Taxi mafia clean out at Suvarnabhumi airport

[BillyBobThai]

The military seem intent on getting rid of a lot of bad apples, but what will happen when Thailand returns to Thai style democracy?

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They are doing a lot of window dressing things at the moment. I hope they really start to tackle serious stuff like land encroachment or tea money in schools.

I understand the feeling that you have in regards to the window dressings. The number one thing that I hope to see addressed, is the education system. Until Thai kids can go to school, and learn world history for the last 3000 years, and how Thailand enters into to that, we are doomed to just repeat the cycle. The Thai people are no more special than anyone else, but like everyone else, with the proper education they can join the global community and help to solve the problems we all encounter. Education, or the lack there of, is what has allowed people to either be productive or be enslaved.

[marko kok prong]

How come it took this long.

[EyesWideOpen]

This is getting more surreal by the day. All the things that are wrong with Thailand are

being cleaned up..... There are still a few bigger fish to fry like the jewelry scam that

has brought shame to Thailand for many years. But at this rate of repair Thailand will

be a paradise in a year.

[BngkkB]

They should consider some way of doing a special Que for the larger taxis with more luggage space for families arriving. With the lpg tanks in the trunk there is limited room for luggage. Last time I arrived with my daughter I just happened to get a larger taxi. When I told them my destination to a residential area and in Thai the driver looked at me and said in perfect English, "i guess it's meter for you as you know better". Before when traveling with more than one other person and a lot of bags the larger vehicles would try to charge 1-2,000 for the trip as they could fit all the luggage. We always just laughed and took two regular taxies for a total of 400 for both. But families arriving on vacation will not know and still be over charged for Que jumping larger vehicles.

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[bluebluewater]

It's almost like I'm whispering in the ear of the generals " This is the next situation ( or POS person ) that I want you guys to deal with.

Good on 'em. For the time being. We'll see where were are in a year or two . . . .

[Basil B]

Great news. Looking forward to the jet ski clean up around all the beaches.

Looks like the army has a list and are hitting them one at a time.

Looks like next stop Pattaya, Jet Ski band until they clean up their act, Taxis drivers have to use the meter,

...and the baht buses, no over charging, no ignoring Thai be cause the do not over pay, no double parking outside shopping malls and hotels, no more than 10 passengers at anyone time, no over use of the horn, and that's just for starters.

[iReason]

The military seem intent on getting rid of a lot of bad apples, but what will happen when Thailand returns to Thai style democracy?

Sent from my GT-N5100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

They are doing a lot of window dressing things at the moment. I hope they really start to tackle serious stuff like land encroachment or tea money in schools.

I hardy think they need window dressing if one is inclined to take a look at just a sampling of what they have done in just a few weeks.

It's easy to see the frequency of "resignations" and "inactive posts" being handed about.

Below are examples from Thai PBS:

The National Council for Peace and Order has scrapped the four billion baht tablets for children project for the 2014 fiscal year initiated by the former Yingluck government after seeing it does little to support education, and also an unnecessary spending of national budget.

PTT share price was unscathed by the resignation of PTT board chairman Dr Parnpri Phahitthanukorn at today’s trading with the share price rising 3 baht from Friday’s close of 292 baht during the opening of the trade this morning. PTT share rose to 295 baht on the opening bell.At 10.13 p.m the price still stayed at 294 baht, up two baht from earlier close.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission is to propose the military junta to amend the existing counter corruption laws to empower it to investigate private individuals implicated in corruption involving state officials, according to commissioner Vicha Mahakun.

The National Council for Peace and Order today set up a working committee to help and promote small and medium enterprises.The committee is headed by NCPO head Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha himself and its deputy head is Air Force Commander-in-Chief ACM Prajin Juntong.

The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives said it has so far paid 68.67 billion baht to more than 674,200 farmers in 17 days.

Three other board directors resigned are Wattana Chiengkul, Pol Lt-Gen Phanu Kerdlarbpol, and Pol Gen Krissana Phol-anant.No specific reasons were given for the resignation but a board director who resigned said he wanted to pave way for change. Sqn Ldr Sita was known to have close connection with the Shinawatra family.

