Land Transport Dept to take legal actions against Uber Thailand over its driver’ assault of a passenger

[rooster59]

Land Transport Dept to take legal actions against Uber Thailand over its driver’ assault of a passenger

 

BANGKOK:-- The Land Transport Department will take legal action against Uber Thailand despite the company’s decision to close the account of one of its drivers who assaulted a passenger.

 

The department head Mr Sanit Promwong said Friday that Uber Thailand’s taxi service is still regarded as illegal because its drivers are not registered with the department, the cars used as taxis are not registered as public transport and its fare rates are not regulated.

 

Although there have not been many complaints against Uber’s taxi service, Mr Sanit said the department had already suspended the service.

 

The alleged assault incident was reported by the victim under the name of Ballshi Shisha in his Facebook page on Friday. He said he called the taxi using Uber X application to take him from Suvarnabhumi international airport to Buddha Monthon 4 road on Thursday night at about 8 pm.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/land-transport-dept-take-legal-actions-uber-thailand-driver-assault-passenger/

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2016-09-17

[colinneil]

The outcome of this will be very interesting.

Action against an Uber taxi driver.

Lets see how different he will be treated to an ordinary taxi driver.

[shirtless]

I feel that they have no case against the company, but this is Thailand 

[jamesbrock]

43 minutes ago, colinneil said:

The outcome of this will be very interesting.

Action against an Uber taxi driver.

Lets see how different he will be treated to an ordinary taxi driver.

 

The very fact that action is being taken against the company, while regular taxi thugs, thieves and rapists get off with slaps on their wrists shows how different it is...

[rooster59]

So you think Uber will solve Bangkok's taxi woes....think again

 

Image: Thairath

 

BANGKOK:-- It is certainly a cautionary tale for those who think that Uber is the answer to Bangkok's rogue taxi driver problem.

 

A Thai man called Attamet Pornphichanurak, 35, had his luggage thrown at him and was physically assaulted and dumped out of a Uber taxi on his way home from the airport on Thursday.

 

And to support his claims that he was attacked, he posted a five minute video of part of his ordeal.

 

The matter is now in the hands of Hua Mark police. While reporters who tried to contact Uber for comment just met a stony silence.

 

Attamet had agreed to pay Uber X 300 baht to take him from Suvarnabhumi to his home in Phuthamonton Sai 4. But when the taxi hit traffic just off the motorway going to Rama 9 an argument developed between passenger and driver.

 

The driver complained that the destination was outside the accepted area and not worth his time while the passenger said he could get out before but he shouldn't have to pay the full rate.

 

The driver then told the passenger: "Don't be a wise guy" before the argument escalated with the Uber driver telling him to "Get the f**k out".

 

Attamet said he was turfed out by the road in Rama 9, had part of his luggage hurled at him and when he questioned the driver about a refund the man grabbed his shirt injuring his face and neck, pulling off a necklace and damaging gifts bought abroad as well as his earphones.

 

He reported the matter to Hua Mark police who have called the driver in to face questions. If he doesn't show an arrest warrant will be issued.

 

Reporters who tried to contact Uber failed to get any comment from the company.

 

The video was viewed by the public on the "Ballshi Shisha" Facebook page with many people calling into question the whole accountability of the Uber company for drivers operating its services.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZzSbyWDuvs

 

Source: Thairath

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-09-17

[impulse]

It was only a matter of time before Uber got its share of butthead, scamming drivers.

 

A good thing can only last so long before the bad guys figure out a way to abuse it.  Then change their ID when they get caught and abuse it all over again.  Then again under their brother's ID.

[jamesbrock]

5 minutes ago, impulse said:

It was only a matter of time before Uber got its share of butthead, scamming drivers.

 

A good thing can only last so long before the bad guys figure out a way to abuse it.  Then change their ID when they get caught and abuse it all over again.  Then again under their brother's ID.

 

Yep, unfortunately there is one wildly unpredictable commonality that Uber and taxis share...

[maoro2013]

3 hours ago, colinneil said:

The outcome of this will be very interesting.

Action against an Uber taxi driver.

