Phuket Taxi Drivers Strike Again Punch-up with Canadian
Like many before him, Mr Anwar said he would never return to Phuket after his experience with tuk-tuk drivers.
PATONG, PHUKET: A Canadian tourist was hospitalized after being punched repeatedly in an attack involving a tuk-tuk driver yesterday afternoon.
Ivan Bob Anwar, 51, told the Gazette that he was punched five times in the attack, which resulted in a large gash above his left eyebrow requiring five stitches. He also sustained a bloody nose and bruising to his face.
Treatment charges at Patong Hospital came to 2,000 baht.
The attack was the result of a dispute over a one-minute taxi ride.
Mr Anwar and his wife arrived in Phuket on January 4 for a three-day holiday.
But after spending one night in their hotel in the north end of Patong, they decided to move to a quieter location further north in Kalim.
Mr Anwar, a teacher living in Japan, said he and his wife flagged down a tuk-tuk outside their hotel at 1pm yesterday.
After a brief negotiation with the driver, Mr Anwar and his wife agreed to pay 150 baht for the short trip to their new hotel.
“But when we arrived at our new hotel [one minute later] I told the driver that he had charged us too much,” he said.
Mr Anwar offered the driver a discounted fare of 100 baht, feeling this was all the trip was worth and got out of the tuk-tuk.
At this point, Mr Anwar said the driver telephoned a second man who then arrived on the scene almost immediately.
“The driver then got out of the tuk-tuk and punched me four or five times in the face,” said Mr Anwar.
The second man was reported to have restrained Mr Anwar during the attack. Both men then fled the scene in the tuk-tuk, Mr Anwar said.
After witnessing the attack, workers from a nearby hotel took the bloodied Mr Anwar and his wife to Kathu Police Station in the hotel’s mini-bus.
At about 3pm, tuk-tuk driver Tassanarit Damthong, 30, handed himself in at Kathu Police Station.
Mr Tassanarit was promptly arrested and charged with assault.
When the Gazette arrived at Kathu Police Station, Mr Tassanarit was in a holding cell, having been denied bail.
Mr Tassanarit’s boss, Natdanai Chaowana, was at the police station. He told the Gazette he didn’t understand why bail had been denied, claiming Mr Anwar was the one at fault.
“The Canadian guy was rude and swore and also kicked him [Mr Tassanarit] first,” said Mr Chaowana.
Mr Chaowana also said that the fee was agreed between the driver and Mr Anwar, and admitted that it was the standard rate in the area.
Mr Anwar and Kathu Police were due to appear at Phuket Provincial Court to file assault charges.
Police said they were still searching for the second man alleged to have been involved in the attack.
Mr Anwar and his wife were due to leave Phuket on January 7. He said he has no plans to return to Phuket.
“I like Thailand, but don’t think I will ever come back to Phuket after this. Maybe I’ll try Krabi instead,” he said.
Canadian confesses, pays fine at Phuket Court
PHUKET: — Canadian tourist Ivan Bob Anwar, who was involved in a punch-up with a Patong tuk-tuk driver earlier in the week, has been ordered to pay a 1,000 baht fine after confessing to assault charges.
Mr Anwar, 51, paid the fine at Phuket Provincial Court earlier today after pleading guilty to charges of assault against tuk-tuk driver Tassanarit Damthong, 30.
The charges against Mr Anwar followed similar charges filed by the Canadian against Mr Tassanarit on Tuesday, the day the altercation took place.
Mr Tassanarit’s preliminary hearing took place yesterday at Phuket Provincial Court, where he was granted bail.
He will have to appear in court at a later date to face his assault charges.
As for Mr Anwar, he paid his fine and got his passport back from police this morning.
His case was fast-tracked through the court so he could return home and not have to extend his trip.
At the time of writing, he was expected to fly out of Phuket this evening bound for Bangkok, intending to catch his connecting flight to Tokyo.
Mr Anwar has for years worked in Japan as an English teacher.
Comments found on other forums on this subject:
Interesting twist. Did he plead guilty to get out of the country? Did he do it? I see a saga beginning.
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He had to plead guilty or lose his flight.
That happened to me when I was at the airport from a taxi ripping me off and I refused to pay some extortionate amount. The tourist police said to me – Pay it or you will come to the station. I could not refuse the payment, or I would have had to get a new flight.
Justice in this case… NO, IMO, he had to pay to leave the country or it would have cost him another small fortune to get another flight out…. Sometimes principals are best left at home.
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From the Gazette earlier
The Canadian then rudely pointed a finger in his face (Mr Tassanarit) and kicked him in the chest, the tuk-tuk driver claimed.
Mr Tassanarit lifted his shirt for the Gazette to reveal bruising on his stomach, which he claimed to reporters was the result of Mr Anwar kicking him
Kicked him in the chest but the bruising is on his stomach???
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