[stevem]

Bangkok Taxi driver receives 10 years for injuring two foreigners

BANGKOK: -- A taxi driver was yesterday sentenced to 10 years in jail for seriously injuring two foreign tourists in a dispute last year.

The Criminal Court found Pairach Tang, 33, guilty of attempted murder and carrying a knife in a public place.

In August last year, Pairach picked up Canadian Mark Douglas Shargool and American Sean Strache from an entertainment place on Ratchadaphisek Road for their apartment in the Lat Phrao area.

The taxi driver said he got angry after discovering that one of the passengers, both of whom were intoxicated, dirtied the car by putting his shoes on the seat.

They had a scuffle during which Pairach attacked the tourists with a machete, blinding Strache in his right eye and making a long cut on Shargool's head.

The court said yesterday it was not convinced by the defendant's claim that the tourists had provoked the fight and that he acted in self-defence.

--The Nation 2004-09-18