PHUKET: A Swiss man who recently made headlines by allegedly kicking a woman doctor on a beach was fined on Thursday over an incident of road rage against an ambulance driver in December 2023.
Urs Fehr aka David, 45, was fined 1,000 baht for defamation and 4,000 baht for reckless and dangerous driving at Thalang police station. Simultaneously ambulance driver Wibul Horbut was fined 1,000 baht for defamation.
On the occasion, Mr Fehr apologised and gave a bouquet to the ambulance driver.
The road rage happened on Thepkasattri Road in Thalang district at 8.21pm on Dec 25, 2023, when Mr Fehr – reportedly while driving his brand-new Audi sports-utility vehicle – cut off the ambulance, lowered his window, raised his middle finger and cursed.
The ambulance driver cursed back and posted a video clip of the incident online. On Dec 29, he learned that the Swiss man had filed a computer crime complaint about the post at Choeng Thalay police station. The complaint was withdrawn recently.
After being fined, Mr Fehr was brought by immigration police to undergo a process to revoke his business visa that was set to expire on March 13.
The Immigration Bureau decided to revoke the visa after Mr Fehr was charged with physical assault against a woman doctor. He allegedly kicked the woman while she and a friend were watching a full moon while sitting on beach steps in front of his rented villa on Feb 24 – steps he believed belonged to him, but that have since been demolished because they were built on public land.