PATTAYA — Pattaya City Police and Tourist Police helped resolve a dispute between Mr. Prajuab Yumekha, a 54-year-old taxi driver, and Mr. Matthew, a 34-year-old tourist from Northern Ireland, on the afternoon of July 15.
The incident began when Prajuab filed a complaint claiming that the tourist refused to pay the full fare for a ride from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Pattaya at 1:30 a.m., and instead offered a large packet of cannabis as payment.
According to Prajuab’s complaint, when he arrived at the hotel to drop off the tourist, the passenger said he only had 900 baht while his wife had only 50 baht. When Prajuab asked for the remaining 1,050 baht, the passenger claimed he had no money and then pulled out a large packet of cannabis, offering it as compensation instead of cash.
Prajuab refused and said he would file a police report. The foreign man expressed his displeasure and immediately fled up to the hotel building with his wife.
“I’ve helped passengers who didn’t have money before because I felt sorry for them, but encountering this really made me feel discouraged. Usually, we only see news about taxi drivers harming foreigners, but in real life, I’m faced with foreigners who take advantage like this. Who will help us?” Prajuab said.
Matthew, who was summoned to Pattaya City Police Station later in the afternoon, explained that he didn’t have enough cash and tried to get the driver to take him to an ATM, but was unsuccessful. Regarding the cannabis, he said he was merely talking to a friend and had no intention of using it as payment for the taxi fare.
Matthew subsequently agreed to pay the 2,000 baht fare as previously agreed upon. Both parties then went their separate ways without any legal proceedings.
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