34 taxis rounded up for rejecting passengers

[Thaivisa News]

Bangkok:- Tourist police managed to arrest 34 taxi drivers in Bangkok in just one night after they rejected passengers.

The operation to arrest the drivers for rejecting passengers was launched at 11 pm Wednesday by Pol Col Artchayon Kraithong, deputy commander of the Tourist Police Division.

Artchayon dispatched tourist police and patrol police to spots where tourists and Bangkok residents were rejected by taxi drivers, according to their complaints.

Police checked Soi Sukhumvit 3 or Soi Nana from the Grace Hotel and on Soi Sukhumvit 3/1 as well as Soi Sukhumvit 5.

The operation started at 11 pm because tourists started returning to their hotels at the hour.

Within a few hours, the 34 drivers were arrested. Artchayon said the 34 drivers were handed over to the local police station for taking legal action against.

Artchayachon said the operation was carried out in line with the government’s policy to promote tourism and the policy to make 2015 the year of Thainess tourism. The operation was also aimed at ensuring the Thai taxi service would be ready for tourists after Thailand joins the ASEAN Economic Community later this year.

The deputy police chief said the taxi drivers were interrogated to find out why they rejected passengers. The tourist police tried to change the drivers’ attitude before they were handed out to the local police station.

He said the operation was necessary because behaviors of taxi drivers could affect Thailand’s reputation in the eyes of foreign tourists.

Artchayachon said most drivers claimed that they were about to run out of gas or they were afraid of missing the deadline to return their taxis to their firms. Some were afraid of traffic congestion. They were told that these excuses were unjustified for rejecting passengers.

[jamesjohnsonthird]

Good.

Now go cleanup all the other Sois.

I stay on Suk Soi 20 when in Bangkok and have not gotten a ride in years. Have to walk all the way to Sukhumvit to get a ride.

Every one of them is a criminal posing as a taxi driver.

If this happens to you, you can contact the Land Transport Department Hotline on 1584.

You need to make a note of the license plate or the number painted on the door, taxi colour and the time and place of the incident.

The driver will receive a 1,000Bt fine for every complaint when he renw=ews his yearly permit.

[2fishin2]

BKK taxi drivers late at night are scum. They prey on tourists.

[NickJ]

Get rid of the ones blocking the roads outside of the hotels.....paint more areas red and enforce it.

[steven100]

taxis are scum ..... try to catch one on Sukhumvit after 3.00pm and ask to go to Ramkhanpeng or Bang na ... no chance.

Start revoking licenses ..... put some plain clothes police on Sukhumvit , MBK , Rama IV and have them ask for taxis ..

good work BIB

[BKKdreaming]

Good start.......

around town are big signs in Thai and english saying the Taxi driver cannot refuse you , the fine and a number to call.......

But there are NONE of these signs around Sukhumvit ????????

Can I steal one from Silom and plant it on Sukhumvit ?????

Or is it the wrong Police district ? Lumpini , land of its own rules

[Sydebolle]

This will REALLY motivate cabbies to deal with alien customers if they are fined for something they don't understand. Thainess at its best; I wanted to flag down a car and he passed with open window "no farang"! Must have been among those fined lately I guess....

[jamesjohnsonthird]

EVERY scamming taxi driver that parks near a hotel is paying off the police. It's gong to be impossible to stop it.

Taxi driver lease these prime scam zones from police and prey on first time visitors with no intention of operating a legitimate taxi service.

They are criminals posing as taxi drivers, colluding with police to defraud visitors.

Call 1584 every time a taxi driver refuses the fare. Report the taxi colour, time and number painted on the door.

[lee b]

Now take the cars from them. ( if they don't own them let them be in debt to the owner ) Small fines don't work, they have been warned many times before about rejecting passengers, so by taking the cars, they wont have to pick up and drop off any passengers will they.

[robblok]

Seems this government is doing something about problems.. never seen the previous one do anything like this. At least its progress.

