Shocking footage shows the moment six shopping mall security guards attacked a taxi driver - who tried to illegally overcharge passengers.

The cabbie was waiting outside the bustling Terminal 21 building in central Bangkok, Thailand, when he repeatedly refused to accept customers using the legally-required metre - a common scam targeting tourists.

Security guards received a complaint about the driver and confronted him - before a mass brawl erupted on Wednesday afternoon at 4pm. The driver in blue shirt fought back as the workers punched, kicked and hit him with poles.

Police investigated and the taxi driver, Khettikun Rattana, and one of the security guards, Montri Sitabian, were arrested and each fined 500 Thai Baht.

The operators of the shopping mall said in a statement that the security guards in the video had been sub-contracted by an external company.

They said: ''The incident happened on Wednesday at 4pm after a taxi driver did not accept passengers, which is a contravention of our rules. Taxis that collect passengers from the shopping area must use a metre. Security guards asked the taxi driver to leave the area to allow other taxis to collect passengers. The driver then walked out of his vehicle and started the fight by assaulting the guard. Terminal 21 has started an investigation and we have asked the security company that hires the guards to discipline them according to our rules.''

Police from the Thong Lor district police station covering the area said that the two men had been charged with ''fighting in public''.