Lets see how different he will be treated to an ordinary taxi driver.

The story says the department will take action against Uber, not specifically the driver.

[kannot]

Thank  goodness we  have the "normal" taxis to rely on, this would never happen with a "Thai" company

[atyclb]

much antagonism exists from taxi drivers against uber, especially the low life ones that  refuse fares and meter. uber drivers are generally more polite and professional than many taxis. i wouldnt be surprised if this incident was setup to have cause to take action against uber. 

[samtam]

49 minutes ago, atyclb said:

much antagonism exists from taxi drivers against uber, especially the low life ones that  refuse fares and meter. uber drivers are generally more polite and professional than many taxis. i wouldnt be surprised if this incident was setup to have cause to take action against uber. 

 

it does seem odd to be videoing the ride...but I haven't listened to the audio, which might shed light on that aspect.

[williamgeorgeallen]

3 hours ago, impulse said:

It was only a matter of time before Uber got its share of butthead, scamming drivers.

 

A good thing can only last so long before the bad guys figure out a way to abuse it.  Then change their ID when they get caught and abuse it all over again.  Then again under their brother's ID.

uber is an amazing self regulating system if it is used properly. this however was not an uber taxi ride as the fare was agreed before hand, not calculated as per the normal uber system. whole story is b#lls#it. just an excuse to jump on the f#ck uber band wagon. collecting fines and shutting down the competition. dont really know if uber can work in thailand as the drivers will use uber to get the customers and then try to take cash.

[Naroge]

4 hours ago, shirtless said:

I feel that they have no case against the company, but this is Thailand 

 

Well, as much as I like to have an alternative to the present taxi service I believe such alternative has to follow present laws and regulation. Apparently Uber operate outside present laws and regulations. Let's see.

[Bluespunk]

1 hour ago, atyclb said:

much antagonism exists from taxi drivers against uber, especially the low life ones that  refuse fares and meter. uber drivers are generally more polite and professional than many taxis. i wouldnt be surprised if this incident was setup to have cause to take action against uber. 

A set up?

 

Yeah right, that's what happened. 

 

My, oh my...

[Bluespunk]

9 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

uber is an amazing self regulating system if it is used properly. this however was not an uber taxi ride as the fare was agreed before hand, not calculated as per the normal uber system. whole story is b#lls#it. just an excuse to jump on the f#ck uber band wagon. collecting fines and shutting down the competition. dont really know if uber can work in thailand as the drivers will use uber to get the customers and then try to take cash.

"The Land Transport Department will take legal action against Uber Thailand despite the company’s decision to close the account of one of its drivers who assaulted a passenger."

 

If it wasn't an uber 'taxi' why has the company said they have closed the account of the driver?

 

[impulse]

10 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

uber is an amazing self regulating system if it is used properly.

 

So is the Thai metered taxi system (combined with laws against hacking your passengers to death- remember that one?)  

 

But it's just a matter of time before the scammers jump onboard and figure out how to game the system.  Any system.  Then Uber is just another way to get scammed by the same guys who used to scam us before Uber.  And without even paying those pesky taxes and taxi registration and inspection fees.

[williamgeorgeallen]

1 minute ago, impulse said:

 

So is the Thai metered taxi system (combined with laws against hacking your passengers to death- remember that one?)  

 

But it's just a matter of time before the scammers jump onboard and figure out how to game the system.  Any system.  Then Uber is just another way to get scammed by the same guys who used to scam us before Uber.  And without even paying those pesky taxes and taxi registration and inspection fees.

would be interesting to see if the system would work here but i doubt it will be given a chance. most western countries uber is killing the taxi companies in the west but then it works as the drivers  follow the rules.

[impulse]

Just now, williamgeorgeallen said:

would be interesting to see if the system would work here but i doubt it will be given a chance. most western countries uber is killing the taxi companies in the west but then it works as the drivers  follow the rules.

 

It also helps that the Uber drivers don't have to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars for taxi shields.  Makes competing a lot more lucrative.  

[williamgeorgeallen]

26 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

"The Land Transport Department will take legal action against Uber Thailand despite the company’s decision to close the account of one of its drivers who assaulted a passenger."

