On the evening of February 11, on the traditional Chinese New Year's Eve night in China, a tuk-tuk driver broke out in a parking clash with a car owner on the streets of Phnom Penh, triggering a shooting case that killed three people.
It is reported that the owner of the car began to park the car on the side of the road from noon on the same day. At about 8:30 p.m. that night, a tuk-tuk driver slammed his horn as he passed by and asked to drive the car away. However, the owner of the car thought that the tuk-tuk could pass through, so he did not move the car, resulting in a dispute between the two sides, but was dissuaded by the nearby people.
Subsequently, the tuk-tuk driver called 6 accomplices to retaliate, and in the confusion between the two sides, the tuk-tuk driver shot at each other three times with a gun, 3 people were shot, and 1 person was killed on the spot. On the way to the hospital, 2 people died of serious injuries.
According to another source, the owner of the car is suspected of beating the tuk-tuk driver first, but the owner of the car denies that he has been violent.
At present, the police have not arrested the murderer and his accomplices.
It is a pity that 3 lives have disappeared because of a conflict that has room for communication and resolution.
From this incident, it can be seen that in addition to the visible "tuk-tuk driver" on the road, there is actually an invisible "road rage".
The so-called "road rage", in simple terms, that is, in the process of driving, encountering unpleasant things, resulting in uncontrollable, aggressive behavior, and even leading to the tragedy of illegal crimes and car destruction.
It is not far-fetched to use "road rage" to explain the behavior of the above tuk-tuk driver.
Of course, the reasons behind the tuk-tuk drivers to pull out their guns and take their lives may be more complicated.
In Cambodia, tuk-tuk drivers are a special group, and it can even be said that their fate is in some way closely related to Chinese.
Attracted by the frenzied Westport economy of the past few years, thousands of Cambodian farmers in the provinces around Westport have poured out their families or taken out loans to buy a tuk-tuk to make a living.
Before the 818 Gambling Ban was issued, the Tuk-Tuk asked for $5. After the Westport economic bubble receded, their business plummeted, and the asking price fell to about $2.
During the epidemic, the number of tourists has dropped significantly, and the income of tuk-tuk drivers has shrunk by 70%, but they are still charged up to 15% of the commission by online ride-hailing platforms.
Forced by the double pressure of a large reduction in customer sources and the high fees charged by online ride-hailing platforms, many tuk-tuk drivers have had to resign and find another way out, and the tuk-tuk industry is facing a reshuffle.
It is understood that there are currently about 50,000 professional tuk-tuk drivers in Cambodia, but this number is declining, and some tuk-tuk drivers have switched careers to devote themselves to agriculture and construction.
A tuk-tuk driver in Phnom Penh confessed that he used to earn about $30 a day, but after the outbreak, he could only earn $10 a day. "A lot of my colleagues choose to sell their tuk-tuks and go back to their hometown to farm, but I don't want to do that because my family and friends are in Phnom Penh."
And some tuk-tuk drivers who choose to stick to the industry, forced by the pressure of survival, will pit passengers because of us dollars, asking for prices in the sky, and even wandering on the tip of the knife of illegal crimes.
In May 2020, many Chinese compatriots complained in the Cambodian single network APP about the problem of high-priced fares in a tuk-tuk, just waiting for a traffic light, the price was 5,000 riels (about 1.2 US dollars).
Another netizen said that in the evening from the Golden Circle Casino to return to the vicinity of Phnom Penh International Airport, the fare is 120,000 riels (about 30 US dollars), while the usual fare for this part of the journey is generally 20,000 riels (about 5 US dollars). In the end he paid $5, but the driver didn't accept it and kept arguing with him. He added another $10, a total of $15, before the driver let him go.
At 10:10 p.m. on February 7, 2021, a robbery occurred in Phnom Penh City, where a tuk-tuk driver stopped on the pretext of urinating, threatened female passengers with a knife, and demanded that her wallet be handed over with $210 in cash and some belongings. After arriving, the driver immediately drove the passengers out of the car and fled.
Tuk-tuk drivers are also ordinary workers, there are pits Chinese, and there is no shortage of helpers Chinese.
At about 2:40 a.m. on October 29, 2020, two Chinese were robbed of their mobile phones by the Biker Party while riding in a tuk-tuk.
Since Chinese passengers were playing with their mobile phones at the time, the tuk-tuk driver immediately raised his vigilance. Just as the Biker Party was about to win, the driver reached out and turned the head of one of the motorcycles, and then the motorcycle overturned, and one of the Biker Party members fell off the road, and the Biker Party's robbery plan failed.
In fact, tuk-tuk drivers are also at the bottom of society. Similar to KTV girls, they are not informal workers and have long been excluded from the National Social Security Fund.
They are people with guns, but they are also people who have been shot.
At about 12:30 a.m. on September 27, 2020, a shootout broke out in the section of the road near the Small Market on Independence Avenue in Westport, where an innocent tuk-tuk driver was shot and killed, surrounded by a pool of blood.
The ugliness of human nature does not make the difference between rich and poor, and "why is he doing this?" in cursing the tuk-tuk driver who drew his gun is a question worth pondering.
【Further reading】
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