The National Council for Peace and Order head Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha has made clear of revamping all state enterprises’ boards of directors and replacing them with qualified people with knowledge of the fields they are assigned to.

The Interior Ministry’s permanent secretary Viboon Sa-nguanpong on Wednesday signed an order transferring governors of five provinces to inactive posts at the ministry. They are governors of Kalasin, Nonthaburi, Roi Et, Rayong and Ubon Ratchathani.

He did not give reason for the transfer but it was well known that these provinces are active bases of the red-shirt supporters of the previous government.

The military junta head, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha Saturday night ordered all financial institutions, securities companies, insurance firms, money exchange companies, financial cooperatives to halt all financial transactions, share and money transfers of former interior minister Charupong Ruangsuwan and education minister Jaturon Chaisaeng instantly.

No reason was given but earlier in the day soldiers confiscated illegal logs, wildlife and cache of arms in the resort home of Charupong’s son and were investigating if the weapon were involved with violence in the capital.

Both Charupong and Jaturon defied order of the military junta to report yesterday.

Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, as head of the National Peace and Order Maintaining Council Saturday night issued three orders transferring the Royal Thai Police commissioner Pol Gen Adul Saengsingkaew, Department of Special Investigation (DSI) director general Tarit Pengdit, and Defense Ministry’s permanent secretary Gen Nipat Thonglek to the Prime Minister’s Office effective Saturday.

National Peace and Order Maintaining Council director Gen Prayuth chan-ocha instructed the Finance Ministry to hastily allocated money to pay farmers who sold rice to the former government under its rice-pledging scheme but were not yet paid.

He advised that the money of about 80 billion baht should be paid to farmers within 15-20 days without having to resort to money raised from the rice sales.

And let's not forget Phuket...

[hawker9000]

Good news buts lets not wet our panties yellows. Keep looking for the bigger picture...You will see it eventually but it requires research of other media sources

Yeah, we had enough of these "other media sources" trying to defend the PTP and the Shins... Now that the rose-tinted specs are no longer much in fashion, you finally ARE seeing the bigger picture! What we're seeing now is what fair-minded, sensible, forward-looking people with Thailand's best interests at heart (rather than mired in self-interest) have been waiting to see for YEARS! But it IS a shame that in the "Land of Smiles" it took an army general knocking heads together to finally produce some results.

[tomyummer]

This is my first gripe at this long overdue clean up--do not get me wrong this is applauded and rightly so.

BUT, the wrong here is the 50 baht fee to get a taxi--NO need for this, money to who for what. ?? If you have a walkway for a queue and the next fare payer gets the next taxi--after that taxies move forward and the next and so on.

This is the mafia still at work --a desk collecting money ?? I wish to apply for this franchise as I would be mega rich in no time.

Just think 1000 passengers a day only would rake you in 50,000 bht, all you need is a desk. and wads of tickets.

Sorry. It belongs to Aunty Yaowapa.

[daveAustin]

They should try cleaning up the Tuk-Tuk mofia around the tourists areas, they are the real problem.

I'm sure they'll get around to sorting the little munchkins out. There are already changes in the pipeline in Phuket which is the worst place by far. Only problem is, as we all know, it will go right back to normal once civilian rule is reestablished

[webfact]

Smart-card system for cabs to eliminate mafia role at Suvarnabhumi Airport
Panya Thiosangwan
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- THE NATIONAL Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will introduce a smart-card system for the taxi queue at Suvarnabhumi Airport in a bid to end the "mafia-style operation" there.

A computerised system, linked to the database of registered taxi drivers' personal history and fingerprints, will issue queue cards to taxis waiting to pick up passengers from the airport.

"We expect to see clear results within one month from now," 11th Military Circle chief Maj-General Nirundorn Samutsakorn said yesterday.

He said the "mafia-style operation" allowed taxi drivers to select long-haul passengers and such selective services make it hard for short-haul passengers to get a taxi ride.

A short ride from the airport starts from just Bt35, while a |ride to faraway destinations |like Pattaya can earn a taxi |driver up to Bt3,000.