 

If it wasn't an uber 'taxi' why has the company said they have closed the account of the driver?

 

guy might have been also working as an uber taxi driver but this was not an uber ride. they agreed on a price which means it can not have been done under the uber system.

[Bluespunk]

1 minute ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

guy might have been also working as an uber taxi driver but this was not an uber ride. they agreed on a price which means it can not have been done under the uber system.

Uh huh...

[impulse]

3 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

guy might have been also working as an uber taxi driver but this was not an uber ride. they agreed on a price which means it can not have been done under the uber system.

 

Which begs the question whether that's an endemic risk when you summon an Uber driver in Thailand nowadays?  If so, it didn't take long for them to learn to game that system.

 

Full disclosure:  I don't use Uber because I actually have good luck with BKK taxis.  I do avoid the ones that are sitting still in a prime location.  They remind me of buzzards- actually more like hyenas..

[williamgeorgeallen]

18 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Which begs the question whether that's an endemic risk when you summon an Uber driver in Thailand nowadays?  If so, it didn't take long for them to learn to game that system.

 

Full disclosure:  I don't use Uber because I actually have good luck with BKK taxis.  I do avoid the ones that are sitting still in a prime location.  They remind me of buzzards- actually more like hyenas..

i have very much enjoyed my time living here in thailand but it seems like everything here is potentially a scam. as far as my experience with taxis goes i have had a good run and have found they are excellent value compared to back home. there are plenty of horror stories in the news of course. would really wonder if uber can work here as taxis are so cheap i dont know if they can charge 20% more and still be competitive based on superior service. doubt they will get a chance however as protectionism seems to be very strong here.

[mike324]

300 baht from airport to Phuthamonthon 4 road does not sound right. A normal taxi ride will be at least 500-600 baht. Not to mention the toll fees. There is more to this story I think. Given that the Uber rider should have the name of the driver and car license plate number on the app, why does he need to request the info from Uber Thailand again? Uber Thailand is useless though, you only can write a complaint on the app, there is no phone to call. 

 

I had a bad experience with bad Uber driver. The driver did not follow the GPS, what was suppose to be a 30 minute ride took almost 2 hours. I confronted the driver while he was driving and told him where to go as well, he would not listen or follow his GPS. Took me all over Bangkok as he got lost on the highway. I told him that he will need to issue a refund or I will contact Uber Thailand. When he dropped me off, he said he will off the refund and told me he is a policemen. I wrote a complaint to Uber (there is no number to call), they came back and only made a small adjustment to the charge when they should have refunded the trip.  There really isn't any way of talking to anybody in charge at Uber, they don't care if driver messed up on their part as well.

[impulse]

29 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

i dont know if they can charge 20% more and still be competitive based on superior service. doubt they will get a chance however as protectionism seems to be very strong here.

 

In my mind, it's also much more difficult in Thailand to differentiate between protectionism and just enforcing regulations and collecting taxes.  If legal taxi drivers have to pay for a shield, pay part of their revenue to the taxman and follow specific regulations, allowing the likes of an Uber to sidestep those requirements puts the livelihoods of the legal guys at risk.  And I count on the legal guys for my transportation needs- just like millions of others.  

 

Taking that to an extreme, if those legal guys all decide they can't make a living any more, where does that leave us?  Then we've just swapped one corrupt system for another, and the ill gotten gains just go overseas instead of greasing palms here in LOS.  And the ungreased palms will have figure out another way to fill the gap. Which will lead to unintended (and unpredictable) consequences.

 

BTW, I've got absolutely nothing against the likes of Grab Taxi, which seems to be a model for legal taxis to improve their earnings by offering a better service.  I'd also abandon all my qualms about Uber if they limited their participation to legal taxis.  I love the shared resource business model.

 

Edit:  My proposal for better service would be similar to Seoul, where different classes of taxi charge very different legal rates.  So a guy driving a nice, new car can charge a lot more than another guy with a clapped out beater.  And everyone's needs get met within their budget.

