Prayut asks taxi operators not to take advantage of passengers

BANGKOK, 24 Jan 2015, (NNT) - Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has urged taxi operators not to take advantages of passengers, referring to the infamous case involving a cab driver at Suvarnabhumi Airport and a Japanese tourist that has gone viral on the social media.

During his weekly broadcast program ‘Return the Happiness to the People,’ the General talked about the government’s attempt to reorganize Suvarnabhumi Airport's taxi services. According to him, an advance queue management system is used at the airport in order to eliminate the problems of taxi drivers choosing passengers.

The number of complaints on driver's failure to turn on the meter or turning down passengers has increased, said the Prime Minister, adding that the airport has set up taxi checkpoints at Gate 1-8 since January 19th.

Staff at checkpoints are to make sure that all cab drivers turn on their meters, and to inspect passenger’s queue tickets. Passengers are also advised to keep their tickets during the entire trip and not to give it them to the drivers.

General Prayut also asked all cab drivers not to take advantage of passengers, and to turn on the fare meter every time the cab is in service; most importantly, they must not turn down any passengers, be they Thais or foreigners.


-- NNT 2015-01-24

I am sure this will change everything and now all taxi drivers will be angels and use the mater and accept every fare no matter where the destinations is.

IMO 98% of Thai taxi drivers are rotten to the core and no matter what happens and what rules are put in place the situation will remain the same

"pretty please with a cherry on top" just will not work

Perhaps he could have a word with the rip of taxi and Tuk Tuk mafia in Phuket.

I read in the local paper that just yesterday another tourist was attacked by a Tuk Tuk driver for daring to challenge the offered price of 500 baht to travel less than a mile in the back of a 25 year old van.

"General Prayut also asked all cab drivers not to take advantage of passengers, and to turn on the fare meter every time the cab is in service; most importantly, they must not turn down any passengers, be they Thais or foreigners."

Don't ask them.

Tell them and enforce the consequences if they don't.

I think he believes all thai citizens are soldiers waiting for his orders.

Perhaps he could have a word with the rip of taxi and Tuk Tuk mafia in Phuket.

I read in the local paper that just yesterday another tourist was attacked by a Tuk Tuk driver for daring to challenge the offered price of 500 baht to travel less than a mile in the back of a 25 year old van.

And god forbid anyone introduce a new consumer friendly service like uber.. That will have every government office out there throwing mud at it..

re-introduce the airport bus, was it the AH1 AH2 and AH3? if I remember rightly.

The taxi drivers have had as good as a monopoly since they got rid of the airport bus service, some taxi drivers have abused it, lets see some competition.

why does he need to ask? He doesn't have power/authority?

why does he need to ask? He doesn't have power/authority?

Maybe b/c it's a nation of Co-Dependents.

it's like asking a snake to promise not to bite you. They are snakes....they bite!!! That's what they do.

All sorted then, nice one alpha dog! Next...

If you "ask" someone a question, you are inviting the opportunity to give a "no" answer, or for them to winge, complain or come up with alternatives. A situation such as this demands a "tell", roughly interpreted as "do it or else!" So, you start off by saying "You must do this....you must do that.....".

I can give an example at the taxi rank outside Central Rama 9. Countless times taxis refuse customers. These people can be any race, sick and elderly, pregnant ladies, handicapped, it doesn't matter. If they don't want that fare for whatever reason, you see the casual shake of the driver's head and the wry smile on his face. It actually makes me sick, and I often feel like saying something or taking a photo/video but sensibility kicks in.

The other issue is that the taxis will bank up way beyond the rank, blocking off a complete lane of traffic. In Australia we had Inspectors who would patrol the ranks and, without warning, issue quite a substantial fine. Would that be so difficult here?

The PM can enforce anything he wants to!

He obviously does not want to enforce this.

the PM is a NATO

No Action, Talk Only person

the country hasn't really progressed much under his leadership and he refuses to listen to negative comments.

how can he improve as a leader?

In my opinion, most taxi drivers are quite ok, but there are a small minority that are rotten to the core and should really be removed from driving.

i wonder if these companies that employ them actually even do a criminal background check to prevent ex-cons from driving taxis?

Edited January 24, 201511 yr by jwongbkk

Full marks general, for doing SFA.

How about arresting any taxi driver that does not use their meter, banning them for 10 years from driving any taxi (or other public service vehicle) AND fining them 25000 baht.

In other words, actually DO SOMETHING, not just 'ask'.

I have deliberately avoided watching a single episode of the weekly 'fireside chat'.