Taxi drivers, therefore, often pay under-the-table fees to mafia-style figures to ensure they get long-haul passengers.

"In addition to this, we have also received complaints about taxis leaving passengers midway, |overcharging, lack of manners |and involvement in illegal activities," Nirundorn said.

The swift move to regulate taxi services at Suvarnabhumi Airport is in response to NCPO chief General Prayut Chan-ocha's policy to bring about reforms.

The NCPO has tasked the First Army Area to deal with illegal activities involving taxis, motorcyle-taxis and public vans. The First Army Area has delegated the responsibility of dealing with the illegal activities of taxis, including at the airports, to the 11th Military Circle.

"We have decided to act at Suvarnabhumi Airport first so as to bolster the image of this international airport and Thailand," Nirundorn said.

Normally, people can get a taxi ride out of Suvarnabhumi Airport by queuing up at a taxi counter on the facility's first floor.

After informing the staff at the counter where they want to go, the staff will tell them which cab they can get in. Each ride via the counter - which records the taxi's licence plate number and passenger de-tails - comes with an additional charge of Bt50, which is legally allowed.

Passengers who wish to avoid |the additional charge can get a taxi from the fourth floor of the airport where departure air passengers arrive, many of them by taxi. Passengers who opt for this option have to flag down the taxi themselves.

Nirundorn said many taxi-

related problems happened because of "mafia-style operations". According to him, some 7,000 taxis have been serving passengers from Suvarnabhumi Airport.

He reckoned that men in uniforms were behind the "mafia-style operations", saying that he knew who were involved.

"At this point, we are simply asking for cooperation," he said.

He hinted that if those involved were not cooperative, soldiers might be dispatched to monitor taxi counters at the airport.

Nirundorn is also considering a move to propose an amendment to the Airport Act, which does not cover the relatively new Suvarnabhumi Airport, so as to find long-term |measures to prevent mafia figures from re-entering this large aviation facility.

"We need to do something. Or else, the mafia-style operations will return as soon as the soldiers leave," he said.


-- The Nation 2014-06-19

[impulse]

This is my first gripe at this long overdue clean up--do not get me wrong this is applauded and rightly so.

BUT, the wrong here is the 50 baht fee to get a taxi--NO need for this, money to who for what. ?? If you have a walkway for a queue and the next fare payer gets the next taxi--after that taxies move forward and the next and so on.

This is the mafia still at work --a desk collecting money ?? I wish to apply for this franchise as I would be mega rich in no time.

Just think 1000 passengers a day only would rake you in 50,000 bht, all you need is a desk. and wads of tickets.

Wouldn't work. I have stood behind a group of tourists that took 10 minutes to explain to the nice (English speaking) taxi queue lady where they think they want to go. Sometimes, it's hilarious- other times I want to scream.

Imagine the mess if you took the English speaking components out of the equation, and only had one queue, waiting on the people in the front of the queue to explain what their hand drawn map means to a taxi driver who doesn't speak the language.

I'm happy to pay 50 baht extra for that assurance that the taxi driver knows exactly where I want to go, and that I have a piece of paper that can help me track down anything I may have accidentally left in the taxi. And that I'm the 50th guy in 20 queues and not the 50th guy in the single queue.

I like the taxi system at Swampy. It's fair, efficient and I've never waited more than 10-15 minutes (and then only to jump into a different queue when the idiots in front of me try to get 7 people with tons of luggage into a single taxi and can't be convinced to pay for 2 taxis). Usually I'm on my way in less than 5 minutes.

[bkkgooner]

Excellent. As I said before, this general and the NCPO have done so much more good in the past few weeks than the politicians bunch of clowns, rogues, bullies and thieves over the past 50 years.

Keep it up, sir!

They have announced a lot of things but done very little. Let's see in a month if this system is actually up and running.

The 50 baht fee goes directly into the hand of the taxi driver doesn't it? I would say raise it to 70 baht to promote co-operation in getting rid of the scum that surround the airport

[terryp]

Excellent. As I said before, this general and the NCPO have done so much more good in the past few weeks than the politicians bunch of clowns, rogues, bullies and thieves over the past 50 years.

