Social media flared up yesterday after a clip went viral of a famous TV host punching a motorcycle driver on a Bangkok street, trying to force him to perform an apologetic wai to his car after a slight crash.
Akanat: Slapped motorcycle driver
The video clip, uploaded on "Yak Dung Diew Jud Hai V.4" Facebook page, shows a man in white shirt and black trousers walking across the street, grabbing the collar of a motorcycle driver, and dragging him to his yellow Mini Cooper which was parked opposite.
The man in the white shirt scolded the motorcycle driver for grazing his vehicle which resulted in some scratches to his Mini Cooper. He also punched the motorcycle driver in the face twice while a witness nearby yelled that he should file a complaint with police instead of going on the attack.
The car owner then yelled at the motorcycle driver to "krab rot ku" (perform a krab to my car) and the victim then performed a wai to the Mini Cooper. GMM Grammy, a major media and entertainment company, confirmed yesterday the attacker in the clip was Akanat "Nott" Ariyaritwikul, a TV programme host with the company.
The incident happened on Friday in Yannawa. A Facebook user who claimed to be a relative of the motorcycle driver said the victim's nose was broken from the attack while the car's only damage was a broken tail light.
Phongsak Sapla-or, Yannawa police chief, said the conflicting parties settled the same day without lodging any complaint. The car owner did not claim compensation while the motorcycle driver did not complain about being attacked.