Bangkok pool bus operators threaten to stop bus services unless 3 baht fare increase is allowed

[webfact]

Pool bus operators threaten to stop city bus services unless 3 baht fare increase is allowed



BANGKOK: -- Pool-bus operators in Bangkok are demanding 3 baht increase of fares for warm and cool buses with threat to stop service if their demand is not met.

They said they would wait at the Transport Ministry Tuesday for news of whether the government would approve their request or not.

The private bus operators say the fare rise is needed to help them cope with increasing fuel prices after the government raised NGV by 50 satang per kilo last week.

The latest increase was the second time after the NGV fuel was raised by one baht which the government said was to reflect actual cost of NGV.

They demanded 3 baht increase for warm bus from 8 baht to 11 baht, while for cool bus will depend on travel distance but 3 baht for each distance.

President of the Private Bus Operators Association Mrs Phattharawadi Klomcharoon said the operators plan to hand a petition to the Transport Ministry today.

She claimed now more than 1,000 buses have stopped plying their routes because they have run out of money to pay for gas.

She threatened that if the government did not approve the increase, more buses would stop services.

The recent NGV price increase to 13 baht a kilogramme is the final straw for operators who have already had to bear high costs for spare parts and wages amid increasing living expenses, she said.

She stated that bus fares have been fixed for more than six year, adding that the three-baht increase which operators were seeking would apply to both warm and cool buses.

She said further that under the association’s proposal, the warm bus fare will see its flat rate of 8 baht increase to 11 while the cool bus will depend on distance and will rise 3 baht more for all distances.

But Transport Minister Prajin Juntong said yesterday he needed time to consider while assuring that it did not mean the ministry was going to reject it.

He added that officials needed o consider fare changes carefully because the request has come while the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, which granted concessions to private bus operators on certain routes, is revamping a plan to pull it out of huge debt.

Yesterday taxi drivers and pickup truck operators are also calling for fare increases citing higher NGV and liquefied petroleum gas prices.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/pool-bus-operators-threaten-stop-city-bus-services-unless-3-baht-fare-increase-allowed

-- Thai PBS 2015-02-03

[sjjmmi]

OK Who is next on the list

[siampolee]

Considering the greater majority of these private buses are best described as ''fecal matter on wheels'' the cessation of their services would greatly improve the environment and road safety too.

[PepperMe]

Let them suspend their services, and let them go bankrupt.

No need to rise to these threats.

[rgs2001uk]

She claimed now more than 1,000 buses have stopped plying their routes because they have run out of money to pay for gas.

Great stuff, lets see if she can get 1,000 more.

[Johnnie99]

Please please please let them stop their services!

People would use the BTS, we who are driven or drive about would get to our destination much quicker and pollution would decrease.

PLEASE let them stop!

PLEASE!

[frimu]

Is anyone of you thinking of normal people, who can't afford the BTS?

[rabid old goat]

bts is overcrowded already

perhaps asking why ngv has risen while oil has plummeted who be a far toO sensible question for the media and TV, SORRY

[maidee]

thainess effort in pollution control

[Luxfare]

If the price has been frozen for 6 years then nobody can really complain about a fare rise of 3thb....although I'm pretty sure TVF will find some who can.

[Nemesis7]

increasing 3 bhat may not make any changes to the riders.

[rickirs]

"Pool-bus operators in Bangkok are demanding 3 baht increase of fares for warm and cool buses with threat to stop service if their demand is not met."

This sounds like a job for Martial Law Man Prayuth! He'll give a quick and decisive warning to not publicly protest and write a subsidy check faster than ink can dry.

NEXT!

[cookee68]

Best thing they can do is suspend their buses, because their service is crap to say the least.

[webfact]

Transport Ministry wants more study before allowing bus fare to go up



BANGKOK: -- The Transport Ministry will have to study in more details before allowing associated buses to up the bus fare by one baht whereas bus operators have demanded a three-baht increase and have threatened to stop their services if their demand is not accepted within February 10.

Transport Minister ACM Prajin Juntong said today that the ministry had not entered into any agreement with Bangkok Mass Transport Authority, operator of city bus service, to allow bus fare for airconditioned, hot and associated bus services, to raise their fare by one baht.

He said more details would have to be studied first but he indicated that a decision would be available before February 10.

Meanwhile Mrs Pattharavadee Klomcharoon, chair of the bus operators association, said bus operators had wanted to fare to be adjusted by three baht to reflect the real costs of NGV which have increased.

She warned that about 2,500 buses operated by associate companies may stop their services on February 10.

Meanwhile, city taxies have demanded 13 percent fare adjustment instead of five percent. They also demanded that the price of NGV for taxies remain unchanged.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/transport-ministry-wants-study-allowing-bus-fare-go


-- Thai PBS 2015-02-04

[Cuchulainn]

Higher fares = better qualified and courteous drivers, better road courtesy, no more sour-faced conductresses, coming to a complete standstill at bus stops, stopping at actual bus stops and nowhere else, travelcards, .........................

The list goes on and on.

[rgs2001uk]

She warned that about 2,500 buses operated by associate companies may stop their services on February 10.

We live in hope.