Keep it up, sir!

They have announced a lot of things but done very little. Let's see in a month if this system is actually up and running.

The 50 baht fee goes directly into the hand of the taxi driver doesn't it? I would say raise it to 70 baht to promote co-operation in getting rid of the scum that surround the airport

No its an airport administration fee, the taxi driver pays 50baht when he enters the airport pickup area to the mafia figures who are working for the AOT

LETS REMEMBER WHY THIS FEE WAS INTRODUCED BY AOT……it was due to so many foreign girls mostly S Korean and Japanese that were being raped by these taxi drivers

There should be NO fee its an airport and the service should be out of AOT dept fees,,only 50 baht I know but it should be all part of the service that AOT offer for your 800baht (going up soon) departure fee

ALSO when are we going to see big Militry mafia figures being investigated> like at the gold mine town and the BOILER ROOMs in BKK & CM

Edited June 18, 2014 by terryp

[TimCM]

As much as I wish this to be true, this dictatorship seems to announce a new major policy or cleanup at the rate of 2 or 3 a day. After the announcement and the photo session, how much will really be done?

I know the military has neither the resources or expertise to fix these issues at the rate being announced or some of these issues would have been resolved the other 19 times they tried.

Fool me once, shame on you,fool me 19 times and show you are a blind supporter of dictatorships

[nabbie]

Good work & keep up,

[northernjohn]

If they keep on going at this rate the country might actually be okay in 10 or so years. Well done so far.

Nice to hear a sensible post.

So tired of the they have been in power almost a month how come they haven't paved the streets in gold.

[northernjohn]

As much as I wish this to be true, this dictatorship seems to announce a new major policy or cleanup at the rate of 2 or 3 a day. After the announcement and the photo session, how much will really be done?

I know the military has neither the resources or expertise to fix these issues at the rate being announced or some of these issues would have been resolved the other 19 times they tried.

Fool me once, shame on you,fool me 19 times and show you are a blind supporter of dictatorships

I take it you don't support the Thaksin Shinawatra dictatorship. In fact I suspect you enjoyed it.

[chainarong]

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If they keep on going at this rate the country might actually be okay in 10 or so years. Well done so far.

They have to keep the pressure up forever and that is another subject

[TimCM]

As much as I wish this to be true, this dictatorship seems to announce a new major policy or cleanup at the rate of 2 or 3 a day. After the announcement and the photo session, how much will really be done?

I know the military has neither the resources or expertise to fix these issues at the rate being announced or some of these issues would have been resolved the other 19 times they tried.

Fool me once, shame on you,fool me 19 times and show you are a blind supporter of dictatorships

I take it you don't support the Thaksin Shinawatra dictatorship. In fact I suspect you enjoyed it.

Not at all. They were a horrible govt.

I just don't believe the current dictatorship has the interest of the majority of Thai's in mind. Where has been the action against corruption in the military or against any of their supporters. Lets face it same s#$t, different colour.

Call me strange but I do believe every country's people have the right to make their own mistakes via democracy. In Australia we have made a few

[ingvar]

Now maybe they can get rid of those shady "official" looking guys strolling around inside Swampy as well, offering this and that or just asking you if you need help where after a scam progresses in its usual course.

[SheungWan]

Good news buts lets not wet our panties yellows. Keep looking for the bigger picture...You will see it eventually but it requires research of other media sources

The bigger picture is that Thaksin Shinawatra is still on the loose.

[shawndoc]

Am I missing something? Where are the taxi mofia there? There is the AOT taxi desk by the luggage carousel, which is the only licensed and insured private cars and then there is the metered taxi cue outside where one pays a standard airport fee plus the meter charge, I have never heard of them turning down destinations.

I *THINK* they are referring to the touts who hang out around the exit of customs offering taxis to people? They seem to clean them up once and year and then they slowly come back.

But I always end up using the taxi que and have never had a problem.

[IamNoone88]

I don't want to see this guy go! Its just keeps getting better. They should do a round 2 taxi clean-up in Phuket.

