DLT and army using entrapment to snare Uber drivers in Pattaya

[webfact]

DLT and army using entrapment to snare Uber drivers in Pattaya

 

Picture: TNews

 

PATTAYA: -- The Department of Land Transport is using sting operations to entrap Uber drivers and rid Pattaya of the private taxi service.

 

Tnews reported that the DLT were now working in tandem with the military to get the service run out of town.

 

All they need to do is pretend to be customers and they can snare their victims.

 

Yesterday they reported that a driver called Sunthorn Phimtham, 39, driving a white Toyota Camry was trapped working for Uber.

 

He was caught outside the Baron Beach Hotel and fined 2,000 baht for incorrect use of his vehicle.

 

Somchai Ratkaew, a local DLT inspection division chief said that Uber was causing a lot of problems in Pattaya.

 

While their service is convenient and affordable it is also illegal, said Somchai, noting that Uber is a foreign company.

 

Somchai said that the DLT and their military helpers would not rest and intend to work on the issue with 2,000 baht fines and removal of licenses in the offing.

 

Licenses could be taken away for 3 months, six months or even permanently said the official.

 

Source: TNews

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-06-14

[gmac]

The arm of the baht bus mafia is long and reaches far!

[colinneil]

Pity they dont spend as much time/effort to trap all the other crooked taxi drivers.

[wakeupplease]

Uber was causing a lot of problems in

 

Oh Yes

 

The >itty is run by crooks for crooks always has been and always will be a den of corruption

[johng]

Pity they dont spend as much time/effort to trap all the other crooked taxi drivers.

Shame they cant get the Pattaya taxis to actually use their meters !

[tracker1]

Reckon there would be a heap of baht changing hands at the moment ! I mean to say nearly everybody Thai and foreigners knows who runs the place there and a few other tourist destinations and it isn't the Thais

[KittenKong]

28 minutes ago, webfact said:

While their service is convenient and affordable it is also illegal, said Somchai, noting that Uber is a foreign company.

 

So Somchai blames the farangs. Surprise!

[Peterw42]

Good to see, maybe the same approach could be used to catch illegal short term renters.

 

I still dont get the whole uber thing, people use the argument that normal taxi's dont use their meters, Uber taxi's dont have meters. At least with a normal Taxi, there is a level of licensing and insurance etc, an uber car there is no idea if the driver is licensed or the car insured.

 

I can see an instance in the future where someones travel insurance claim will be refused because they were traveling in an illegal taxi, not licensed or insured to carry passengers

Edited June 14, 2017 by Peterw42

[KittenKong]

24 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

I still dont get the whole uber thing, people use the argument that normal taxi's dont use their meters, Uber taxi's dont have meters. At least with a normal Taxi, there is a level of licensing and insurance etc, an uber car there is no idea if the driver is licensed or the car insured.

 

I can see an instance in the future where someones travel insurance claim will be refused because they were traveling in an illegal taxi, not licensed or insured to carry passengers

 

I never use taxis or Uber here but I think the point about Uber is that the app tells you the price before the driver even comes to you. Given that official drivers in Pattaya never seem to use their meters the Uber system would be an improvement on that.

 

In the UK you can buy proper legal insurance to use a vehicle for private hire (which is what Uber is). Not sure if the insurance companies sell it here though, or if many Uber vehicle owners bother to buy it.

[darksidedog]

If they spent the whole day trying and only managed to get one Uber driver, it suggests the Uber presence here is not particularly large. Maybe the cops would be better employed catching the gold chain snatchers, who seem to be far more prevalent.

[robblok]

14 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

If they spent the whole day trying and only managed to get one Uber driver, it suggests the Uber presence here is not particularly large. Maybe the cops would be better employed catching the gold chain snatchers, who seem to be far more prevalent.

Let them go to BKK and catch taxi drivers that refuse the meter or refuse as the place they want to go to is not convenient. If they want Uber and others not to emerge make sure the current system works better. 

[Dave67]

" Somchai, noting that Uber is a foreign company."

 

Yes cannot have foreigners taking money they are only here to give it

[Peterw42]

6 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

I never use taxis or Uber here but I think the point about Uber is that the app tells you the price before the driver even comes to you. Given that official drivers in Pattaya never seem to use their meters the Uber system would be an improvement on that.

 

In the UK you can buy proper legal insurance to use a vehicle for private hire (which is what Uber is). Not sure if the insurance companies sell it here though, or if many Uber vehicle owners bother to buy it.

I cant see the difference, there are apps or phone numbers for getting taxi's, in any built up urban area they are out the front of your hotel/condo. You tell them where you want to go and ask how much, or they put the meter on.

