Grab vs Red Song Thaews in Chiang Mai: War goes on

[webfact]

Grab vs Red Song Thaews in Chiang Mai: War goes on

 

Making adjustments

 

Thai PBS reported that the war between the public Red Song Thaews of Chiang Mai and Grab Car was continuing. 

 

On the one hand members of the public are finding Grab more convenient, personal and generally better value for money.

 

While the Red Bus drivers are complaining that their income has gone down the pan - by more than 50% in some cases. 

 

And now it has been revealed that hundreds of Grab Car drivers have been fined for violating pick-up regulations at Chiang Mai airport since the start of the year. 

 

The media spoke to several students about why they chose Grab. They said it was much better and provided a personal service often at only a small increased cost. 

 

It went to exactly where they went and was quicker than waiting for a Red Bus. 

 

One even claimed they had been dumped so that the Red Bus driver could pick up tourists - a more lucrative kind of passenger. 

 

Deputy of the Red Bus association Bunreuang Wangmee said his organisation represented 2,465 members.

 

 

While he admitted that some overcharged most kept to the 20 baht to 30 baht charges. He claimed that meant they were better value than Grab Car. 

 

He said that some of his members had seen their daily income plummet from 1,200 baht to 400-500 baht. 

 

The DLT and airport authorities meanwhile said that 344 Grab drivers had been fined for picking up passengers at Chiang Mai airport since January 1st. 

 

Thaivisa notes that the issue is one of old tech versus new tech with the Thai authorities still unable to come to terms with change in the modern era. 

 

Source: ThaiPBS

 

 

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[Woolsgibb60]

It was 2500 baht the other day they was making now 1200 baht

[Topdoc]

Like Airbnb, a foreign company has come along and grabbed market share. This is going to be very difficult for many here to accept. 

[sweatalot]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Grab vs Red Song Thaews in Chiang Mai: War goes on

The headline should be

Red Song Taews want war vs Grab

 

it is bad service vs good service

intransparency vs transparency

 

I understand it is difficult for  the red car drivers, lacking proper education and some of them service attitude and honesty

What they trie to do is robbing the public of good service which is not the answer - it's robbery

Edited May 22, 2019 by sweatalot

[cerox]

Whenever I have to go to the airport I use Grab (and public taxi on the way back). Grab is more expensive than a red truck - I do not want to be responsible for the pollution they create. So I refuse to take a "taxi" like this.

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Woolsgibb60 said:

It was 2500 baht the other day they was making now 1200 baht

But that was before I suggested the Thai income tax authorities were notified of their 'self confessed' incomes.

Edited May 22, 2019 by BritManToo

[alant]

Some of the Red buses drivers I have taken can't read maps never mind new tech.

Thailand 4.0

[worgeordie]

The Red Songthaews of Chiang Mai,the main reason Chiang Mai

will never have a reliable,cost effective,transport system that

will serve the population, if Chiang Mai ever tries to get a 

any kind of trolly,train system around the city,the Songthaew

mafia will do anything to prevent it .

regards worgeordie

[Broeno]

Sonthaew, city and gouvernement maffia against free market. Big problem for Thai.

 

[sanemax]

The red cars do come in handy , but they clog up the roads and cause lots of pollution , and they often needlessly drive around empty .

   The same goes for tuk-tuks , noisy polluting road cloggers

[legend49]

While he admitted that some overcharged most kept to the 20 baht to 30 baht charges. He claimed that meant they were better value than Grab Car.

 

Well dumb is dumber if you are better value why you losing business?

Also when Yinluck was swanning around as PM she visited CNX and promised to get the red vehicles off the road with a new tram system? Has anyone sighted the tram yet or maybe its stuck at the new international airport promised 20 years ago?????

[arithai12]

Red buses (and tuk tuks) often drive like they own the road and don't give a <deleted> about other drivers. They pollute like there's no tomorrow. If you are a naive tourist, they will try to cheat you more often than not. Exactly what kind of sympathy should I have for their reduced income?

 

[JimSaints]

Red car scum, spewing their bs and black smoke - don't use them

[Sparkles]

3 hours ago, worgeordie said:

The Red Songthaews of Chiang Mai,the main reason Chiang Mai

will never have a reliable,cost effective,transport system that

will serve the population, if Chiang Mai ever tries to get a 

any kind of trolly,train system around the city,the Songthaew

mafia will do anything to prevent it .

regards worgeordie

History confirms that ,very powerful group another reason you dont see motor cycle taxis in the city which are a simple and cheap way to get down narrow sois and avoid traffic.Used them all the time in Bangkok but the only ones you see here are well out of town

[Redline]

The pollution in Chiang Mai has deterred many tourists this year-that makes everything tighter as well-do the red truck drivers complain to the government about that?

Edited May 22, 2019 by Redline

[csmith]

Why no mention of the excellent public buses in Chiangmai … that even have their own App that tracks the buses in real-time.......

 

 

[malibukid]

i was dumped by a red truck driver when he spied a gaggle of Chinese.  some are drunks and surly. 

