Sorry, taxis: Uber will not suspend services in Thailand

[webfact]

Sorry, taxis: Uber will not suspend services in Thailand

By Coconuts Bangkok

 

BANGKOK: -- Uber has refused to comply with the government’s request to temporarily stop their popular services while the Ministry of Transport is conducting a study about ride-sharing apps.

 

Despite an intense crackdown on Uber drivers, the U.S. giant ride-sharing company says it will continue to operate in Thailand while it is in talks with the Thai government on how to make the services legal.

 

“At the meeting, Uber urged the government to amend the existing Motor Vehicle Act so that it allows for ridesharing in Thailand. Uber is pleased that the government agreed to conducting independent third party research into ride-sharing regulations and the benefits they bring to Thailand, ” said the statement by Amy Kunrojpanya, Uber’s Director of Policy and Communications, Asia Pacific.

 

Full story: https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/sorry-taxis-uber-will-not-suspend-services-thailand/

 

-- © Copyright Coconuts Bangkok 2017-03-27

[Nong Khai Man]

How Can Uber TELL The Government they WON'T Obey a Direct Order ????

[seajae]

why not, everyone else tells the govt they will not follow anything they say, the fishing boats are a good example then of course there is the monks too, why not a US based company as well. Time for the govt to start getting serious with all those refusing to do as the laws state but I doubt we will see it happen

Edited March 27, 2017 by seajae

[Kasset Tak]

Just do what US does with people that follow their rules, even outside US... ask to get the CEO of UBER extradited to Thailand for breaking the law. Then they can block UBER with their firewall that blocks porn and other things and fine any ISP's that don't block UBER in Thailand as they are breaking the Thai law!

 

[rwdrwdrwd]

11 minutes ago, Kasset Tak said:

Just do what US does with people that follow their rules, even outside US... ask to get the CEO of UBER extradited to Thailand for breaking the law. Then they can block UBER with their firewall that blocks porn and other things and fine any ISP's that don't block UBER in Thailand as they are breaking the Thai law!

 

 

Hahaha good jokes. Zero chance of those being implemented.

Besides which, a 'request' is not an 'order'.

Edited March 27, 2017 by rwdrwdrwd

[Moonmoon]

The government or police can't even do anything or clear up the illegal taxi mafia in my neighbourhood so why should UBER obey.

 

 

[Jingthing]

Uber is great and sorely needed here!

Bring it on. 

[elgordo38]

56 minutes ago, webfact said:

Uber is pleased that the government agreed to conducting independent third party research

Ha ha the joke is on you Uber they will immerse you in an endless round of committees. 

[11223344]

42 minutes ago, Kasset Tak said:

Then they can block UBER with their firewall that blocks porn and other things and fine any ISP's that don't block UBER in Thailand as they are breaking the Thai law!

 

Have you heard about VPN?

[55Jay]

55 minutes ago, Nong Khai Man said:

How Can Uber TELL The Government they WON'T Obey a Direct Order ????

I know this isn't the same thing but it is an interesting potential when a determined group of people stand up and say "No" to a government not accustomed to that.  Disobeying Direct Orders is an interesting choice of words.  Mutiny.  Insurrection.  A catalyst for Revolution? 

 

I suspect the thought of a few million peasants deciding they've had enough, keeps our beloved  PM awake some nights.

[Kasset Tak]

4 minutes ago, 11223344 said:

Have you heard about VPN?

yea, it works well but not all people knows how to use a virtual private network on their PC's and even less knows how to set it up and use VPN on their phones.

 

[geriatrickid]

1 hour ago, Nong Khai Man said:

How Can Uber TELL The Government they WON'T Obey a Direct Order ????

Easy. An order has to be lawful and the laws in Thailand were written in a period when Uber did not exist. The Uber drivers are individual entrepreneurs. They pay a fee to Uber to access the Uber network and software. Uber drivers are no more illegal than the thugs who control transport at the Hua Hin railway station. The difference is that  Uber drivers have to respect multiple quality standards.