[jamesjohnsonthird]

Seems this government is doing something about problems.. never seen the previous one do anything like this. At least its progress.

The government is systematically taking away revenue from their political enemies.

All these crackdowns are hitting the Police and political opponents in the pocketbook.

Doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Very Thai approach.

[dean008]

I never thought I would defend taxi drivers, BUT, it seems a valid reason to reject a customer if they have to return the taxi and fear they will miss the deadline (assuming its the truth). I for one would support financial help such as a lease to buy system for taxi drivers to purchase their own cars and eradicate such excuses and at the same time reduce the number of wealthy individuals/firms who own fleets of taxis, one would hope you would also see a drastic improvement in driving if they actually own their vehicle.

[bangkapi]

Only 34 in one night? I can get rejected by 34 taxi drivers single-handedly in under 2 hours.

This is a problem that will never go away. After being rejected by about six drivers while trying to get to Bangkapi from Sukhumvit one night,

I took a photo of the next taxi's license plate and showed it to the driver as I got into the car.

He seemed quite angry and reminded me that I didn't need to do like that because he would never turn down a passenger.

[scorecard]

Good job, but there's some points here that surprises me has never been addressed:

1. From my understanding something like 99% of taxis are rented by the day from taxi rental companies (often called cooperatives but in reality they are not cooperatives at all), and the taxi rental companies seem to be allowed to raise the daily rental fees as they please.

Taxis get a rise in flagfall, baht per kilometer etc., and the taxi rental companies put the daily rental fee up. In other words the only winner is the taxi rental company.

2. Shift changeover time. It seems to be a standard time for all taxi rental companies, e.g. 4:00pm in the afternoon. Surely this should be:

- Different change over time for every taxi rental company.

- Say around 2 pm instead of 4 pm, in other words change over in a very non peak timing.

Edited April 23, 2015 by scorecard

[2fishin2]

I never thought I would defend taxi drivers, BUT, it seems a valid reason to reject a customer if they have to return the taxi and fear they will miss the deadline (assuming its the truth). I for one would support financial help such as a lease to buy system for taxi drivers to purchase their own cars and eradicate such excuses and at the same time reduce the number of wealthy individuals/firms who own fleets of taxis, one would hope you would also see a drastic improvement in driving if they actually own their vehicle.

If that were true then maybe. BUT, its nothing but an excuse from the scum to try and rob somebody on a short trip. Nothing mire, nothing less. Late at night are the worst drivers preying on drunks trying to get home after partying.

[chuang]

why only after 11.00pm...just try getting one at Pratunam Pavilion...

[Pikeybkk]

I used to just laugh it off, they are trying to make some money etc etc until i was standing in the pissing rain with my 15 month old baby and 5 taxi's would not take me. So much for good Buddist values but a definite for Thainess. Only and always about themselves.

[robblok]

Seems this government is doing something about problems.. never seen the previous one do anything like this. At least its progress.

The government is systematically taking away revenue from their political enemies.

All these crackdowns are hitting the Police and political opponents in the pocketbook.

Doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Very Thai approach.

Typical red response.. its political.

If they followed the rules then they would not be in these problems.

We could turn this around the previous government let the taxi drivers and police rip of anyone because they were on their side. I prefer a government that does the right thing over the wrong reasons (if what you say is true) then a government that does nothing and lets crimes go on because the criminals are on their side.

[Laughing Gravy]

Seems this government is doing something about problems.. never seen the previous one do anything like this. At least its progress.

I might start to agree with you on this providing this isn't a one night wonder clamp down. If this continues relentlessly for a few months and has periodic checks, I might just start jumping for joy. in the meantime.

[robblok]

Seems this government is doing something about problems.. never seen the previous one do anything like this. At least its progress.

I might start to agree with you on this providing this isn't a one night wonder clamp down. If this continues relentlessly for a few months and has periodic checks, I might just start jumping for joy. in the meantime.

