Thai police to combat bad airport taxis with lecture and sticker

[webfact]

Police to Combat Bad Airport Taxis With Lecture and Sticker
By Teeranai Charuvastra
Staff Reporter


Police officers award “Friendly Taxi” stickers to cabbies who participate in Tuesday’s lecture.

SAMUT PRAKARN — Where mass public pledges, complaint hotlines and a smartphone app have failed, police said they have come up with a new measure to discourage abusive behavior among taxi drivers at Bangkok’s airports: a lecture and sticker.

Under the “Friendly Taxi” campaign, police officers today delivered a lecture encouraging taxi drivers to obey the law and refrain from ripping off, refusing, fooling and threatening passengers as found in many complaints on social media.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1455017320&typecate=06&section=


-- Khaosod English 2016-02-10

[trogers]

Why not use a wooden ruler to whack the palm 10 times while lecturing the bad taxi driver? Used to work well back in grade school...

Grow up BIB!

Edited February 9, 2016 by trogers

[Bluespunk]

Good luck with that.

[Thechook]

That will work and if it doesn't, try enforcing the law, fine them heavily, repeat offenders have taxi thier licences suspend or cancelled

[thesetat2013]

That will work and if it doesn't, try enforcing the law, fine them heavily, repeat offenders have taxi thier licences suspend or cancelled

Even this will not be enough! They also need their vehicles impounded with storage fees compounded daily and total loss of vehicles if the owners don't pay or if they break the law several times.

[jaywalker]

Why not use a wooden ruler to whack the palm 10 times while lecturing the bad taxi driver? Used to work well back in grade school...

Grow up BIB!

Better yet, bend them over a chair and whack 'em with a paddle.

[NongKhaiKid]

Lots of ' encouragement ' to obey the law etc but was there any straight, words of one syllable, talking on the consequences of not doing so ?

I very much doubt it, not the Thai way and neither is proper enforcement.

[taony]

In other words, ignore any "friendly taxi" sticker you see bc it doesn't mean anything.

[tomwct]

Good luck with that.

I second That! What a joke. See all those cops with their shiny awards on their uniforms. They look like there all Generals, but inreality there all a joke! 12,000 THB a month salary but they drive new cars and have a nice home. And lastly, lets not forget

the Second Wife!

[canuckamuck]

They would have better results with a sticker that says buffalo.

[RobertHima]

Problem with the taxis again? It can not be true, I am sure they have solved all the problems during the last few crackdowns.

[torpedo1970]

good luck with that

[Snig27]

Which is why pretty much everyone I know uses Grab Taxi or Uber now.

[Melyn]

They would have better results with a sticker that says buffalo.

This isn't New York mate!

[CharlieH]

How long before someone color photocopies the sticker and starts selling them go ALL the drivers.

Here's a novel idea, try enforcing the law and demoonstrating there are actual and real consequences to their actions.

[Bob12345]

Does anybody ever stop for a second and try to figure out while all the previous crackdowns and schemes did not work? If you understand where and why those failed you know what you should change to make the current crackdown/scheme work.

But instead they keep introducing new things, which will fail, followed by a new introduction, etc.

[legend49]

Have they examined what the police do in Singapore? They dont wear a uniform, they pose as a tourists taking taxis to different places to evaluate fares how they are charged ( meter versus no meter); driving to catch redlights ( hence the meter value is higher), attitude of the driver, refusal of fare and so on. They issue some serious fines for what the customer would think is trivial , but they want to protect the image of the country.

[Emster23]

Good drivers don't need lecture and bad ones won't listen. Maybe police need lecture and be reminded "Money Number One" in Thai culture. Hit bad ones in pocket book to get their attention.

[skildpadden]

At first glance I thought they placed a copy of a 100 Baht note on the window - making it easier for all to see who paid the tea money already

[poohy]

Ah That's sorted then!

Now moving on, This morning only itinerant Spanish gangs to find, stop college students fighting and then this afternoon we can solve the drought problem, more medal s please!

[ThailandLOS]

A lot of the drivers would require an attitude adjustment at this point. Until that happens, I will stick to the Airport link.

[canuckamuck]

In other words, ignore any "friendly taxi" sticker you see bc it doesn't mean anything.

Not so. The sticker means that this driver has already been called in for being a scammer, so you should avoid that cab if at all possible.

[AlQaholic]

"Where mass public pledges, complaint hotlines and a smartphone app have failed....."

Yeah they fail because nobody trust the organisation that is perceived as the by far most corrupt of all Govt. agencies by the public in survey after survey, year after year...

[diehard60]

Lectures will do nothing. They will just nod their heads in agreement and then go back doing what they were doing before. Most Thais do not listen to the cops anyway. And they have no respect for them. See it everyday and all the time.

[dcsw53]

Great to see they are taking this so seriously and taking such tough measures. A stern talking to will undoubtedly solve the problem.

Does this mean that they will change the taxi parking arrangements at Suvarnabhumi ? At present you go to the desk and get allocated a taxi, the taxis are parked facing away from you, so you do not have a cat in hell's chance of seeing anything on the windscreen.

Why not tattoo a on all the complying drivers foreheads ? After all it will only affect one or two individuals.

[webfact]

“Friendly Taxi” service now at Suvarnabhumi airport



BANGKOK: -- In another effort to improve the image of Thailand's taxi service and stimulate tourism, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) yesterday launched what it calls "Friendly Taxis" campaign at Suvarnabhumi international airport so as to impress tourists and use the service with no worries.

The “Friendly Taxi” scheme was initiated to address illegal practises of taxi drivers at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport which came under growing complaint by passengers about their behaviour.

Pol Lt Gen Nares Nuntachote, deputy senior inspector general of the Royal Thai Police, said in launching the campaign yesterday that the “Friendly Taxi” scheme will help address all problems related to taxi service at this airport that have long plagued the country including their refusal to take passengers and their practises of overcharging passengers and not using metres.

The scheme is a joint cooperation among the military’s Artilleryman Battalion 21st King’s Guard, the Central Investigation Bureau, the Land Transportation Department and the Airports of Thailand.

Under the scheme, taxi drivers operating at the Suvarnabhumi international airport will be asked to undertake training sessions to learn about legal-taxi practices and punishments over illegal practices.

Drivers who pass the courses will receive a “Friendly Taxi” sticker to attach on their vehicle to earn trust of their passengers.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/150315


-- Thai PBS 2016-02-10

[Lee4Life]

Why can't they just peel the sticker off?

[TheLobster]

Why can't they just peel the sticker off?

'Drivers who pass the courses will receive a “Friendly Taxi” sticker to attach on their vehicle to earn trust of their passengers.'

[nikmar]

So, a bit like the "I love farang, I speak English." stickers that meant nothing at all.

i think they're going to run out of catchy titles for these schemes.

How about "Amiable taxi." or "Lovable Driver." for the next one.

[Rayk]

I required a taxi to come to my home at 3:00am and bring me to the airport,so I booked one through grab taxi. He was there just before 3 turned on his meter and took me to my destination. Not a word spoken.

Now that's service.