 

1 hour ago, seajae said:

why not, everyone else tells the govt they will not follow anything they say, the fishing boats are a good example then of course there is the monks too, why not a US based company as well. Time for the govt to start getting serious with all those refusing to do as the laws state but I doubt we will see it happen

Poor analogy. The government abrogated its responsibilities long ago when it refused to  enforce the existing taxi laws.

 

34 minutes ago, Moonmoon said:

The government or police can't even do anything or clear up the illegal taxi mafia in my neighbourhood so why should UBER obey.

Bingo. 

 

14 minutes ago, 11223344 said:

Have you heard about VPN?

Too advanced for some people who are still unaware that film cameras are obsolete.

 

[Sphere]

1 hour ago, Nong Khai Man said:

How Can Uber TELL The Government they WON'T Obey a Direct Order ????

 

 

By making a brown envelope phone...just like the string paper cup one......?

 

[gdgbb]

1 hour ago, Nong Khai Man said:

How Can Uber TELL The Government they WON'T Obey a Direct Order ????

The same way that any law breakers do, they just do it.   Let's hope they crack down on the illegal, uninsured drivers even more until their service is legalised and passengers have the protection that registered, legal taxis provide.

[gdgbb]

43 minutes ago, Moonmoon said:

The government or police can't even do anything or clear up the illegal taxi mafia in my neighbourhood so why should UBER obey.

 

 

So you condone law breaking because others do it?

[Jingthing]

On Uber cars, I think BANGKOK taxi drivers have a legitimate beef over the competition because BANGKOK taxis are a pretty good system, and most drivers use meters, and the rates aren't bad.

But in cities like Pattaya and Chiang Mai where there has been no taxi meter system to speak of but instead a very unfair overpriced transport monopoly, well, they don't deserve to be protected any longer. 

Edited March 27, 2017 by Jingthing

[gdgbb]

20 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

  39 minutes ago, Moonmoon said:

The government or police can't even do anything or clear up the illegal taxi mafia in my neighbourhood so why should UBER obey.

 

Bingo.

15 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

Easy. An order has to be lawful and the laws in Thailand were written in a period when Uber did not exist. The Uber drivers are individual entrepreneurs. They pay a fee to Uber to access the Uber network and software. Uber drivers are no more illegal than the thugs who control transport at the Hua Hin railway station. The difference is that  Uber drivers have to respect multiple quality standards

 

"Easy. An order has to be lawful and the laws in Thailand were written in a period when Uber did not exist. The Uber drivers are individual entrepreneurs. They pay a fee to Uber to access the Uber network and software. Uber drivers are no more illegal than the thugs who control transport at the Hua Hin railway station. The difference is that  Uber drivers have to respect multiple quality standards."

The order is lawful, a newcomer to the marketplace does not de-legitimise existing laws!  Uber drivers are currently illegal, period.  Other illegal entities are irrelevant but, having said that, Uber is just as illegal as any other illegal operations.

 

"The government or police can't even do anything or clear up the illegal taxi mafia in my neighbourhood so why should UBER obey."

Because it's the law, that's why.   Just because others disregard other, different, laws doesn't make it right.

 

 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

1 hour ago, seajae said:

why not, everyone else tells the govt they will not follow anything they say, the fishing boats are a good example then of course there is the monks too, why not a US based company as well. Time for the govt to start getting serious with all those refusing to do as the laws state but I doubt we will see it happen

Exactly right seajae nothing happens unless the PM gets really grumpy about something in particular.

There are laws about corruption which even apply to politicians, civil service employees including the RTP who thumb their nose at these laws and nothing happens to them. Only those involved prior to the junta taking over in 2014 seem to attract attention.

[thesetat2013]

1 hour ago, Nong Khai Man said:

How Can Uber TELL The Government they WON'T Obey a Direct Order ????

Nobody else listens to the government's direct orders.. why should Uber? 

