Illegal taxi drivers in Patong threaten Phuket governor with mob action

[harrycallahan]

It's a real life South Park episode.

[eezergood]

“We do not have the money to make our cars meet the qualifications necessary to be legally registered as taxis. Our cars are too old and we cannot afford to sell them and take on new loans to buy new cars,” Mr Anan said.

“Also, we must have first-class insurance for our cars to be registered as taxis… We simply cannot afford it,” he added.

If you drive a wreck and can't afford insurance why should you be allowed to operate? What part of the rules don't you understand?

And so these guys will be able to afford a 1.5 million baht taxi if they work hard on the rice paddies for a year? Or maybe massaging farangs? Or driving baht busses, do tell me how the poorest people of Phuket can afford a 1.5 million baht Toyota Camry?

I dont think anyone is expecting that, BUT a fair price for a small journey coupled with basic safety & a degree of courtesy is hardly out of the question!

[steelepulse]

“We do not have the money to make our cars meet the qualifications necessary to be legally registered as taxis. Our cars are too old and we cannot afford to sell them and take on new loans to buy new cars,” Mr Anan said.

“Also, we must have first-class insurance for our cars to be registered as taxis… We simply cannot afford it,” he added.

If you drive a wreck and can't afford insurance why should you be allowed to operate? What part of the rules don't you understand?

And so these guys will be able to afford a 1.5 million baht taxi if they work hard on the rice paddies for a year? Or maybe massaging farangs? Or driving baht busses, do tell me how the poorest people of Phuket can afford a 1.5 million baht Toyota Camry?

Why do they need a taxi at all? Why don't they go and do other work if this line of work won't pay the bills? Of course these clowns have rung up big expenses and are living above their means, so for them the only way out is to be an illegal taxi driver without proper insurance and driving an old beater ( as the guy in the OP clearly states that their cars are old and they can't afford first class insurance ).

[IrishIvan]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang

[eezergood]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang

Ok i will bite - I have these complaints weekly from my guests!

For the record, I dont have a Honda dream! I have 2 bikes, 1 car & 1 bicycle

[CiaranO]

I have complaints daily from my guests - I drive a car btw

[LivinginKata]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang

I am a critic of the Tuk Tuk/taxi mafia and I drive a car. Why this need to insult the TV membership ?

[CiaranO]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang

I am a critic of the Tuk Tuk/taxi mafia and I drive a car. Why this need to insult the TV membership ?

maybe jealousy - Only can manage a suzuki

[stevenl]

There is something going on behind the scenes here. Last week the Kata-Karon legal taxis/tuktuks protesting against the illegal ones, even though they could easily get rid of them themselves, and now the illegal Patong ones protesting.

I just wish I knew what is happening exactly.

[Emdog]

I think we might agree that the problem there (and elsewhere) is that there is no rule of law that is above the various factions. The law is determined by whomever pays the most and/or makes the biggest ruckus. Chickens coming home to roost. The concept of law is beyond those governing other that useful in determining how much to squeezed out of the various groups.

"We do not have the money to make our cars meet the qualifications necessary to be legally registered as taxis. Our cars are too old and we cannot afford to sell them and take on new loans to buy new cars, Mr Anan said.

Also, we must have first-class insurance for our cars to be registered as taxis We simply cannot afford it, he added."

This is so dim witted and self serving that it is laughable, such a basic lack of understanding how real life economics works. Like so many said before, get a job somewhere else.

[Unkomoncents]

The tuk-tuk protest last week (story here) prompted a police crackdown on illegal taxi drivers across the island, explained Mr Anan.

“Police are arresting us and making sure we are ‘charged double’. We cannot afford to keep paying these fines,” Mr Anan said.

I would assume that this means there was a standard charge that was utilized by police in Phuket to enrich themselves, and they've recently doubled it (probably as a result of the fact that the local police yesterday recognized the decade old trend of the media poo-pooing Phuket's brazen corruption; someone in the department must have finally learned to read). This article is so sad. I want to blame the local taxi-drivers with third-grade literacy levels for their shenanigans but they're only watching their local police officers with even lower IQ quotients and less shame plunder the island for whatever their lazy, ignorant brown tushes can exact from it. Thailand is rotten from the root to the leaf. What a sorry situation for a country that likes to think of itself as the world preeminent tourist destination. If the illegal taxi drivers are complaining that the local law enforcement is unfairly collecting higher bribes, you know you should just shake your head and move on the greener pastures. Phuket's administrators and police officers wouldn't be able to distinguish a moral action from an adult stealing an infant's lollipop. I've heard of marine mammals with a greater sense of moral duty than the whole of Thai society on the island of Ph(f)uket!

Edited July 3, 2013 by Unkomoncents

[steelepulse]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang.

I don't see the correlation between your statement and the headline which is " Illegal taxi drivers in Patong threaten Phuket governor with mob action". How does illegal taxi drivers threatening mob action correlate to tourists complaining about prices?

[retell]

Why didn't these illegal taxi drivers take the opportunity to become legal when it was offered in February this year and then extended until April, surely that was time enough. l

Simple answer there - they think they are above the law and simple regulations like having insurance and a decent clean car

first insurance on an "old" car they usually dont give if over 10 years

[lostmebike]

'Illegal taxi drivers in Patong threaten Phuket governor with mob action'

Why the shock or surprise at the statement? If the red, clown-government currently get away with mob behaviour then the rest of the country will follow like lemmings!

Just bomb Phuket and be done with it! Make sure some of those ex-pats are there for it too!