As you say, in the UK you can buy private "for hire" insurance, which would indicate that normal car insurance doesn't cover carrying people for hire. I think in the future these business models like uber, airbnb etc are yet to be tested, and will fail, when it comes to commercial insurance coverage.

 

[KittenKong]

31 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

I cant see the difference, there are apps or phone numbers for getting taxi's, in any built up urban area they are out the front of your hotel/condo. You tell them where you want to go and ask how much, or they put the meter on.

 

I think the difference is that with Uber you know the price before you even start, and that price is fixed by a third-party and is based on the distance travelled, though from what I read they seem to also be incorporating a measure of dynamic demand-based pricing now.

 

If you get a regular taxi in Pattaya it seems that they will never use the meter and you have to argue discuss the fare with the driver on an individual basis each time. Personally this puts me right off using them. I dont know how it works if you call a taxi despatching number here though. Do they quote a fixed price for the trip?

 

The pre-booked airport "taxi" services do fix the price in advance, though of course these are also private hire vehicles and not real taxis. I wonder how many of those have private hire insurance? None of them ever seem to be investigated by the DLT yet there must be 10,000 signs up for them all over Pattaya and in every hotel or lodging house, so they arent exactly hiding.

[richard_smith237]

This is disgusting... UBER have filled a gap left by the scheming aggressive Taxi drivers... 

 

IF the DLT adequately dealt with the issues the public have to face with the Taxi's it wouldn't be necessary to deal with UBER for no place would exist for them in the market to begin with.

 

@ DLT - Do your jobs properly and deal with the bigger picture - Deal with the extremely poor and illegal behavior of the Standard Taxi's... once you have fixed these issues then move on to the small fish... 

 

This just identifies that the DLT are complicit in Thailands Taxi woes rather than the potential solution.

[WhizBang]

Too bad they don't put as much effort into taming the Taxi Meter mafia and Baht buses.  Instead they put effort into ridding the country of a service people WANT.  This junta is bringing UNhappiness to the people.  Just goes to show that the government is not working in the best interests of the people. 

 

Amazing Thailand, indeed.

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

This just identifies that the DLT are complicit in Thailands Taxi woes rather than the potential solution.

 

I expect that there is indeed some envelope transfer going on in the taxi>DLT direction.

[sweatalot]

 

Somchai Ratkaew, a local DLT inspection division chief said that Uber was causing a lot of problems 

 

Stupid me! I was believing it were the legit taxi drivers who are causing a lot of problems 

Edited June 14, 2017 by sweatalot

[jaywalker]

Why don't they stick undercover officers in the maniacal mini-vans?

[MaxLee]

UBER drivers and customers, avoid Pattaya, if you value your lives..............

[Luckysilk]

Fix the problem it's the TAXI's that are the issue.

 

As far as Uber is concerned I deleted the APP and will never use that company again after the gouged travelers in London during the recent events. To hell with them and if there was a hotline I'd report Uber drivers.

[Mickmouse1]

Play it FAIR AND GET THOSE LICENCED TAXI DRIVERS WHO CONSTANTLY CHEAT US PASSENGERS.

Some people are biased which makes most of us public question their  real motive. Clowns would ignore the real issue and the real problem .

Did you ever ask why should the Public use Uber ?

The other day the Army did excellent  job when they entrapped 3 taxi drivers acting completely outside the law and scope of work.These are the people you should go after .?

[Nemesis7]

I personally have anything against Uber as many cases it's a relief I tried them in Manila and in Jakarta was great . 

[Mickmouse1]

Are the Party's Taxis metered?

I have not yet met 1 that agrees to use meter and I will never get into 1.

I am  certain if I run legit metered taxis in Pattaya the other Taxi drivers will do their best to stop us using the meters?????

[dotpoom]

6 hours ago, gmac said:

The arm of the baht bus mafia is long and reaches far!

Not as long as the metered taxis me thinks, who took to surrounding the Uber drivers and trapping them,....rather than entrapping them.

 

 

 

[kcpattaya]

Thai taxi-mafia RULES!

[mark01]

Shameful selective law enforcement. As usual ?

[thhMan]

I wonder how many Scooters with "no helmet riders" went past these "concerned" law enforcement officers?

[Sooo Upto Me]

6 hours ago, gmac said:

The arm of the baht bus mafia is long and reaches far!

It's not the baht bus mafia, it's the taxi so called mafia. 

[Lupatria]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Licenses could be taken away for 3 months, six months or even permanently said the official.

As long as HiSo's can crash their Mercedes in other cars at 200 km/h can keep their license, the Thai world is in order.