[ricku]

Uber has some serious backbone, and they are basically telling the corrupted suits to fock off. I'm already using their services full time since the Taxi mafia started whining.

 

Professional and polite drivers, great service, never any problems, never any scam attempts.

 

Support them.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by ricku

[ricku]

1 hour ago, Kasset Tak said:

Just do what US does with people that follow their rules, even outside US... ask to get the CEO of UBER extradited to Thailand for breaking the law. Then they can block UBER with their firewall that blocks porn and other things and fine any ISP's that don't block UBER in Thailand as they are breaking the Thai law!

 

 

1 hour ago, 11223344 said:

Have you heard about VPN?

No need to worry. Specific apps can't be firewalled. It is not possible.

 

They'd have to firewall the entire appstore from both Google and Apple. And that's not gonna happen.

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by ricku

[BernieOnTour]

never again UBER !

 

...using GRAB in CM

[Chang_paarp]

Just do what US does with people that follow their rules, even outside US... ask to get the CEO of UBER extradited to Thailand for breaking the law. Then they can block UBER with their firewall that blocks porn and other things and fine any ISP's that don't block UBER in Thailand as they are breaking the Thai law!
 

Another small issue there. Uber does not currently have a CEO he resigned last week.

[wirat69]

Why apologise to the taxis??? The taxis should be apologising to us, the consumers!!!!

[williamgeorgeallen]

they can just keep operating. they are impossible to contact to tell to stop. i tried to sign up to be a driver in nz today and the confirmation code kept going to my thai number. god knows how they go that. no way to phone or email them that i can find.

[jasonsamui55]

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Uber is great and sorely needed here!

Bring it on. 

And I hope they bury the local taxi mafia and put them out of business. They deserve it!

[Spellforce]

If the taxi meters were at the same price than  Bangkok (35 bahts the 2 first km then 5 bahts per km), nobody will use Grab Taxi or Uber;

[jybkk]

1 hour ago, gdgbb said:

The same way that any law breakers do, they just do it.   Let's hope they crack down on the illegal, uninsured drivers even more until their service is legalised and passengers have the protection that registered, legal taxis provide.

Oh this 'uninsured' argument is <deleted>. Given the choice, I'd rather go in a safe uninsured vehicle than an unsafe insured one. Also, many of us anyway have an insurance that would cover that.

 

There's a lot of cons regarding UBER (they have been caught with quite scummy practices), but I think it is unfortunately necessary for us consumers to hope that UBER holds on well if we ever want to see some improvement with the way taxis work in Thailand. If they were to cease their activity until the law legalizing it is enacted, you can be certain that said law would be postponed ad infinitum. Hopefully once it's done, competitors with better practices can emerge.

 

As it is now, UBER does a great service to customers where it operates in Thailand. It's a real kick in the nuts to the Chiang Mai and Phuket taxi mafias, and, to a lesser extent, a good highlight of the shortcomings of Bangkok taxis (cleaner cars, safer driging, don't refuse trips, tacking, etc...)

[alocacoc]

Uber will loose. Regular taxi drivers will start to block some important streets. It will happen. Then the gov have to react. There will be street fights. It gets ugly. And who to blame? The gov which isn't able to force their own law.

Edited March 27, 2017 by alocacoc

[ricku]

20 minutes ago, alocacoc said:

Uber will loose. Regular taxi drivers will start to block some important streets. It will happen. Then the gov have to react. There will be street fights. It gets ugly. And who to blame? The gov which isn't able to force their own law.

Block streets and stop who?

 

Have you ever seen a Uber car? They have no signs, special colors, or led lights. They look like an ordinary car who could be anyone. They don't even have a meter on the dashboard, since the customer gets that information through the smartphone app.

 

the entire business is done on the app. All the way from hailing / ordering a car,  to paying and rating the driver.

 

Even the BIB have no idea how to stop Uber drivers. lol

Edited March 27, 2017 by ricku