[ingvar]

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Am I missing something? Where are the taxi mofia there? There is the AOT taxi desk by the luggage carousel, which is the only licensed and insured private cars and then there is the metered taxi cue outside where one pays a standard airport fee plus the meter charge, I have never heard of them turning down destinations.

I *THINK* they are referring to the touts who hang out around the exit of customs offering taxis to people? They seem to clean them up once and year and then they slowly come back.

But I always end up using the taxi que and have never had a problem.

If you look a little closer you will see a guy behind the ticket counter at the meter taxi stand who is the real boss and decides what taxi get what fare.

[Frank008]

Sounds like a nice plan. Hope it works. I used to take taxis always on arrival hall until they put the gates in.

Last week I took a taxi downstairs to Bitec. Aot approved. He kept talking about higher fare 300 baht during the entire drive until I called the service number. Guess what: the lady wanted me to hand over the phone to the driver.!! Guess more I did not wanted to end up in the discussion and asked her to do this separately. The fare was 260 baht and I tipped him 20 baht. What a scenario for 20 baht. I don't know how far they have to drive but felt this was a reasonable fare.

Anyway make these guys happy. Increase the fare but clean the bad ones out. Probably mission impossible. Let the Army start in sukhumvit Soi 11 where 80% of the drivers refuse the fare if not.comvenient. What a mess. The clean up will take time but I am happy to wait and see it done

[harrycallahan]

Better be open source!

[Emptyset]

Am I missing something? Where are the taxi mofia there? There is the AOT taxi desk by the luggage carousel, which is the only licensed and insured private cars and then there is the metered taxi cue outside where one pays a standard airport fee plus the meter charge, I have never heard of them turning down destinations. Buses, mini vans and sky train downstairs. If people cannot do some simple research before arriving at the airport I have no sympathy for them as there are taxi touts at every airport in world. Suvarnabhumi is not like what Don muean was like, or how Phuket airport is now. Seems like just another day where the junta is trying to put out their positive daily spin.

They should try cleaning up the Tuk-Tuk mofia around the tourists areas, they are the real problem.

Well, I've certainly never had any problems, but then I always know where I'm going etc. I'm actually surprised by this story that taxi drivers only want to take people to faraway destinations because I've never been turned down at the taxi queue and haven't seen anyone else have trouble either. Back in the days of Don Muang things were a bit more difficult. In 2006/7 I was a regular at a guest house bar near where I lived in Saphan Kwai (owners were English and good fun to drink with), heard many tales of people getting suckered by the touts. I think there was also a clean-up around that time but the touts came back as soon as they could, as you'd expect. But honestly didn't realize there was a significant problem with the queue itself.

Of course you can get bad taxi drivers anywhere and if this new system helps minimize the chances of that, then it can only be a good thing. Guess we'll see. Also I think the new system might be designed to help taxi drivers more than it is customers, e.g. longer distance journeys will now be open to all, not siphoned off by the ones who are paying this mafia.

[sanuk711]

"Call me strange but I do believe every country's people have the right to make their own mistakes via democracy. In Australia we have made a few--HAWKS"

In a perfect world we would all agree with that Hawks--but in a perfect world you are not openly allowed to buy peoples votes. the corruption is such in Thailand that it needs something to cut through the Gordian knot, & that something wasn't coming from either of the political parties. I do not think anyone who has lived here for a while doesn't expect the Army to place the country back in the hands of the ballot box -- it always has through numerous other coups --but if it can do enough damage to the (marfia) or interested parties to show the people this is what can be done, Then maybe the parties that we get after them will be of a higher standard then before.

Your right our country has made its share of mistakes at the ballot box I count the mad monk as one of them--- but I don't want the mods telling me I'm off subject----so another thread....... ...."go the pies"

[monkey4u]

I had the misfortune of getting a taxi at Swampy in 2008 to take me to Don Muang.

I had almost 3 hours to make my flight.

I missed it

The fool of a pig farmer / rice grower got lost, he took me to a hotel miles from where I was going and wanted me to pay for his stuff up

After the police came he just smiled and said sorry

I think it would be great if some education was given to the taxi drivers so they know where they are going