This is the full report after the taxi driver fight in the soi last Friday night. Our maid (aka the gossip central) knew which of my neighbours was involved, and I spoke to him.
Farang XYZ had been to a bar in Silom and hailed a taxi on the street to go to The Mansion. He was in the company of another foreigner. The farang had a few beers, he says.
Upon entering the taxi the farang told the driver the way to The Mansion, where he should turn, what soi etc. The taxi driver didn’t like this and complained that the farang should not instruct him about where to go. The farang thought this was rude and the two argued in Thai.
After a couple of minutes of this the farang told the driver to stop, as he wanted to get out. By then they were at the 7-Eleven in our soi. The farang threw 40 baht at the driver. The meter showed less than this. The driver started cursing the farang in Thai. The farang told the driver to step out of the car, and the two exchanged a few punches on the pavement.
The collection of shady Thai men who often stand outside the 7-Eleven at night began shouting at the taxi driver that he should get lost. The driver went to his car and drove off.
A bystander had noticed the licence number of the taxi, but the farang involved in the fight said the matter wasn’t worth pursuing.
When going home the farang noticed he was bleeding, and discovered he that had been stabbed in the arm by a sharp metal object. He had not seen this weapon, which must have been hidden in the driver’s hand. He thinks it could have been a small knife or a box cutter. This wound was near his watch and required nine stitches at the hospital. He also found a hole in the shirt showing that the driver had hit his abdomen, but this stab had not penetrated the skin.
The farang says the dispute was about nothing really, but (and I agree with him) that keeping cool in such a situation is easier said than done. It develops quickly.
The farang says this is the first time in many years living in Thailand that he has been attacked with a knife or knife-like object, and that before the argument developed he spoke politely to the driver like he has spoken to thousands of them before.
I would like to add that once the usual Thai self-control and poker face calmness is gone a fight can escalate to the use of weapons (as it did here) or even murder without apparent reason. Once they pop you never know where they stop.
September 18th, 2006 at 8:36 pm
I agree about the Thai “hot” temper and you do indeed have to be careful. Once I was with my Thai bf in a beer garden in Big C, North Pattaya, and there were 4 Thai young men (20″s) sitting nearby. Suddenly without any warning a fight erupted where they picked up the heavy wooden chairs to use as weapons. They eventually ran away, only to return 10 minutes later for their shirts and waiing everyone for their disturbance.
September 18th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
…’The concept of a controlled, low-level fistfight to settle a score is also something you can ’t expect in Thailand’. Whauw, didn’t know that! Are there better places to go to fight with taxi drivers? Tell me, and I move from here (please don’t mention Amsterdam).
…’only to return 10 minutes later for their shirts and waiing everyone for their disturbance’.
Better stay here, I love them!:-)