Transport office exonerates Phuket visa-run service in fatal crash

[Destiny1990]

48 minutes ago, darren84310 said:

What amazes me is that foreigners are still using these services...... Regardless of your circumstances, find another way.

Well that is the most promoted service here.The Mini Van  border run.At your own risk of course.

[Destiny1990]

17 minutes ago, farcanell said:

 

And here was me thinking it was about a licensing loophole exempting private vehicles from adhering to the new requirements for gps installations.... oh well, different strokes for different folks.

 

But.... I base this on the first first paragraph written in bold, and the second paragraph, which try's to add to or explain the first.....  followed by the third paragraph, which makes the link to the accident, by saying "this news (OP) comes as.... ". Which means the fatal crash is a secondary issue to the OP. 

 

but thats perhaps just me.... and therefore... to stay on topic.... my thoughts would be to suggest setting undeniable guidelines to determine private use vehicles from public use vehicles.... eg... are the occupants known / related to driver ? (if no, then they are paying customers) to enforce correct licensing, and in turn, enforce installation or compliance with new safety (?) initiatives.

How about ban border runs? And just extend at nearest immigration?

[Jimi007]

4 hours ago, docspinoff said:

A O T stanse for Air Ports Of Thailand  see link http://aot.listedcompany.com/

 

 

 states company so must be  Commercial    but seems more like comical !!!!

I suggest you read the article again.

 

What does AOT have to do with the company in question that was providing the Visa Run Service? Nothing, other than the lazy Phuket News used a stock photo of an AOT mini bus rather than the one in the actual accident as the actual one used by the Visa Run Company was destroyed!

[farcanell]

7 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

How about ban border runs? And just extend at nearest immigration?

 

Good point.... and that's how my visa is extended

 

however.... this does not address the other mad bustards out there, driving like madmen, on regional shuttles to and from hotels and tourist traps

 

right here (well... 250 meters away) on visit road in rawai, I regularly see high speed van and bus accidents, whilst tourists are on their way to buy pretty shells at the pier.

 

a loop hole has been identified... once loop holes are identified, they need closing... and in this case, that requires regulation and accountability..... 5555.... I just made a joke. ?

[Bangkok Barry]

7 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

They advertise a "Visa Renewing Service".

 

I would suggest that it is implicit in the offer to renew a visa (in fact the re-application in the case of single tourist visas) or commence a new METV entry that the client must to be transported as they themselves are required to leave the country and re-enter with their passport.

 

I thought the law demanded that.

 

It does not advertise a "Document Arranging Service" does it?

 

 

 

Exactly. The police can't have it both ways. The company either illegally 'only' gathers the documents and arranges the visa themselves, or they transport paying customers to get their visa. Are there no records/receipts for the money paid by those visa runners for the journey? Is there no advertising by the company detailing what service they offer? If not, how do they generate business? A gigantic cover-up with plenty of holes in it.

[KenKadz]

So this PLTO Chief Sommai Sudkaow in Phuket is pretty good at "double-speak" and manipulating the facts.

And he has just publicly told Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to go to hell because he does not know what he is talking about?

This should be interesting!

 

Looks like the Department of Land Transportation has also Lost Face and needs to rewrite the laws to help Tourist Authority of Thailand protect foreign tourists, by prohibiting private passenger vans (blue writing on a white background) from carrying passengers for profit, or require all passenger vans to be registered commercial (yellow licence plates with black writing).

 

In either case people are going to be really upset with PLTO Chief Sommai Sudkaow for creating these problems for them.

 

Thainess:

No one is responsible

Everyone has an excuse

And if you need an excuse one will be provided!

[chuang]

Holy Cow 

[cardinalblue]

Again they are avoiding the cause of the crash...poor education and training of drivers....

 

people died and that was preventable...

 

getting sidetracked with semantics and BS bureaucracy b/c they lack the management skill to deal with drivers enforcement penalties etc

[stevenl]

Again they are avoiding the cause of the crash...poor education and training of drivers....
 
people died and that was preventable...
 
getting sidetracked with semantics and BS bureaucracy b/c they lack the management skill to deal with drivers enforcement penalties etc

The cause of the accident and this thread have no connection.

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[Jonmarleesco]

23 hours ago, rooster59 said:

'The sign in front of the (KBV) office didn’t say that they have a transportation service for visa runs, it says ‘visa renewing service’, which perhaps means arranging documents,” PLTO Chief Sommai told The Phuket News ... “It doesn’t say obviously that the service is for ‘transporting people to go for visa run business’, so we cannot accuse them of that,” he said.'

And naturally, they can't find a way of proving it. Silly me, of course they can't. This is Thailand.

[Jonmarleesco]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

The cause of the accident and this thread have no connection.

Sent from my ROBBY using Thaivisa Connect mobile app
 

The headline suggests it does.

[farcanell]

22 minutes ago, Jonmarleesco said:

The headline suggests it does.

 

Indeed.... yet how often do we rant against misleading headlines?

 

the story is in the story.... found beneath the attention grabbing misleading headline.

[ericthai]

On 1/21/2017 at 9:43 AM, stevenl said:

So if my diving service takes the guests to the boat in a van with white and blue plate that is allowed? After all we offer a diving service, not transportation service.

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i believe what they are trying to say is that the company it not charging a fee to take them to the boarder, the fee is for completing documents.

If they had a set fee for transport to the boarder and then i think it would be a different story. So if you take quests to a boat service and dont charge a fee then it would appear you are ok. If you charged a fee to transport them then it would be an issue.

[farcanell]

1 minute ago, ericthai said:

i believe what they are trying to say is that the company it not charging a fee to take them to the boarder, the fee is for completing documents.

If they had a set fee for transport to the boarder and then i think it would be a different story. So if you take quests to a boat service and dont charge a fee then it would appear you are ok. If you charged a fee to transport them then it would be an issue.

 

Which is BS.... the further the border, the higher the cost.... it ain't rocket science, even cuntstable plod should be able to work that one out.

[Happyman58]

Loopholes in Thailand there must be a million of them I will just call it bloody corruption

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm.....life sure is cheap in "the land of smiles"

[Colabamumbai]

Disgusting.

[stevenl]

i believe what they are trying to say is that the company it not charging a fee to take them to the boarder, the fee is for completing documents.
If they had a set fee for transport to the boarder and then i think it would be a different story. So if you take quests to a boat service and dont charge a fee then it would appear you are ok. If you charged a fee to transport them then it would be an issue.

Which is bs, all dive operators are by authorities required to have yellow plated transport. And none charge a separate fee for that transport.

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[NanLaew]

On 1/21/2017 at 9:30 PM, rooster59 said:

The sign in front of the (KBV) office didn’t say that they have a transportation service for visa runs, it says ‘visa renewing service’, which perhaps means arranging documents,” PLTO Chief Sommai told The Phuket News.

The case in the OP isn't about driver blame; that has been proven and he has been charged although the cops now seem to be sticking their hands out for a bit more. This is about which entity needs really deep pockets to address victim compensation.

 

AFAIK, the signs in front of schools nationwide don't claim that they also run transportation services. How many schools own or charter minivans to pick up and drop off kids, ie. the offspring of parents that pay the school for educating their progeny AND pay extra where a school bus is required? If one of these school buses had an accident, wouldn't having the correct vehicle licensing and correct insurance be a key factor in ultimately determining compensation?

 

If the Visa run company knowingly used an insufficiently insured minivan, ie. privately owned for private use, then they are liable. However, it appears the local LTO are taking a leaf out of the cops book and have their hands out for something to get them to do their job.