Barry, from England but who has lived in Phuket for seven and a half years, spoke to The Phuket News today about the July 21 incident, which started near Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town, around 10pm.
Barry said he was waiting at the traffic lights on Mae Luan road, near Phuket Thai Hua School, when a white minivan stopped behind him very close.
“He was so close behind I couldn’t see the headlights, he was millimetres behind. But I didn’t think much of it at the time.”
The traffic lights went green and both Barry and the minivan driver drove up to the traffic lights outside Surakul Stadium, which were red.
The minivan driver was on Barry’s left, and Barry looked across and mouthed “you were too close,” to the driver, and indicated how close with his thumb and forefinger.
This triggered a reaction from the driver, who then reached into his jacket and Barry saw the butt of a handgun being pulled out of the man’s jacket.
Barry stepped on the gas, and ran the red light, eager to get away: “I had no choice, if we had sat there he would have shot us. I saw that butt coming out and I was gone. I was in a vulnerable position – he was inches away and my instinct took over.”
Barry’s girlfriend was in the passenger seat and was “terrified”, he said.
Barry then turned left at the Central Festival intersection, heading toward Chalong, trying to get away from the man. He drove until he nearly reached the intersection near the Naka Weekend Market.
The minivan drove up alongside on Barry’s right side, and Barry was able to edge the driver over the median line. When the oncoming traffic started, the minivan driver had no choice but to move ahead of Barry, and he then sped off.
While Barry acknowledges his gesture at the Surakul Stadium intersection might have been the trigger for the road rage incident, he said he would do the same thing again.
“I felt he was driving so close and it was very dangerous.”
Barry hasn’t gone to the police as he didn’t get the licence plate number of the vehicle, and the white minivan had no identifying characteristics. However he did say he thinks he could easily identify the driver if he came across him again.
While the incident felt like it took a long time, Barry says the whole thing was over in a few minutes.
“I’ve been here seven and a half years and I’ve never had a situation like this before. Carrying a gun in a car like that is clearly illegal.”
Barry said his girlfriend was “petrified” because she was right by the driver and his gun.
“She was scared and I was acting on adrenalin. The fact that he had a gun – you can’t second guess whether it’s a replica or if he’s going to shoot you. You just get out of the way.”
In February this year, a young Phuket mother spoke about the terrifying moment when a tourist bus driver apparently succumbed to road rage near Central Festival and pointed a pistol at her head while her young son was sitting next to her in the car.
The driver was later arrested and the case is currently before the Phuket Provincial Court.
Barry said his experience and incidents such as the one at Central Festival give Thailand a bad image, but that, “These people are not representative of the majority of Thais who are so nice and helpful.”