The driver pulled over and had the two Russian tourists, both women, get out of the van on the bypass road at about 12:40pm yesterday (Oct 3).
What the van driver did not realise was that he had abandoned the tourists right in front of the offices of Somchart Techathavorncharoen, the Member of the House of Representatives, representing Phuket District 1.
Mr Somchart explained that his team provided assistance to the two women, and informed police of their predicament.
Police soon tracked down the van driver, a 31-year-old man named in Phuket City Traffic Police report only as “Mr A”, and brought him in for questioning.
The van driver admitted that he had picked up his two passengers from the Laguna area in Cherng Talay and was to drop them off at the Central Festival shopping mall.
However, Phuket City Police has set up a traffic checkpoint in front of the Keehin outlet on the bypass road. He stopped the van about 400 metres before the checkpoint and had the two women exit the vehicle as he did not want to risk being checked by the police.
Officers later confirmed that the road tax on the van had not been paid.
“Police officers have issued a fine of 5,000 baht and are coordinating with the Provincial Transport Office to summon this taxi driver for further punishment,” Mr Somchart confirmed through a post on his official Facebook page.
The post was marked by the hashtag: #กาก้าวไกลประเทศไทยไม่เหมือนเดิม “(As we advance further, Thailand is not the same as before).