A modest proposal to raise baht bus fares

[Jingthing]

Thought you'd never hear this from me?

Well, you never can tell.

 

Paying a baht bus fare for 10 baht tonight it occurred to me that fare is starting to feel too good to be true.

Time marches on and prices go up. 

Why not baht bus fares too?

 

But how to do it?

Raise it to 20 and that's a 100 percent increase.

I think too much for the value considering they're trucks, the service can be rough, and you may have to pay multiple fares to get to your destination.

 

So here is my idea.

 

Raise the fare to 15 baht.

But 15 baht is an odd amount. 

There is no 15 baht coin.

 

So sell tokens all over town ... minimum order of 10. Commission to the vendors.

If you don't have a token, no problem, then the fare is 20 baht.

So big incentive for heavier users to buy the tokens.

 

Another change.

No short ride -- long ride fare difference.

In case you don't know, the current "rules" are 10 baht per ride, but 20 baht for very long rides, but very long rides is not defined by the baht bus company. 

New plan -- ANY ride. One 15 baht token or 20 baht paying cash. 

No more ambiguity and potential for violence, ripoffs, and misunderstandings.

 

Do I expect this or a similar plan to happen?

Of course not. We're in Pattaya.

But eventually the fare will go up and it probably won't be as reasonable a deal as my proposal when it does.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 8, 2016 by Jingthing

[anotheruser]

Should be 50 Baht already.

[onemorechang]

Yes do the tokens idea

Counterfeit tokens would be on offer after two days of start of new service.

TIT 

[Jingthing]

58 minutes ago, onemorechang said:

Yes do the tokens idea

Counterfeit tokens would be on offer after two days of start of new service.

TIT 

Yeah, could be.

I had thought of that but this was a rough concept thing. Devil is in the details.

Perhaps do it by prompt pay on mobiles.

A 15 "token" or some other way / 20 if paying by cash would in effect be a very substantial raise in fares as many people would just pay the 20, even for short rides. 

So any overhead / risk with the 15 system could be well worth it for the baht bus operators. 

Edited September 8, 2016 by Jingthing

[NanLaew]

Fare increases are typically associated with getting a better service.

 

Are the songtaews giving any better service than they did say 20 years ago?

[chiang mai]

The price of petrol and diesel is down substantially over the past few years hence the profit increase you suggest is already in effect!

[onemorechang]

30 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yeah, could be.

I had thought of that but this was a rough concept thing. Devil is in the details.

Perhaps do it by prompt pay on mobiles.

A 15 "token" or some other way / 20 if paying by cash would in effect be a very substantial raise in fares as many people would just pay the 20, even for short rides. 

So any overhead / risk with the 15 system could be well worth it for the baht bus operators. 

 

Think if it was a token system

the drivers would try and give tokens as change to people.

effectively the system  getting payed in advance  ?

 

[newnative]

Before they can raise the fares demand that they start new routes in Pratamnuk, Wong Amat, and other areas not currently served--and eliminate having to change baht taxis to go to Jomtien from Pattaya.

[KittenKong]

Any token system would result in massive scams.

 

The Bahtbus price is controlled by City Hall and drivers earn a perfectly decent living here. Absolutely no need for any increase at all. In fact it could be argued that a decrease is needed.

Drivers lose a vast amount of potential income by being stuck in traffic for much of the day particularly around the South Pattaya area and up to Central. Anything that reduced that congestion (and it would be very easy to do) would result in them earning more. This is what should be done rather than increasing fares: increasing prices is the standard Thai answer to everything and it doesn't work.

 

I imagine that some sort of regulatory system for charter journeys would be welcomed by anyone who charters Bahtbuses, but not by drivers. I have no idea how such a regulatory system could be implemented though.

 

Simply putting a large and clear price sign in English in the back of each Bahtbus would go a long way to sorting out problems, but I doubt that drivers would be interested in that either.

 

[sandgroper2]

The day i worry about a 100% increase in baht bus fare is the day I reach for the bottle at 7am.

[DPGumbypgh]

There is already regulations that govern Baht buses when being used for private hire. However good luck with it ever being enforced. Similarly for Motorcy fares.

[petermik]

JT

 

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, DPGumbypgh said:

There is already regulations that govern Baht buses when being used for private hire. However good luck with it ever being enforced. Similarly for Motorcy fares.

 

Indeed. But my suggestion was for a clear sign. I dont think that one is as clear as it could be.

 

Edited September 9, 2016 by KittenKong

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, DPGumbypgh said:

There is already regulations that govern Baht buses when being used for private hire. However good luck with it ever being enforced. Similarly for Motorcy fares.

Haven't seen that sign for years and this topic is NOT about private hire. It's about baht buses as BUSES. 

