Bangkok Taxi Operators Propose Fare Reduction

[george]

Taxi operators propose fare reduction

BANGKOK: -- Thailand’s taxi operators have suggested that minimum fares be reduced in order to increase the use of taxis.

The taxi men believe this would encourage passengers to use taxis to get to public transportation during the current oil price crisis.

The minimum fare should be lowered to 25 baht for the first two kilometres, instead of the current 35 baht, the president of taxi-metre driver club, Kitti Homrosukon told TNA on Thursday.

Taxi fares are controlled by the government, and any change will have to be agreed by the parliament.

Mr. Kitti said reducing the minimum fare would not affect the taxi drivers' income if the fare rate for three to ten kilometers remains at 5.00 baht per kilometre, and from 11 to 20 kilometers at 5.50 baht per kilometre.

With this rate, the total cost for a twenty kilometre trip would be 120 baht -- the same amount for twenty kilometres with a metered taxi and a flag fall rate of 35 baht.

Mr. Kitti dismissed suggestions by some taxi operators that the flag fall rate should be increased.

He said any increase in the taxi’s minimum fare would encourage commuters to shun taxis.

The government should promote the use of taxis, especially among Bangkok residents, Mr. Kitti suggested, and encourage them to use taxis to get to public transport, like the sky train and the subway in order to save on the petrol costs of personal cars.

Mr. Kitti urged the Department of Transport to postpone the registration of new metre taxis till 2007, as there is already 70,000 taxis in Bangkok and the surrounding areas now.

If the number of taxis increases faster than the number of passengers, then taxis without passengers on the country’s roads will cause an enormous waste of energy, said Mr. Kitti.

--TNA 2004-08-20

[Up2U]

And follow Singapore in charging private motorists for using their cars within certain areas.

The rainy season is now here and you can sit in a car for an hour, watching the same dozen people, each alone in a car, waiting for the traffic to move 5 metres. Get some of the private cars off the road and even the rainy season may allow movement around the city and business to prosper.

[meadish_sweetball]

Up2them.

[Martin]

Yes, Up2U.

Whatever people feel like about other aspects of life in Singapore (and maybe we should start a thread comparing Geylang and Pat Porn!!!), everybody has to admit that Singapore is showing the world how to keep people and goods moving in a city.

One part of that is the making of private car users pay the costs of the disruption they cause.

Another part is having a really efficient taxi and bus system feeding the Mass Rapid Transit (which is a combination of Sky Train and Subway).

The suggestion of 25 baht at 'fall of the flag' looks like a move in the right direction.

[Insight]

It can't be....

No, it is...

Nah, seriously not..

Nope, my god, it is! The voice of reason!!!

[sprq]

Agree with all of the above. I would take a lot more short taxi trips if the fare began at 25 baht, and the poor taxi driver would gain overall. Having experienced the rip-off artists of the 80s and early 90s, who would regularly insist on 150 baht fares for 8km rides in the rush hour or the rain, or other times if they could get away with it, I sympathise with all these guys who now have to accept a low regulated fare structure fixed ten years ago.

Now I switch to English teacher mode (British): the machine is spelled 'meter'; the distance is spelled 'metre'; the vehicle is a meter taxi, not a taxi-meter; the machine inside is the taxi-meter. Few will take any notice of this, most journalists will carry on cocking the whole terminology up, but I feel better for saying it.

[Martin_F]

Unfortunately, there is one problem with the transport system in BKK at the moment and that is the number of lines.

It is great if you live on Sukhumvit Road (upto Onnut), but the majority of residents don't and the public bus net work is just not satisfactory.

Although, it would be interesting if for one day eveybody used public transport and see if travel times improved. It would of course be impossible becasue of the amount of public services required.

[Dickie]

In London people are charged £5 to drive into the city. When that was implemented the number of cars dropped dramatically freeing up roads to a degree, though with the amount of traffic you may not have thought it. Just reducing taxi fares won't, I think, switch people from driving their own cars. My opinion, of course.

[madmitch]

It makes a change from the usual Thai way of increasing prices to increase profitabiity. A couple of other suggestions:

If the meters need to be reset for the new fares, this would be an opportunity to check the serviceability of the taxis. Many are too old and should not be used as public transortation vehicles. Still, a few baht in the right direction would almost certainly keep some of these on the road regardless.