I agree.. but there have been 3 or 4 of these checks so far.. compare that with the zero checks before. Plus some taxi's already lost their licenses . I loved how the taxi drivers at mochit toned down from asking a set price to accepting the meter and saying it was all a joke when I mentioned that the police or army said no more set prices. (in Thai of course)

I was with a tourist friend.. and they did not know I spoke Thai.. (not great but more then enough to get by) and they wanted to rip us off.. they changed there tune quite quickly at the mention of reporting them. So it does help.

[jamesjohnsonthird]

Seems this government is doing something about problems.. never seen the previous one do anything like this. At least its progress.

The government is systematically taking away revenue from their political enemies.

All these crackdowns are hitting the Police and political opponents in the pocketbook.

Doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Very Thai approach.

Typical red response.. its political.

If they followed the rules then they would not be in these problems.

We could turn this around the previous government let the taxi drivers and police rip of anyone because they were on their side. I prefer a government that does the right thing over the wrong reasons (if what you say is true) then a government that does nothing and lets crimes go on because the criminals are on their side.

I was just pointing out the taxi mafia crackdown is political and is really targeting the police that run the show.

I'm happy to see the police and taxies suffer.

How much do the Police take in per month by leasing the street to these taxi scammers?

5 or 6 scamming taxies parked in front of every hotel, each paying 3,000Bt or so to the police.

There are 425 hotels listed in the Sukhumvit area.

That's 2,550 drivers paying 7,500,000Bt. per month to the police in the Sukhumvit area.

90 Million Baht per year going to the ThongLor/Lumpini Stations from the taxi mafia parked outside the hotels.

Edited April 23, 2015 by jamesjohnsonthird

[robblok]

Seems this government is doing something about problems.. never seen the previous one do anything like this. At least its progress.

The government is systematically taking away revenue from their political enemies.

All these crackdowns are hitting the Police and political opponents in the pocketbook.

Doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Very Thai approach.

Typical red response.. its political.

If they followed the rules then they would not be in these problems.

We could turn this around the previous government let the taxi drivers and police rip of anyone because they were on their side. I prefer a government that does the right thing over the wrong reasons (if what you say is true) then a government that does nothing and lets crimes go on because the criminals are on their side.

I was just pointing out the taxi mafia crackdown is political and is really targeting the police that run the show.

How much do the Police take in per month by leasing the street to these taxi scammers?

5 or 6 scamming taxies parked in front of every hotel, each paying 3,000Bt or so to the police.

There are 425 hotels listed in the Sukhumvit area.

That's 2,550 drivers paying 7,500,000Bt. per month to the police in the Sukhumvit area.

90 Million Baht per year going to the ThongLor/Lumpini Stations from the taxi mafia parked outside the hotels.

Sorry.. my mistake.. but it seems many people seem to rather have a government that does nothing about the taxi crimes and the ripoffs by the police as one that does.

I am not saying that the taxi's don't pay the police off. I don't care what reason there is its a crime .. before the police and taxis were protected by the red government and now they are not. Just like the bonanza where a crime was allowed by the previous government and now it is taken to court. I see that as an criminal corrupt government helping their supporters and now one is just taking criminals to justice. The only political part was that the previous government allowed it.

But I really like that they do something about this as it is quite annoying (ok normally i use my bike or car but when going out I dont) to beg a taxi driver to use his meter. Now sometimes the treat of reporting them gets them to use the meter.

[scorecard]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I never thought I would defend taxi drivers, BUT, it seems a valid reason to reject a customer if they have to return the taxi and fear they will miss the deadline (assuming its the truth). I for one would support financial help such as a lease to buy system for taxi drivers to purchase their own cars and eradicate such excuses and at the same time reduce the number of wealthy individuals/firms who own fleets of taxis, one would hope you would also see a drastic improvement in driving if they actually own their vehicle.

"No, change over time":

This doesn't need to be difficult, just follow the system they use in Singapore. If change over time is say 3:pm, the driver must at say 2:30pm put show a sign behind the windscreen, fairly big, which is easy for potential passengers to see. Simple wording "Change 3:pm"

Simple, focused, clear, effective.