Edited September 17, 2016 by impulse

[Kasset Tak]

5 hours ago, jamesbrock said:

 

The very fact that action is being taken against the company, while regular taxi thugs, thieves and rapists get off with slaps on their wrists shows how different it is...

 Uber is ruled to be illegal in Thailand but they are still offering their services here. So as they refuse to stop their services the Thai law will use this against them instead, just like when the US legal system could not get to Al Capone for being a mafia leader so they jailed him for tax fraud instead. 

[spidermike007]

The taxi mafia here is very powerful. In some places like the southern islands, it is more powerful than the police, or the army. They operate completely above the law. So, I can see why they are being protected. That appears to be all this is about. Eliminating the competition. Compelling the mediocre, to stay mediocre. 

[richard_smith237]

Protectionism ??.... I consider my own protection first, most taxi's do not have rear seatbelts - this is the key reason I use UBER.

 

I thought UBER use a flat Airport Rate (I thought it was 1000 baht ??? - but that could be UBER Black).

 

The quality of Drivers in UBER is very Hit and Miss... always polite, always clean cars, but some of them are just idiots and can't follow the GPS to get to my location, I've had to cancel a number of UBER Taxis because they keep missing my Soi (its not that hard !).

 

Additionally, I find that sometimes UBER Drivers accept my 'job' when they are too far away... the App says 10 mins away, but in reality we both (drive and I) know they are closer to 30mins away in Traffic. 

 

Apparently drivers loose 'point' or get a poor rating from UBER if they don't accept enough jobs which forced them to accept any job if they are within 'the radius'. This often results in me having to 'cancel' a few accepted rides until a closer driver accepts the job.

 

Using UBER is getting a little 'headachey' here in BKK... The 'Thai effect' seems to come into it and they somehow find a way of ballsing it up !!... I just used UBER daily in London and the service was seamless. 

 

That Said, I still find UBER better than the available alternatives.....

 

 

[elgordo38]

7 hours ago, colinneil said:

The outcome of this will be very interesting.

Action against an Uber taxi driver.

Lets see how different he will be treated to an ordinary taxi driver.

Will this truly become a war of the envelopes? I guess its not the fatness of the envelope that counts but the denomination on the bills inside. I forgot the color of the 1000 baht note. 

Edited September 17, 2016 by elgordo38

[williamgeorgeallen]

1 hour ago, Kasset Tak said:

 Uber is ruled to be illegal in Thailand but they are still offering their services here. So as they refuse to stop their services the Thai law will use this against them instead, just like when the US legal system could not get to Al Capone for being a mafia leader so they jailed him for tax fraud instead. 

you might be right but will be hard to get uber for tax fraud if they dont have offices or income in thailand.

 

[CaptHaddock]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Protectionism ??.... I consider my own protection first, most taxi's do not have rear seatbelts - this is the key reason I use UBER.

 

I thought UBER use a flat Airport Rate (I thought it was 1000 baht ??? - but that could be UBER Black).

 

The quality of Drivers in UBER is very Hit and Miss... always polite, always clean cars, but some of them are just idiots and can't follow the GPS to get to my location, I've had to cancel a number of UBER Taxis because they keep missing my Soi (its not that hard !).

 

Additionally, I find that sometimes UBER Drivers accept my 'job' when they are too far away... the App says 10 mins away, but in reality we both (drive and I) know they are closer to 30mins away in Traffic. 

 

Apparently drivers loose 'point' or get a poor rating from UBER if they don't accept enough jobs which forced them to accept any job if they are within 'the radius'. This often results in me having to 'cancel' a few accepted rides until a closer driver accepts the job.

 

Using UBER is getting a little 'headachey' here in BKK... The 'Thai effect' seems to come into it and they somehow find a way of ballsing it up !!... I just used UBER daily in London and the service was seamless. 

 

That Said, I still find UBER better than the available alternatives.....

 

 

 

I have had a similar experience.  Usually an Uber ride is fine.  Several of them, however, have been unable to locate my soi to pick me up.  So, they just stop somewhere in the area, even on the next soi.  I wonder if they expect me to go find them?  It's very puzzling.