PHUKET: An official report on the ongoing saga of the van driver from Krabi who verbally abused a 35-year-old tourist from Singapore on Sunday (July 2) has confirmed that the initial dispute was over the driver refusing to drop the tourist at his hotel without receiving an extra B100.
A report posted by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket) last night explained that the issue began when the van driver, Poramet Soraket, 47, had refused to drop off Mr Faris at the Grand Supicha City Hotel on Narisorn Rd.
Poramet said he would make the extra journey ‒ of some 1.6 kilometres, including the required circular route required by the one-way streets in Phuket Town ‒ for an extra B100.
Mr Faris did not agree, leading to Poramet having Mr Faris exit the van in front of the coffee shop on Ratsada Rd.
Also according to the PR Phuket report, Mr Faris noted in his formal complaint to police that Poramet did not unload Mr Faris’s suitcases “heavily”. He dumped them on the ground.
The PR Phuket report also noted that in his complaint to police Mr Faris explained that Poramet started yelling angrily and picked up what looked like an iron bar.
With his right hand holding the implement behind his back, Poramet raised his left hand swiftly as if to strike Mr Faris, but he did not make contact with the tourist, who had ducked away. It was then that a person came out from the coffee shop and told Poramet to leave, the report said.
The report by PR Phuket supported the version given by police, that Poramet did not use an iron bar to intimidate Mr Faris. Officers standing in front of Phuket City Police Station instead held up a small engine hose made of rubber as the item in dispute.
Phuket Provincial Police last night also posted their own report of the incident.
Poramet presented himself at Phuket City Police Station yesterday, where he was charged with “frightening a person by use of threat” (enacting intimidation).
Phuket City Police Chief Pol Col Pratuang Pholmana yesterday confirmed that Poramet was to be presented in court yesterday. However, so far no officials have confirmed what punishment, if any, Poramet has been handed down for his behaviour.
Of note, by police instruction, reporters yesterday were not permitted to take any photographs of Poramet while he was at the police station.
However, the report posted by Phuket Provincial Police last night showed the tourist’s face unobscured. Police also posted the video of the incident that was posted online, sparking the action by police.
Police in their report confirmed the tourist’s name as Mr Faris Bin Abdlukadir Basharahil, from Singapore ‒ marking the first report to confirm the spelling of the tourist’s name in Roman characters.
So far no official source has named the transport company that Poramet works for ‒ despite questioning all the parties and the name of the company appearing plainly on the side of the van as seen in the video.
The Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO), which by its stated mission is to regulate all “public service” vehicles and their drivers in Phuket, still has yet to make any comment on the incident.
Unlike many previous incidents involving tourists, leading provincial officials and tourism figures also have yet to publicly comment on the incident’s impact on Phuket’s tourism image.
Not mentioned in any official reports so far was that while the incident continued on the footpath in Phuket Town, other passengers were still sitting in the van, witnessing the events unfold.