On a different angle, the errant rip-off Thais taxi drivers should try this profession in Singapore. Getting the special license is quite rigorous, one even simple complaint and there is solid punishment, serious complaint and their special license is revoked permanently, no chance whatever of appeal. Pretty much the same in Hong Kong.

[mikemac]

This will REALLY motivate cabbies to deal with alien customers if they are fined for something they don't understand. Thainess at its best; I wanted to flag down a car and he passed with open window "no farang"! Must have been among those fined lately I guess....

"Thainess at its best".........................stupid comment. This is to do with arrogant taxi drivers picking the best customers as far as they are concerned and giving the rest a snub.

That's all. If you are basing the Thai population on the attitude of taxi drivers it does not say much for you.

[KunMatt]

I used to just laugh it off, they are trying to make some money etc etc until i was standing in the pissing rain with my 15 month old baby and 5 taxi's would not take me. So much for good Buddist values but a definite for Thainess. Only and always about themselves.

Try the GrabTaxi or EasyTaxi app, if you want to spend more for a nicer luxury car then use GrabCar in the GrabTaxi app. I never use street taxis anymore if I can avoid it.

[daboyz1]

I never thought I would defend taxi drivers, BUT, it seems a valid reason to reject a customer if they have to return the taxi and fear they will miss the deadline (assuming its the truth). I for one would support financial help such as a lease to buy system for taxi drivers to purchase their own cars and eradicate such excuses and at the same time reduce the number of wealthy individuals/firms who own fleets of taxis, one would hope you would also see a drastic improvement in driving if they actually own their vehicle.

Can't they turn off the light that displays they are for hire?

[trainman34014]

A 1,000 Baht fine will be made up on the next three or four scam's. Make the fine 10,000 Baht per shot and if they refuse to pay impound the car until it's paid. Let the driver explain to the car owner why he hasn't returned his cab.

' Attitude Problem ' doesn't go away on its own, it has to forced with an iron will to actually 'enforce the law '.

[webfact]

Over 30 law-breaking cab drivers nabbed overnight

BANGKOK, 23 April 2015 (NNT) - Tourist police last night arrested more than 30 cab drivers who turned down passengers, during their patrols in tourist spots around the capital city.

Patrols were dispatched last night to popular tourist spots around Bangkok in the wake of complaints about some tax drivers' turning down passengers. The operation led to 34 cab drivers being nabbed and fined.

According to the tourist police, areas with frequent reports of cab drivers' turning down passengers are Nana, Sukhumvit Soi 3, and Sukhumvit Soi 5. Most incidents occur late at night when tourists usually finish their nightlife activities.

Cab drivers who decline to give services to passengers without appropriate reasons are considered having violated Land Traffic Act, B.E. 2522 (1979). Drivers who deem their prospective customers too dangerous can decline the request by turning on their not-in-service signs.


-- NNT 2015-04-23

[slapout]

i hope they expand this enforcement to the entire country, as this is a vast sum of money being taken illiegally from the residences and tourists who visit which should be going to small businesses who barely scrape out a living from small shops and street vendors..

Chiang Mai metered taxies refuse to drop the flag in most cases. many of the red song taw try to overcharge the standard fee of 20 baht for the short intercity trips. this practice in turn allows the tuk tuks to ask/demand excessive fees. the majority of the first two groups are owned by the same company (see logo on door).

this virtual monopoly has prevented a public bus transport system from ever having successfly set up scheduled routes and then permently implemented them in CM. .

[craigt3365]

This will REALLY motivate cabbies to deal with alien customers if they are fined for something they don't understand. Thainess at its best; I wanted to flag down a car and he passed with open window "no farang"! Must have been among those fined lately I guess....

If you follow the Thai social media, taxis rejecting passengers is a hot topic with the locals. They hate it as much as we do.