PHUKET: For Robert Oakly, a New Zealand tourist, the holiday on Phuket started to go pear-shaped about 4am this morning.
It was about then that the ATM machine outside a branch of the Bangkok Bank in Kata, a west coast beach destination on Phuket, declared he had failed at his third attempt at a transaction.
The machine announced it was keeping the card. But Robert Oakly had a plane to catch. He was heading off on a flight home later today.
What to do? In Mr Oakly's case, the solution appeared to be simple: rage against the machine. In need of recovering his card before his flight, he took to the ATM with a rock.
However, the rock didn't work as effectively as he'd hoped. People nearby heard the noise, called police, and he was arrested virtually rock-handed.
After a lot of talking at Chalong Police Station in southern Phuket and negotiations with the bank manager, Mr Oakly found himself no longer caught between a rock and a hard place.
In the deal, he paid the bank 22,000 baht for damage to the ATM. And in exchange, he got his card back.
It is not known whether Mr Oakly, 55, was also supplied with a new PIN number to complete the transaction.
But he did manage to pack his bags at Best Western Ocean Phuket Resort, where police took the photo above, and catch his flight off Phuket.
It was about then that the ATM machine outside a branch of the Bangkok Bank in Kata, a west coast beach destination on Phuket, declared he had failed at his third attempt at a transaction.
The machine announced it was keeping the card. But Robert Oakly had a plane to catch. He was heading off on a flight home later today.
What to do? In Mr Oakly's case, the solution appeared to be simple: rage against the machine. In need of recovering his card before his flight, he took to the ATM with a rock.
However, the rock didn't work as effectively as he'd hoped. People nearby heard the noise, called police, and he was arrested virtually rock-handed.
After a lot of talking at Chalong Police Station in southern Phuket and negotiations with the bank manager, Mr Oakly found himself no longer caught between a rock and a hard place.
In the deal, he paid the bank 22,000 baht for damage to the ATM. And in exchange, he got his card back.
It is not known whether Mr Oakly, 55, was also supplied with a new PIN number to complete the transaction.
But he did manage to pack his bags at Best Western Ocean Phuket Resort, where police took the photo above, and catch his flight off Phuket.
I can understand his frustration ... BUT I think he was lucky to get off so lightly.
Posted by Logic on May 7, 2012 21:35