Why Skytrain fare hike may end up wrecking Bangkok’s mass-transit success story

[webfact]

Why Skytrain fare hike may end up wrecking Bangkok’s mass-transit success story  

 

Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP

 

Bangkok commuters are crossing their fingers and hoping that the Central Administrative Court will stop the maximum BTS Skytrain fare being raised from Bt65 to Bt104 on February 16.

 

The BTS network currently runs for 68.25 kilometres via 59 stations in Bangkok and the neighbouring provinces of Samut Prakan and Pathum Thani.

 

MPs from Bhumjaithai Party, which is in charge of the Transport Ministry, have petitioned the Central Administrative Court for an injunction to stop the fare hike, after the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) threw its support behind the move. The government, meanwhile, looks unlikely to intervene in time.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/why-skytrain-fare-hike-may-end-up-wrecking-bangkoks-mass-transit-success-story/

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-02-08

 

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[chasboyuk]

Will TIT ever learn, if you want people to get out of their cars and use it, you got keep it worthwhile.

 

Especially as money is getting tighter for the average Thai. 

 

[laislica]

17 minutes ago, chasboyuk said:

Will TIT ever learn, if you want people to get out of their cars and use it, you got keep it worthwhile.

 

Especially as money is getting tighter for the average Thai. 

 

The trouble is that it is Fairy Gold.....
A totally free bus service was implemented in Nottingham UK in the distant past but it was scrapped because the local rate payers were angry that "Outsiders" also benefited at their expense....

There was a free park n ride too outside the city....

Follow the money, never mind the environment....
Just sayin.....

[miamiman123]

If we can’t get it from the farang’s….let’s hit up the locals ….

the Thais 

[SoilSpoil]

104 baht gets you quite a distance in a taxi. 

[tonray]

7 minutes ago, SoilSpoil said:

104 baht gets you quite a distance in a taxi. 

150 baht from Mochit BTS to Chaengwattana ...depending on traffic

[henry213]

Thailand will wreck everything, they're good at it "THE BEST" ????????????

[josephbloggs]

57 minutes ago, miamiman123 said:

If we can’t get it from the farang’s….let’s hit up the locals ….

the Thais 

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Andrew65]

1 hour ago, chasboyuk said:

Will TIT ever learn, if you want people to get out of their cars and use it, you got keep it worthwhile.

 

Especially as money is getting tighter for the average Thai. 

 

Not Thailand, but on the same subject. I recently had to travel the 100 miles (160 km) to London rtn recently. It cost around £90 on the train, all-up, probably could've done it for £70 by car.

[chasboyuk]

I know but this is meant to be local transport, encourage the public to use instead of the car.
Trains in the UK are shockingly expensive especially for the lack of service u get. 

[crickets]

Still less than half the price we pay in Australia

[schvonsky1]

12 minutes ago, chasboyuk said:

I know but this is meant to be local transport, encourage the public to use instead of the car.
Trains in the UK are shockingly expensive especially for the lack of service u get. 

Very very true England one big expense and poor quality of services 

[topt]

Not sure why posters are comparing it to overground train fares in the UK........

There is even a comparison in the linked article re costs compared to relative worker remuneration in other major cities in the world with metro type services. 

[Andrew65]

6 minutes ago, topt said:

Not sure why posters are comparing it to overground train fares in the UK........

There is even a comparison in the linked article re costs compared to relative worker remuneration in other major cities in the world with metro type services. 

When I was in Sinagpore about 11 years ago fares were about the same as in BKK, Singapore is way richer.

[AhFarangJa]

Several years ago my young Son used to love travelling on the Skytrain. We would get on at Nana, and travel to the end of the line and back a couple of times without leaving the station. Later, he was about 7 years old the three of us went on it to go to Central when the security said I had to buy a ticket for my Son as he was over the metre mark on the wall. From then on we had to pay 3 full fares and stand in overcrowded carriages. We started using taxis again, cheaper and more comfortable. 

[Naamblar2014]

36 minutes ago, crickets said:

Still less than half the price we pay in Australia

But is the minimum wage in Australia twice that of Thailand?  Minimum wage Thailand is about 313–336 baht. If Australians only earn minimum wage of 672 baht (about $30) per day then your comment is valid otherwise it's comparing apples with oranges.

Even on the dole (unemployment benefits)  they earn more than $30 a day but then get concessions on public transport.

Edited February 8, 2021 by Naamblar2014

[madmen]

3 minutes ago, Naamblar2014 said:

But is the minimum wage in Australia twice that of Thailand?  Minimum wage Thailand is about 313–336 baht. If Australians only earn minimum wage of 672 baht (about $30) per day then your comment is valid otherwise it's comparing apples with oranges.

Even on the dole (unemployment benefits)  they earn more than $30 a day but then get concessions on public transport.

