In questi giorni dopo l'attacco alla famiglia dei francesi anche un uomo Canadese di nome IVAN ANWAR ha fatto i “conti” con i terribili taxisti di Phuket.
Gli hanno spaccato la faccia e pure un paio di occhiali da 650$ perchè non ha voluto pagare 150THB (3Euro) per una corsa in Tuk Tuk a suo dire troppo breve per il costo pattuito.
Sinceramente i Tuk Tuk mi stanno sui “cocones” da sempre, anni fa rischiando ci litigavo pure, ora ho raggiunto la pace dei sensi ignorandoli.
Ma se pattuisci 150THB per una corsa, arrivi a destinazione e poi vuoi scendere di prezzo perchè il percorso è troppo breve a mio avviso te la sei cercata.
Questo signore Canadese porta occhiali da 650$ e si fa mille problemi per pagare 150THB? Secondo me doveva rimanere a casa sua!
Con questo non difendo i Tuk Tuk che sono illegali e mafiosi, si prendono tutti i parcheggi possibili sull'isola, attaccano le persone solo in branco magari aggredendo pure i deboli come famiglie con bimbi.
Ma non si può pattuire una cifra e poi tirare sul prezzo, questo non è giusto.
Il Signore Canadese doveva CAMMINARE e non andare in cerca del Taxi per fare poche centinaia di metri.
Per me i TUK TUK, chi noleggia Jet SKI, e tutta la marmaglia di illegali che popolano questa isola vanno IGNORATI!
Non usando i loro “servizi” prima o poi si dedicheranno ad altro business, e magari pure chi comanda questa isola capirà che è arrivato il momento di apportare serie modifiche al trasporto pubblico.
Camminate Gente, oppure consapevoli del rischio e con le opportune precauzioni utilizzate un motorino a noleggio per i brevi spostamenti.
Per i Taxi SOLO QUELLI CON LA TARGA VERDE cioè abilitati al trasporto degli stranieri, mentre i Tuk Tuk lisciateli li parcheggiati a “morire di fame” vediamo se poi gli vien voglia di prendere a pugni il turista oppure ritrovano la tipica cordialità Thailandese.
Testo Originale e Foto dal sito: http://phuketwan.com/
Phuket Has Too Many Tuk-Tuks, says Police Chief
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
IVAN ANWAR says he will come back to visit Thailand again, but he will give Phuket a little more thought before making a decision.Perhaps when the bandages come off the wounds on his face, inflicted in an altercation with a tuk-tuk driver, he may feel more affection for the island where his holiday went wrong.
''Thailand is not the problem,'' said the 51-year-old Canadian, who has taught English in Tokyo for 16 years. ''Thailand is a wonderful place for a holiday.
''My wife and I come here often. We thought we'd give Phuket a try this time . . . I can't work out why transport here is so expensive.
''It was a one-minute ride. I would have walked if I'd known it was that close.''
Mr Anwar and his wife arrived on the island on January 4, spent one night in a small hotel in north Patong, but decided to move because there was too much noise after dark.
So they planned to move to quieter Kalim yesterday. Mr Anwar said that when he and wife hailed the tuk-tuk about 1pm, they agreed on a 150 baht fare to move to their new hotel.
But when he arrived on the beachfront in Kalim and realised how short the jouney was, he walked to the passenger's side of the driver's cabin and complained loudly.
''It was such a short journey,'' he said he told the driver. ''150 baht is too much.'' The driver's friend and the driver had a brief conversation in the cabin, Mr Anwar said.
The driver left his seat, walked around to Mr Anwar, and punched him in the face repeatedly. When Mr Anwar tried to kick the driver, the driver's friend restrained him by grabbing his arms from behind.
The staff at the hotel saw what was happening and called the police, at which point the tuk-tuk driver took off.
Another tuk-tuk took Mr Anwar to hospital while his wife checked in at the hotel.
''He broke my $650 sunglasses,'' Mr Anwar said. ''I don't think tourists expect to be attacked when they come on holidays. If it wasn't for the tourists, the tuk-tuk drivers would have no jobs.
''I still don't understand why he chose to punch me rather than talk. That seems to me to be unnecessary violence for no good reason.''
Mr Anwar will fly to Hong Kong and Tokyo tomorrow. His wife is heading for New Delhi.
The accused driver, Tadsanarid Damtong, 33, was to be held in a cell at Kathu Police Station in Patong overnight after Governor Wichai Praisa-ngob intervened in the case and prohibited bail being permitted.
Natdanai Chaowana, a prominent tuk-tuk owner in Patong, told Phuketwan yesterday: ''In Patong, everybody knows that it's 200 baht just to start the engine of a tuk-tuk.''
When asked why the cost was so high, he added: ''Look at the economy of Phuket, everything is expensive here.''
Khun Natdanai said Khun Tadsanarid should be allowed bail ''because he is a Thai. Nobody knows yet who is right and who is wrong in this case. Let the court decide.
''In some cases people kill each other, and they are allowed bail.''
Khun Natdanai said Mr Anwar should have also been charged because the driver said Mr Anwar insulted him, and struck the first blow.
Khun Tadsanarid comes from Krabi, although tuk-tuk organisers on Phuket usually say only locals are employed as drivers.
Patong police chief Colonel Grissak Songmoonnark said that there were too many tuk-tuks on Phuket. He said there were about 500 in Patong alone, not including unregistered vehicles.
''Two hundred tuk-tuks would be enough for the whole island,'' he said.
''Problems arise because of the rivalry between the tuk-tuk groups, which means they often cannot make pick-ups so return trips are usually made empty.
''The return trip empty is built in to the price. It should be 150 baht to travel from Karon to Patong, but because the driver has to return empty, he charges 300 baht.''
The structure of village-based monopolies in the tuk-tuk trade needed to change, he said. Vehicles should be registered to go from zone to zone once the numbers are drastically reduced, he said.
The economic downturn should have reduced the number of drivers because fewer tourists are coming to Phuket, and they are spending less money.
Instead, the opposite has happened. There are many more drivers . . . and some of them charge excessively high fares because they sometimes only have one fare a day.
Phuketwan believes the times has come for Thailand's government to intervene to rationaise and modernise Phuket's outmoded transport system before serious damage is done to the tourism industry.
