Cheaper minivan fares and better connections promised as Victory Monument to be cleared by end of October

 

Image: Thairath

 

BANGKOK: -- Passengers of minivans are set to enjoy cheaper fares as plans to clear the Victory Monument area of the vehicles take effect.

 

Ormsin Cheewapreuk of the Communications Ministry said that all minivans will be cleared out from the area by October 25th, reported Thairath.

 

They will be relocated to three existing bus stations - Jatujak (Mor Chit), Ekamai and the New Southern Bus Station.

 

Ormsin said that this will mean that operators will not need to travel so far to their destinations so prices can be lowered.

 

Passengers travelling to Pattaya, Hua Hin, Rayong and Ayuthaya are among those expected to benefit from the plans to regulate the services of the vans to a greater degree.

 

Improvements will be made to the existing bus stations so that they are able to cater to an influx of some 4,205 vehicles plying 57 routes in a 300 kilometer radius of the capital.

 

Prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has issued directives that investors in transports services should not be adversely impacted while the travelling public should not be inconvenienced. 

 

He has suggested that shuttle services be set up from transport hubs to facilitate connections to other services. Mor Chit bus station to the BTS is one such suggestion.

 

Ormsin said that a table of fares would be decided upon and that problems associated with the doubling up of old and existing routes would be addressed as the new measures are implemented.

 

Source: Thairath

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-08-12

I'll beleive it when I see it.

 

It will make the area much more pleasant to visit 

It is a great idea to clear Victory Monument, BUT I expect it to be total chaos.

 

I believe that it will be little more than a concept with little planning when it is implemented. People will not know where to go and the infrastructure and logistics for inner city connections will be almost non existent.

 

I can't imagine how Ekamai will be able to handle the extra burden of the waiting vans. Maybe there is a secret parking area nearby. Sukhumvit is already overloaded and will be mostly stand still traffic.

I don't really care too much about the savings in fares...what I would really like to see is some regulation regarding the qualifications and behavior of the drivers...I make the trip from Chon Buri to BKK regularly, and it's pretty scary sometimes, with the drivers exceeding 120 km per hour and swerving in and out of traffic, flirting with the unfortunate college student forced to sit next to him, or having a fight with a gf on their cell phone while driving...

Now....concentrate on their appalling, dangerous and reckless riving.

It has gone on for far too long...speeding, weaving and often on some tablet or another to keep awake.

 

If the cops want to have their tea money and actually do the public a service then this is where they should spend their energy.

Agree, other countries devised ways to monitor bad driving and have reduced it's incidence enormously, some decades ago.

There is already a few years a very well organized MiniVan station at Muang Thong Thani.

I can't imagine how Ekamai will be able to handle the extra burden of the waiting vans. Maybe there is a secret parking area nearby. Sukhumvit is already overloaded and will be mostly stand still traffic.

 

I thought Ekamai was due to be shut down and forced to move any month now.  What is the 'new southern station' ?  is it near a BTS , Ekamai and Victory were great so you could get on the BKK transit system easily.