Looks like the Karon "taxis" didn't like being legal

[steelepulse]

I walked past the 20 plus "taxis" on the beach road yesterday in Karon and noticed that not a single one had the yellow stickers with their name and number on them. Not only that, none of the vehicles had green plates to indicate proper tax was paid and they were legal. Did they not like looking like a common taxi driver when driving around the island, or did they not want to pay the fees to be legal with a green plate? I recall seeing almost every one of these "taxis" having the yellow stickers 2-3 months ago, but now they have all been abandoned, at least on the beach road in Karon.

[stevenl]

tuktuk's should be yellow plated, taxi's green plated. I must say I very rarely see white plated tuktuks.

[steelepulse]

I'm talking black plate hondas and toyotas without the yellow stickers that are supposed to be ( and were on) on the side of these vehicles. You know, all the cars that take up all the decent parking spots on the beach road. In addition, these cars had green plates on a few months back. Looks like they decided as a group to abandon legality in the sense of having the proper stickers and green plates.

[stevenl]

I'm talking black plate hondas and toyotas without the yellow stickers that are supposed to be ( and were on) on the side of these vehicles. You know, all the cars that take up all the decent parking spots on the beach road. In addition, these cars had green plates on a few months back. Looks like they decided as a group to abandon legality in the sense of having the proper stickers and green plates.

I'll make a round on the bike right now and check what is happening here.

[LivinginKata]

I'm talking black plate hondas and toyotas without the yellow stickers that are supposed to be ( and were on) on the side of these vehicles. You know, all the cars that take up all the decent parking spots on the beach road. In addition, these cars had green plates on a few months back. Looks like they decided as a group to abandon legality in the sense of having the proper stickers and green plates.

Yes, the purge on 'black' taxis has lost any traction. Saving face has been exacted. Now back to business as usual.

[stevenl]

Just did a quick round here in Kata. Passed 6 co-op stands and several stand alone taxis and tuktuks. The stand alone ones were legal, the others always show a mixed picture with the tuktuks legal.

But the taxis: of the 6 stands 3 were totally illegal (no stickers and white plates), 2 partially legal (green plates but no stickers), 1 complete legal (green plates plus stickers).

Looks like the BIB are not checking anymore.

[steelepulse]

I haven't really been paying attention when I drive across the island, but come to think of it there are a lot less stickered cars then there was a few months ago when it seemed every 4th vehicle on the road was a "taxi". The Karon guys really take the cake though as not a single vehicle had either a sticker or a green plate out of the 20-25 that take up the prime parking spots. I did see one legal car but he was down with us peasants near the Hilton, so he was not a part of the Karon ranks.

[NomadJoe]

It's hard to tell the real story here. I think the dual protests of legal vs illegal tuk tuks (and the cars are from the same group as the tuk tuks) we saw in town last week are a sign that the formerly tightly run "co-op's" (mafia) are starting to fall apart. Previously, it didn't matter if the tuk tuk was legal or not as long as the owner paid into the "co-op" which then paid the appropriate authorities to allow them to operate with impunity. Now, it seems, owners and drivers are breaking away from the co-ops, seemingly tired of paying both into the co-op and the government to be able to operate. I see this as a good thing.

You will all remember we used to see the reports about the tuk tuk co-ops asking for more tuk tuks, but as of a couple years ago the government has stopped allowing any more and I have not heard about any more requests. This has swelled the ranks of the illegal tuk tuks. So for the last two years I have noticed the slow trickle of these new, larger, Suzuki trucks made up like tuk tuks. Even private ones like that white one in Kata that says "Dums Car Care" on it are operating within the ranks on Kata beach. I wondered if they were a result of owners upgrading from the older tuk tuks, some of which look exactly like the models of tuk tuks which can be found in photos of Patong in the 80's. Now I guess I have my answer.

Did you guys see the quote in one of the papers from a driver that says they used to make 4000B a day, and now they can only make 1000B a day? 4000B a day, ~100,000B a month is more than most doctors make here.