Secondly how about reissuing the taxi drivers' licences complete with up to date photograph? Some of the photos are ancient and many are certainly not photos of the drivers in the taxis. I note that the new ones have English as well as Thai. This would IMHO be a significant factor in improving personal safety.

Only a thought but doing more than one thing at once? Doubtful that this would be viable.

[jimbim]

Now I switch to English teacher mode (British): the machine is spelled 'meter'; the distance is spelled 'metre'; the vehicle is a meter taxi, not a taxi-meter; the machine inside is the taxi-meter. Few will take any notice of this, most journalists will carry on cocking the whole terminology up, but I feel better for saying it.

Since we are on the subjects of rudeness and anal retentiveness, do they instruct English teachers (British) to always hyphenate the words taxi meter, thus creating an adjective where a noun should be?

[thaihome]

the vehicle is a meter taxi, not a taxi-meter;

Wouldn't the vehicle be a "metered taxi"?

TH

[zigeuner]

Since we are on the subjects of rudeness and anal retentiveness, do they instruct English teachers (British) to always hyphenate the words taxi meter, thus creating an adjective where a noun should be?

Hyphens in this case are now commonly accepted. A good discussion of this can be found in "Eats, shoots and leaves" by Lynda Truss.

[RDN]

It can't be....

No, it is...

Nah, seriously not..

Nope, my god, it is! The voice of reason!!!

Not so much "reason" as "Western thinking": reduce the price to attract the customers. Well done Mr. Kitti !

But I don't think Mr. Kitti's arithmetic is too good when he says "reducing the minimum fare would not affect the taxi drivers' income if the fare rate for three to ten kilometers remains at 5.00 baht per kilometre, and from 11 to 20 kilometers at 5.50 baht per kilometre." It's too early for me to do the maths, but surely this is wrong .

Perhaps Mr. Kitti could encourage some taxi drivers to come and work here in Phuket. We'll let them charge 50 baht minimum! And I'm sure only a few of them will be beaten up and killed before the police and politicians here are forced to do something about the mafia-run tuk-tuks. How we envy Bangkok's taxis

[sprq]

Now I switch to English teacher mode (British): the machine is spelled 'meter'; the distance is spelled 'metre'; the vehicle is a meter taxi, not a taxi-meter; the machine inside is the taxi-meter. Few will take any notice of this, most journalists will carry on cocking the whole terminology up, but I feel better for saying it.

Since we are on the subjects of rudeness and anal retentiveness, do they instruct English teachers (British) to always hyphenate the words taxi meter, thus creating an adjective where a noun should be?

Gibberish!

[Khun Larry]

It is great if you live on Sukhumvit Road (upto Onnut), but the majority of residents don't and the public bus net work is just not satisfactory.

The public bus system in BKK is good for commuters who ride the same bus every day.

Figuring out which bus to take on a one off trip is another matter.

[drbones666]

Gas prices go up, lower fares.

Fewer punters, raise beer prices.

Thai logic.

[zigeuner]

Alittle rider to my post yesterday. The book is of course by Lynne Truss not Lynda Truss.

Strangely enough whilst reading something else this morning I came across this peice regarding hyphens:

The American Hypen Society is a community-based, not-for-profit, grass-roots

conciousness-raising/education-research alliance that seeks to help

effectuate the across-the-board self-empowerment of wide-ranging culture-,

nationality-, ethnicity-, creed-, gender-, and sexual-orientation defined

identity groups by excising all multiculturally-less-than-sensitive

terminology from the English language, and replacing it with counter-

hegemonic, cruelty-, gender-, bias-, and, if necessary, content-free speech.

The society's motto is "It became necessary to destroy the language in order

to save it." Its headquarters are in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

[MadFrankie]

nice one, the drivers are going to be pleased with this. They look like there going to murder you if u dont tip them as it is

[eddieold]

/QUOTE]

Since we are on the subjects of rudeness and anal retentiveness, do they instruct English teachers (British) to always hyphenate the words taxi meter, thus creating an adjective where a noun should be?

To complete the English lesson, 'always to hyphenate' would avoid the dastardly split infinitive!

[Up2U]

Took a short trip down Silom the other day. The meter read 35 baht at the end.

So I offered the driver the fare. He said no, it's 48 baht. I asked How come?

He added the time taken (little figure top right of meter), distance travelled (little figure top left of meter) and fare. So 35 + 11 minutes + 2 kilometres = fare.

No further comment.