[klauskunkel]

hmmmm so you wanna be a taxi driver but you cant afford the costs required to be one.....

suggestion - get another job........

yes! They can all become....Ladyboys! (for all I care)

Edited July 3, 2013 by klauskunkel

[stevenl]

The tuk-tuk protest last week (story here) prompted a police crackdown on illegal taxi drivers across the island, explained Mr Anan.

“Police are arresting us and making sure we are ‘charged double’. We cannot afford to keep paying these fines,” Mr Anan said.

I would assume that this means there was a standard charge that was utilized by police in Phuket to enrich themselves, and they've recently doubled it (probably as a result of the fact that the local police yesterday recognized the decade old trend of the media poo-pooing Phuket's brazen corruption; someone in the department must have finally learned to read). This article is so sad. I want to blame the local taxi-drivers with third-grade literacy levels for their shenanigans but they're only watching their local police officers with even lower IQ quotients and less shame plunder the island for whatever their lazy, ignorant brown tushes can exact from it. Thailand is rotten from the root to the leaf. What a sorry situation for a country that likes to think of itself as the world preeminent tourist destination. If the illegal taxi drivers are complaining that the local law enforcement is unfairly collecting higher bribes, you know you should just shake your head and move on the greener pastures. Phuket's administrators and police officers wouldn't be able to distinguish a moral action from an adult stealing an infant's lollipop. I've heard of marine mammals with a greater sense of moral duty than the whole of Thai society on the island of Ph(f)uket!

No, it just means they are charged twice: once to be a part of the Patong taxi/tuktuk organisation and get a stand place, and a second time by the police because they are illegal.

[jpeg]

This thread is hilarious. Here we have a bunch of irate posters getting all worked up about the illegality or otherwise, of ANYTHING here, constantly complaining about the lack of enforcement of what passes for the 'Law', ergo, lack of enforcement/corruption/complicity on the one hand, whilst singling out taxi drivers, of whatsoever ilk, on the other? They all charge the same (give or take a few baht) extortionate fare, so what's the difference?

Edited July 3, 2013 by jpeg

[lostmebike]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang

I am a critic of the Tuk Tuk/taxi mafia and I drive a car. Why this need to insult the TV membership ?

Maybe you should ask your little ex-pat gang down there.

[stevenl]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang

I am a critic of the Tuk Tuk/taxi mafia and I drive a car. Why this need to insult the TV membership ?

Maybe you should ask your little ex-pat gang down there.

Isn't that just what he is doing?

[mervyn yap]

They can go to the temple and become monks.

[eezergood]

They can clean the streets

[lostmebike]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang

I am a critic of the Tuk Tuk/taxi mafia and I drive a car. Why this need to insult the TV membership ?

Maybe you should ask your little ex-pat gang down there.

Isn't that just what he is doing?

'DON'T FEED THE TROLL'

[IrishIvan]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang

I am a critic of the Tuk Tuk/taxi mafia and I drive a car. Why this need to insult the TV membership ?

As opposed to insulting the locals just trying to earn a living?

[sausageandmash]

The honda dream elitists are out in force again this morning, I thought it was a basic human right to protest if your unhappy. I applaud these guys bravery for bringing it to the attention of the governor, they are trying to get legal and abide by the law. At least they arent faceless keyboard warriors, if the farangs in Phuket are so unhappy then perhaps they should set up a honda dream protest outside the governors office. Im pretty sure he is not on TV so he cant read all your negative comments about the locals, you will need to see him in person.

It sounds like a lot of TV members would like to go back to a system like the British Raj where we could whip the locals into being subservient. Perhaps an end to the protest similar to Jallianwalla Bagh massacre would be more in your taste when the locals become restless and start gathering in the streets?

Talk about completely missing the point. Mind you, with the word "Irish" in your name, what do you expect.

[sausageandmash]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang

How do you know tourists aren't complaining? You seem to know an awful lot about nothing in particular. I didn't realise that potato blight affected brain cells.

[stevenl]

I am a critic of the Tuk Tuk/taxi mafia and I drive a car. Why this need to insult the TV membership ?

Maybe you should ask your little ex-pat gang down there.

Isn't that just what he is doing?

'DON'T FEED THE TROLL'

The troll here is you. Unless of course you quoted and reacted to the wrong post.

[IrishIvan]

You see it all here, but this is forum is as hypochritical as Judah paying Tamar for sex and then having her burnt for being a whore...

So all the TV members here are going for 'man of the year'?

Never broken the law here? Never got a hooker or a massage with a happy ending? Never driven drunk or without a helmet on or too lazy to pay your vehicle taxes?

never had a toke of ganga or slung a cop some tea money?

And here you all are complaining about some guys trying to get a very small slice of a very big pie which is Phuket.

Id like to know what the TV members think a taxi driver should earn in Phuket, just for a laugh

Edited July 3, 2013 by IrishIvan

[IrishIvan]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang

How do you know tourists aren't complaining? You seem to know an awful lot about nothing in particular. I didn't realise that potato blight affected brain cells.

Where?

[khunken]

I dont see any tourists complaining about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks, just the honda dream pensioner gang

How do you know tourists aren't complaining? You seem to know an awful lot about nothing in particular. I didn't realise that potato blight affected brain cells.

That's a pretty stupid comment. I'm Irish and Irishivan is posting drivel but there's no need to start an ethnic war over it.

[Guest]

Id like to know what the TV members think a taxi driver should earn in Phuket, just for a laugh

These guys being without education, doing simplest labour work.. I would say the thug-thug drivers should definitely earn less than school teachers in local schools.