BANGKOK TAXI DRIVER HACKS AMERICAN TO DEATH OVER $1.60 FARE

Chidchai Utmacha, right, a Thai taxi driver shows how he stabbed an American passenger, Troy Lee Pilkington, during a police re-enactment in Bangkok, Thailand. Thai police announced Monday that they have arrested Chidchai accused of stabbing Pilkington to death in an argument over a fare worth less than $2.

A Bangkok taxi driver accused of using a samurai sword to hack an American man to death over $1.60 fare has been arrested and charged with murder.
Dramatic CCTV footage shows Chidchai Utmacha, 32, brandishing a 12-inch machete as he fights with 51-year-old Troy Lee Pilkington. 
 
The driver has now confessed to pulling the bladed weapon from the trunk of his car before hacking Mr Pilkington to death.

Utmacha can be seen fleeing the scene holding the sword. 
 
The CCTV also shows him re-enacting the alleged attack for the police. 
 
Local media say Utmacha chased after Mr Pilkington when he refused to pay his taxi fare on the Thai capital’s Sukhumvit Road on Saturday. 
 
Utmacha told police Mr Pilkington accused him of rigging the taxi’s meter before storming out while they sat in traffic.

He also claimed the American threw a cup of coffee at him after he demanded the money. 
 
Police Lt Col Teerayut Maiplaeng said Mr Pilkington worked for the machinery company Caterpillar and had lived in Thailand for at least three years. 
 
They were able to identify Utmacha from the CCTV and arrested him yesterday. 
 
He has been charged with murder and carrying a weapon in public without reasonable cause.