Foreign Tourist in Phuket Forced out of Minivan Over Passenger Disputes Between Rival Drivers

[Rimmer]

A post in French has been removed as this is an English language only forum

[off road pat]

10 hours ago, harleyclarkey said:

A lone female tourist. Yeh, 4/5 tough guys 

Pity they didn't pick on a van full of US marines! 

Or a van half full of Russian Spetsnaz. !?!?

[bignok]

5 hours ago, DUNROAMIN said:

Phuket is fast becoming totally overrun by Mafia thugs.

Huh? Phuket is better now with more transport options.

[bignok]

3 hours ago, Mavideol said:

Welcome to LOS (Land Of Scams)... great advertising for TAT, with this type of scams by local transport mafia, am sure the tourist numbers will skyrocket  555

Phuket is packed with tourists every year except for covid.

 

You ever been there?

[bignok]

4 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Same thing happened at the airport a few months back. Whenever anyone I know tells me they are thinking of coming to Thailand I tell them to avoid Phuket.

Phuket is great if you know where to go. Lots of cheap hotels, great food. Some nice beaches.

 

I tell people to avoid Pattaya.

[bignok]

6 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I dont get this, How can Tourist be held responsable to check if a taxi is legal or not, this was posted on FB Im not sure if I can post the link on here,

 

Just a reminder that in addition to cracking down on illegal drivers, PLTO has also warned tourists about the consequences for them if they just jump into a taxi without properly checking if it is legal or not.

Can google it. Bolt is illegal but can still use it.

[digger70]

12 hours ago, KCPhuket said:

We hope it will change as Move Forward has stated this as a goal for Phuket. It has long been a sickening sore spot indeed.

That's all Pollies talk , Nothing/No one is going to stop the Van/Taxi Mafia .

[ben2talk]

22 hours ago, KCPhuket said:

We hope it will change as Move Forward has stated this as a goal for Phuket. It has long been a sickening sore spot indeed.

Surely the hidden hands made sure that elections won’t really challenge them - the wheel of power still grinds and prices still rise to further fund the elite dinosaurs. 

[superal]

22 hours ago, dddave said:

The comments here show many really do not understand the depth of the problem, not only in Phuket but in most Thai tourist areas.  It's not just the taxi and van drivers.  All the major hotels and resorts as well as other public facilities like the piers demand payments from the drivers who "work" their property.  The taxis who line-up at any particular hotel, pay that hotel (or the corrupt manager) fees of several thousand baht just to be allowed to pick-up passengers at that location.  In the instance of the OP, I'd be willing to bet the drivers were angry because they paid big baht to whoever controls the pier to have exclusive rights to pick-up passengers there.

This is why it's not just a problem of the "Taxi Mafia", it's the entire network of systematic profiteering from every aspect of the tourism business in Phuket.  

You are correct and the same type of system works around the world ,i.e. A cab company or consortium will put in a bid to the facility to allow and licence only their taxis to park and ploy their trade . A non member taxi can drop off at the premises but cannot pick up .  

In this particular case , why did the woman not use the authorised taxis ?

[Skeptic7]

On 6/5/2023 at 9:15 AM, ChipButty said:

I dont get this, How can Tourist be held responsable to check if a taxi is legal or not, this was posted on FB Im not sure if I can post the link on here,

 

Just a reminder that in addition to cracking down on illegal drivers, PLTO has also warned tourists about the consequences for them if they just jump into a taxi without properly checking if it is legal or not.

Yup...Land of no accountability. Greed with finger pointing and victim blaming the M.O. here. 

[steevjee]

On 6/5/2023 at 4:27 AM, harleyclarkey said:

Great image for Phuket. 

A load of thugs that act with total impunity. This points to a large pay off to those in charge for protection.  

Rotten to the core and nobody is doing a darn thing about it. 

The Royal Thai Police, who is the ultimate boss?

[steevjee]

22 hours ago, bignok said:

Can google it. Bolt is illegal but can still use it.

Wrong, must be an old Google reference

[Peabody]

On 6/5/2023 at 4:28 AM, harleyclarkey said:

A lone female tourist. Yeh, 4/5 tough guys 

Pity they didn't pick on a van full of US marines! 

Last time they did that the Marines did not engage

[Andre0720]

Buddhism???

[harleyclarkey]

1 hour ago, Peabody said:

Last time they did that the Marines did not engage

You're right Peabody....they don't engage because they are warned not to .....plus they would be courtmarshelled.