back we stopped to pick up a suit I had had made in Kamala beach.
''I asked them [the tailors] to drop it off to Cape Sienna if it was not ready. They flatly refused saying no-one from any of the shops down below Cape Sienna Hotel goes up there.
''They are afraid of what could happen to their business and also asked me not to tell the hotel or anyone else for fear of repercussions.
''Nothing has been said to us since we got back by anyone working in Cape Sienna, which is a little poor on their behalf. However, the duty manager did inform us that he would be talking with the general manager tomorrow morning [Monday] and they would speak to the taxi mafia guys.''
Mr Dawson said he had posted his report of the attack on the powerful Internet tourism advisory service, tripadvisor. He said he was keen to have this kind of intimidation brought to a halt.
''The hotel obviously does not warn guests of these people,'' he said. To be fair to Cape Sienna, most resorts on Phuket also never mention the taxi driver monopoly for fear of retaliation.
Australian honorary consul Larry Cunningham, who runs the Chava Resort north of Kamala in Surin, has spoken out about a group of drivers outside his resort at the regular quarterly meetings between the Phuket honorary consuls and Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha.
It was revealed at the last meeting this week that the minutes of the important regular summits, held primarily to discuss tourism and tourist safety on Phuket, have frequently been censored to remove damaging references to tuk-tuks, taxis, jet-skis and other negatives about Phuket.
As a result of yesterday's incident, the driver suffered cuts and bruises. He was treated at Patong Hospital and reported the attack to Kamala police. Officers say they are investigating.
The Dawsons, having been holidaying on Phuket for two weeks, were due to catch a flight back to Bali early today.
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This problem wiil never be solved because nobody in Thailand want it to be solved. They all share from the pie.
Posted by Staf on September 5, 2011 05:32