[malibukid]

always use the taxi stand at CNX, Grab for departure

[malibukid]

3 hours ago, worgeordie said:

The Red Songthaews of Chiang Mai,the main reason Chiang Mai

will never have a reliable,cost effective,transport system that

will serve the population, if Chiang Mai ever tries to get a 

any kind of trolly,train system around the city,the Songthaew

mafia will do anything to prevent it .

regards worgeordie

sabatoge?

Edited May 22, 2019 by malibukid

[Classic Ray]

There is a consultancy working for MRTA currently doing a feasibility study for the light rail/tram/BRT transport proposed in Chiang Mai.

 

I am sure they will comment on the dearth of clean, reliable, cheap transport options in CM. 

 

But I would not be surprised if the recommendation was to legalize Grab and similar ride sharing options instead and force the songtaews, tuk tuks and taxis to join in as Grab suppliers like the taxis have done in Bangkok.

 

You can have the best of both worlds.

[Lacessit]

Red songthaews from the Arcade bus station want 150 baht to go to Nong Hoi. I can choose a tuk-tuk for 120 baht, or an air-conditioned taxi for 200 baht. I suspect the drivers park their brains along with their vehicles, and assume farangs do too.

[searcher22]

1 hour ago, Sparkles said:

History confirms that ,very powerful group another reason you dont see motor cycle taxis in the city which are a simple and cheap way to get down narrow sois and avoid traffic.Used them all the time in Bangkok but the only ones you see here are well out of town

That's a real shame. A motorcycle taxi for short hops would prove very convenient for me in Chiang Mai.

[Hanuman2547]

When I was in Chiang Mai last December I used he red Songthaw a few times.  Slow, had to wait until they got more passengers, etc.  Since there were three of us it was much easier, quicker, and cheaper for the three of us to just use Grab taxi which we did about 90% of the time.

 

The Red bus songthawes are old from a bygone era.  Time to update their game and adapt to the more modern world.

[bangkok12345]

How can they compare two very different products? one is the red buses which cost just a few THB but have no air con, don’t exactly stop or pick you up from where you exactly want, it’s not the safest method of getting around and you have to share it with other people vs. a proper car that charges much more for a “refined” service that picks up customers from there want exactly and picks them up from an exact spot, too. It’s a much safer method of getting around and customers don’t have to share their vehicles but pay for that services a multiple of the red buses’ fare. It’s comparing apples to pears, why can’t both co-exist next to each other? Markets change and if the trend is going to be that private cars with safety standards are more in demand then the red buses’ drivers have to change with the markets. If they don’t want to or their circumstances don’t allow then they have to go into a different industry. Especially at the airport Grab cars should be allowed because for many tourists, e.g. with children elderly people or people who just wish to get around in a private car and pay a far higher premium then this should be possible. Change is gonna come....

[scorecard]

11 hours ago, sweatalot said:

The headline should be

Red Song Taews want war vs Grab

 

it is bad service vs good service

intransparency vs transparency

 

I understand it is difficult for  the red car drivers, lacking proper education and some of them service attitude and honesty

What they trie to do is robbing the public of good service which is not the answer - it's robbery

And the various CM and national gov't agencies have a responsibility to regularly up grade such service and keep them close to a benchmark standard. 

 

 

[Nowisee]

This topic AGAIN?

 

Get rid of tuk tuks.  Change to motorcycle taxi.  

Drop half of the red trucks inside the city, put them into a route system with single payment.  Add more mini buses inside the city and inside the inner ring road.  They already have a few, but difficult to flag one down or know their stops and schedule, they need the excellent ViaBus app. 

More big buses out side that are feeding into the inner ring road.  The current big buses do a great job in the city and kudos to the drivers for maneuvering them around.  

The key to success of mass public transport is clearly marked bus stops, routes and times.

Growing modern cities could not function with this CM set up.  
People want comfort and ease of use, they will use it more. 

 

 

 

 

[Sparkles]

I was told by a Thai friend that numbers of songteaws has also increased so obviously more vehicles to get a slice of the pie.

With tourism numbers seemingly down due to the foul air what do they expect ?

[AAArdvark]

15 hours ago, csmith said:

Why no mention of the excellent public buses in Chiangmai … that even have their own App that tracks the buses in real-time.......

 

 

I use the bus all the time.  However, I have used three different apps and find none of them are reliable.  The bus icons on the maps very often do not move or I have to close and reopen the app to get a decent idea of where the bus actually is.  The other issue is that some bus stops are a little hard to locate and the old bus stop signs from the previous bus system are still out there.  But all in all, I use the bus frequently with my Rabbit card.  I even use it to go to immigration although I don't think there is an official stop there.  I ask to be let off at immigration and on the way back I walk 5 minutes to the airport.

[Bassosa]

Looking at the age of the vehicles and drivers, songthaew's days may be numbered.

 

Can't wait...

[donnacha]

The red bus mafia damages the reputation of a generally decent city. I have come across several situations in which they blatantly rip off groups of Chinese or Koreans, particularly female groups. You can bet those stories travel back to their home countries, and carry more weight than all the millions spent advertising Amazing Thailand.

Grab has become more expensive over time, but the convenience and not having to haggle against farang prices still makes them better value overall.

For me, however, nothing beats Mobike, best way to get around Chiang Mai - except, obviously, during the smoky season, but no-one with options sticks around for that anyway.