Sky train users are not minimum wage. Your forgetting cost of living. I'm in Oz now and its through the rough 

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Why Skytrain fare hike may end up wrecking Bangkok’s mass-transit success story

Basically the "mass" of people needing transport are the workers on around 350 baht per day.

a return trip on BTS will take a huge chunk out of their daily wage, so they will stick to the buses on the road.

Bosses have the cars and don't give a stuff about BTS.

So the roads will remain as they are now, grid-locked at peak times,  pollution levels will match this, trains will operate half empty just about breaking even, when they should be packed solid with affordable ticket prices.

[Elkski]

105 baht each way.  210  That will be 25% of many workers daily wage.   I guess it's been so crowded they think they can raise fares.  So much for those who rent or bought a condo way out on the line. 

[Searat7]

Everyone has made some good points but the 65b fare was in place a long time...I think Mo Chit to Bearing ?   Wouldn’t future fares be agreed upon before big expansions of the line are undertaken ?  The government has some serious responsibility here.

[0815]

1 hour ago, crickets said:

Still less than half the price we pay in Australia

But as you wouldn't move your butt for only double of the wages of a Thai, your comment is BS !

[mogandave]

Let the people that ride it pay for it. 

 

Let the people that don’t want to pay for it take a taxi, ride a bus or walk. 

 

 

 

 

[metisdead]

A troll post has been removed. 

[tomazbodner]

Eventually the supply and demand rules would kick in. The higher the price, the fewer the consumers. And with that, the prices of land and residences further away from the city centre would start dropping as people would move closer to MRT rather than BTS. I'd say - let them raise it. They can raise it to 10,000 baht per 1 km, and still won't make any more revenue than now, virtually certainly far less than they do now despite higher fares.

[StevieAus]

1 hour ago, Andrew65 said:

When I was in Sinagpore about 11 years ago fares were about the same as in BKK, Singapore is way richer.

And way smaller

[Crossy]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

... after the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) threw its support behind the move ...

 

Note that the BMA actually SET the fare increase not BTSC.

 

With no government subsidy the revenue from the fare-box (plus all that advertising we love to hate) has to cover the cost of operating the trains (energy, wages, maintenance etc. etc.) plus service the, not inconsiderable, debt from the actual construction.

 

The BMA have already said that even with the increase they are going to be losing money on the deal (plus there's the tiny matter of the unpaid operating fees due to BTSC).

 

It's a fact of life that there are very few, unsubsidised, pure mass-transit operations that actually turn an overall profit. Hong Kong's MTR is an oft stated example, they make masses of $$$ from their property empire (much of it built on top of stations) which serves to subsidise the operation of the railway, without the property they would vanish up their own debt.

 

 

[shackleton]

If people are not happy with paying the cost then vote with their feet and use other modes of transport

Then maybe the people in charge of Skytrain will rethink their pricing 

[Patong2021]

I doubt that the small increase will impact ridership level. The cars are packed much of the day. BTS has never been the transit option for the  working poor. This is transit for the urban middle class and they have the money to pay, and the numbers top keep cars full.

2 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

104 baht gets you quite a distance in a taxi. 

Also gets you traffic jams with delays.

 

1 hour ago, Andrew65 said:

Not Thailand, but on the same subject. I recently had to travel the 100 miles (160 km) to London rtn recently. It cost around £90 on the train, all-up, probably could've done it for £70 by car.

Ok. And you factor in wear and tear and the cost of parking in London?  How much is parking in London now, assuming you can find a place? £6-10 and hour, isn't it? A few hours will set one back £25 easy. Add in the cost of time too because of London traffic congestion.

 

 

 

[VocalNeal]

47 minutes ago, Elkski said:

105 baht each way.  210  That will be 25% of many workers daily wage.   I guess it's been so crowded they think they can raise fares.  So much for those who rent or bought a condo way out on the line. 

 

It has been free from Bearing to Keha since 2018. Nine stations, about 12 kms. Commuters have been using this and got used to it and now they will have to pay extra.  

[Andrew65]

3 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

I doubt that the small increase will impact ridership level. The cars are packed much of the day. BTS has never been the transit option for the  working poor. This is transit for the urban middle class and they have the money to pay, and the numbers top keep cars full.

Also gets you traffic jams with delays.

 

Ok. And you factor in wear and tear and the cost of parking in London?  How much is parking in London now, assuming you can find a place? £6-10 and hour, isn't it? A few hours will set one back £25 easy. Add in the cost of time too because of London traffic congestion.

 

 

 

I factored in the cost of fuel, parking, and congestion charge, still cheaper than the train. Time wise, it took 8 hours, about the same as in the car, or even more. By car was cheaper than the train. If you go on the internet, you can get parking for £3-5 per hour.

They privatised the trains many years ago in the UK, train fares have been rising ever since. Forget all that BS about competition making things cheaper, it didn't here. With competition came the profit-motive.