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TikTok “SOS” Hand Gesture Saves Taxi Cab Driver
A taxi cab driver, who feared for his personal safety, used the “SOS” hand gesture he learned from TikTok to call the police after noticing his passenger was carrying a gun and seemed to be high on drugs.
Mr. Tanongsak Liangsa, 49, told police that the passenger, 23, hailed his taxi cab in Bangkok’s Mo Chit area.
After telling the driver he wanted to be dropped off in Phetkasem, the passenger changed his destination several times. The taxi driver said he seemed high on drugs.
The passenger told Mr. Tanongsak that he was initially a police officer before claiming he’d run away from home.
The driver noticed the passenger had crystal meth in his possession during the drive. Upon reaching Ban Chang in Rayong, the man suddenly pulled out a handgun and then handcuffed himself.
Mr. Tanongsak kept driving as ordered out of fear, then fooled the passenger into thinking he needed to go to a toilet at the petrol station.
The driver then set his GPS to the Ban Bueng police station in Chon Buri. When he arrived, he made the hand gesture he learned from TikTok.
The police officers rushed to the taxi cab, rescued the driver, and arrested the passenger.
Among the man’s possessions were a BB gun, a pocketknife, handcuffs, four mobile phones, a flashlight, a wristwatch, and two leather bags. He was later found to have traces of narcotics in his urine.
Mr. Tanongsak said the police gave him Bt300 to cover his fuel expenses back to Bangkok.