 

In any case, there have been official announcements that the fare is 10 baht but 20 baht for a long ride and long ride is never defined. I think that's the cause of a lot of confusion and even violent confrontations. 

Edited September 9, 2016 by Jingthing

[brewsterbudgen]

A 20 baht flat fare seems fair to me.

[Jingthing]

5 hours ago, sandgroper2 said:

The day i worry about a 100% increase in baht bus fare is the day I reach for the bottle at 7am.

It's not a matter of worrying. If they raise it to 20, which I consider likely sometime, so be it. However, personally I think 20 is too high for the service offered considering --

 

Often a need to take multiple rides to reach destination

Unpredictable turning behavior (you can't ever be sure the truck will follow through to the assumed route)

Comfort level in trucks

Service level of drivers

 

On the other hand I recognize these drivers need to earn a living. 10 baht now seems too low. It's no wonder so many drivers behave rudely trying to get charter fares in high season. 

[Jingthing]

55 minutes ago, petermik said:

JT

 

Everything is not illuminated. 

[Jingthing]

5 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Any token system would result in massive scams.

...

 

Perhaps or probably so.

But other cities have figured out these things.

Pattaya is now a big city.

Baht buses are part of the flavor here, like cable cars in San Francisco.

There is room for better systems.

Tokens may not be the answer.

Just raising the idea here that 10 baht can't stand, and 20 baht is probably too high given the product offered. 

[Pattaya28]

Introduce an "Oyster" card system.

That would create so much confusion would be hysterical 

[Jingthing]

13 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

A 20 baht flat fare seems fair to me.

I understand lots of people will think that way.

I doubt most Thai locals will think that way.

I also don't think that way. 

My current POV given the product offered (I've explained the flaws in it) is that 10 baht is too low and 20 baht is too high.

I do expect someday they'll just raise it to 20 even though many people especially local Thais will be angry about that.

That could (OK, probably WOULD) result in another two tiered racial based system where people that can pass for Thai will be charged the old fare. I think that would be horrible.

It was that way for years in the past, 5 baht for Thais, and 10 baht for foreigners. That sucked. 

I assume the reason they haven't stepped up to 15 is the problem I mentioned before. 15 is an inconvenient fare. There is no 15 baht coin. That would mean a lot more need to change making by the driver. 

Edited September 9, 2016 by Jingthing

[alocacoc]

Token? Bad idea? Why to complicate a simple thing?

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, alocacoc said:

Token? Bad idea? Why to complicate a simple thing?

It may indeed be.

However I've opened up higher baht bus fares for discussion.

I really don't want to see it to revert back to RACIAL based fares. That would not be cool. 

[KittenKong]

33 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Haven't seen that sign for years and this topic is NOT about private hire. It's about baht buses as BUSES.

Check the wording outlined in blue in the photo.

[KittenKong]

26 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Just raising the idea here that 10 baht can't stand,

 

Why not? Bahtbus drivers surely earn a reasonable living from it. In fact I suspect that they earn a very good living. If they didnt they would be rioting in the streets and abandoning their Bahtbuses to go and work in factories etc. And I dont see either happening.

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Check the wording outlined in blue in the photo.

It's not true anymore and and hasn't been for years so don't bother going back in history.

There was an announcement since then coming from city hall that indeed for LONG RIDES the fare is 20 baht. 

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

Why not? Bahtbus drivers surely earn a reasonable living from it. In fact I suspect that they earn a very good living. If they didnt they would be rioting in the streets and abandoning their Bahtbuses to go and work in factories etc. And I dont see either happening.

I think the fact that in high season you can see 10 trucks going by empty in Jomtien hustling for CHARTER fares, passing crowds of angry tourists seeking 10 baht bus rides, proves something is wrong with the 10 baht fare. Yes it shows the drivers are greedy as well, but if the bus fares paid them better, logically that behavior would be reduced. 

Edited September 9, 2016 by Jingthing

[thaitero]

Separate token system

In Thailand we have this 10 baht coin and 5 baht coin. Here is your "token(s)".

 

[champers]

JT, You tink too mutt.

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, champers said:

JT, You tink too mutt.

I tink so you don't have to ... 

[sandgroper2]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

It's not a matter of worrying. If they raise it to 20, which I consider likely sometime, so be it. However, personally I think 20 is too high for the service offered considering --

 

Often a need to take multiple rides to reach destination

Unpredictable turning behavior (you can't ever be sure the truck will follow through to the assumed route)

Comfort level in trucks

Service level of drivers

 

On the other hand I recognize these drivers need to earn a living. 10 baht now seems too low. It's no wonder so many drivers behave rudely trying to get charter fares in high season. 

Quite rightly so if one has to take multiple trips. For me to go from jomtien  to Tukcom, its 2 rides, nearly 2/3 of a dollar. Exorbitant. And then of course, i have to come back , another 2/3 of a dollar.