I'm really glad, as they sound awful and almost childish at times.

If I were to post on all the 'issues' that concern the General, emanating from these instructions/observations/mini rants I would need my sleeping bag in the study.

Didn't I read a couple of months ago that he was dropping his weekly sermon?. Anyone else remember this?.

Thank goodness the UK is only going to get 2 or maybe 3 TV debates prior to the election.

The guy here is likely to have 200-300 TV appearances before any sort of election. You can't argue the country will not know the candidate!

A hole in the market here for inactive posting.

I am sure this will change everything and now all taxi drivers will be angels and use the mater and accept every fare no matter where the destinations is.

IMO 98% of Thai taxi drivers are rotten to the core and no matter what happens and what rules are put in place the situation will remain the same

"pretty please with a cherry on top" just will not work

Can you stop birds flying ??

Most taxi drivers are fine in Bangkok. If the driver does not want to turn on the meter, just get out. Not sure why a Priminister needs to get invovled in this. He must have a cape and tights in his closet. I guess he feels guilty for muddling up the tourist industry to start with.

Something they should consider is giving a guide price to passengers - pre-printed cards that say something like 'Suk 1 to Suk 20 price is in the range of 300-400 baht, more if toll road used' and maybe a phone number to report if their driver tries it on.

I think it's great that he responds to bad news about Thailand........but; it's the way he responds that baffles me.

He has the power to make things happen but treads too softly where jackboots are required !

I read somewhere that many of these taxis are rented by the drivers on a 'shift' basis. I wonder who the 'Mr/s Big' is who actually owns these taxis. Possibly someone with elite connections, which might explain the 'ask' rather than the 'tell' them not to rip-off customers. Can't upset our friends, can we?

Note to Prayut: Asking prolly won't work, how about you just TELL 'em.

Hate to breach the bitch bubble, but I've just had two incredibly excellent taxi drivers.

Yes, I've had the failure to turn on the meter, refuse to go somewhere, in the past.

But I needed a taxi from Don Muang the other night and the driver had the meter turned on as I entered the taxi. He knew exactly where I wanted to go and how to take the best traffic avoidance route. Very smooth, excellent driver.

And the next morning, I needed a taxi to Victory Monument. No question about the automatic turn on of the meter, and directly where I wanted to go, even stopping a little short and saying that as the traffic wasn't moving, I might as well use the overpass to walk around to where I wanted to go rather than sit in the taxi for a few lights until we circumnavigated the roundabout.

Yes, there are nasty ones out there, but my recent experience was commendable.

Guess the taxi I followed up Asoke today who stopped ( and refused) 4 sets of folks who flagged him down didn't get the memo. I thought " Frigging hell mate are you waiting for somebody who wants to go to the moon?"

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Perhaps he could have a word with the rip of taxi and Tuk Tuk mafia in Phuket.

I read in the local paper that just yesterday another tourist was attacked by a Tuk Tuk driver for daring to challenge the offered price of 500 baht to travel less than a mile in the back of a 25 year old van.

... and maybe he could have a word with our obnoxious taxi drivers on Samui demanding 5000 Baht for a tour around the island (ca 60kms, maybe 2-3 hours including stops, usually with comission) for cruise ship passengers (about 50 cruise ships this year, all with 1-2 thousand passengers).

But at least the army got rid of the flower pots on the pavement, so I guess they did a good job.

Edited January 24, 201511 yr by longtom

never had any problem at both airport , meter without asking and knowing the best ways , and the same for mochit

down town very little problem , but i am never at 4 pm on a rainy day outside a busy mall, in that case i dont bother to try i take the public transport to a better place to get a taxi to my direction

if the honorable PM has to intervene into such a small thing, what the transport Minister and the Transport authority doing???

Most taxi drivers are fine in Bangkok. If the driver does not want to turn on the meter, just get out. Not sure why a Priminister needs to get invovled in this. He must have a cape and tights in his closet. I guess he feels guilty for muddling up the tourist industry to start with.

Aren't taxi used for getting from point a to point b? So why would anyone need to get out? It should not be a crap shoot and citizens should not feel so threaten when using public transportation. This is a concern for all and not just tourism. These taxi drivers make a bad name for all.

Besides, If taxi driving is not a good profession, why are there so many taxis. So the argument about not making enough is bogus. Taxi driving is easy work for easy money.

Outside the touristic places the taxidrivers always use the metre. They don't speak english though.

If you look/act like a tourist then they probably scam you.

I don't use them much but when i do it's always okay. I jump in and tell them where to go in thai language. no problem.