This is the shocking moment a violent taxi driver attacked a Norwegian tourist in Thailand.

Norwegian husband Egil Christian Andresen, 57, had hired the cabbie through the ride-hailing app Bolt for a one-mile ride in Phuket at around 5 am on December 30.

However, the pair had a row over the destination that escalated into a physical altercation.

CCTV footage shows the Thai driver grabbing a plastic floor sign with which he whacked Christian several times. The sign splintered from the force of the blows, leaving the Norwegian with cuts and bruises on his head and face.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Ekasak Kwanwan of the Karon district station said Christian arrived with his Thai wife Thanatphon Khongcharoen, 44, to file a report at around 7:39 am.

He said: 'On December 30th at approximately 05:05, Mr. Egil had called a car through the Bolt application to take him to his accommodation in Soi Patak 1, Tambon Karon, Amphoe Mueang, Phuket Province.

'However, the Bolt driver, whose license plate number is unknown, replied that he wanted him to go to Phuket Airport. So they had an argument. Mr. Egil asked to leave the car. Then the Bolt driver hit Mr. Egil with a plastic sign, causing abrasions on his face.'

The tourist said he had hired the cabbie because he was not in shape to drive himself.

He said: 'The Bolt taxi arrived. I go and sit in the back seat and the driver asked me right away which terminal I want to go to at the airport.  

‘And I said, no, I don't want to go to the airport because my destination was just five minutes away. And then he said, yes, you are going to the airport, and then I said, no, no way that's going to happen.  

‘So I understood that he would not change his opinion or whatever, so I decided to leave the car. I guessed I said inside the car something like, 'Fuck off,' and just went out.'

The taxi driver then followed him onto the street before attacking him.

Police said they were tracking down the suspect's whereabouts.

Unscrupulous taxi drivers are among the leading complaints of foreign tourists in Thailand. They have become known for inflating prices, taking them to non-existent attractions or even threatening some holidaymakers

Citing a 2022 quarterly survey, the Tourism Council of Thailand had said that visitors rated taxi services poorly.