Will be interesting to see if the buses actually start rolling, and how long before they are closed down due to intimidation.

Posted by Remarkable on December 4, 2012 14:42

Excellent news..although I hope that the buses aren't operated by the owners of the taxi/tuk tuk mafia, and don't make stops outside the airport at "tourist information" offices! We live in hope....

Posted by ElCapitan on December 4, 2012 14:45

I'm surprised but very happy that some operators would risk retaliation by the current Taxi mob.

I sure hope they will be able to maintain their service and be profitable. Everyone would benefit.

I would like to suggest however to adjust the last departure time of 8pm and align it with arriving flights, as is the case at major airports.

Plenty of flights arriving after 8pm but not many after 10.30pm. Have the last bus depart at 11.30pm please so more people can use it.

I assume exact stop/pickup locations along the route will be published later.

Posted by Andrew on December 4, 2012 15:04

Are you buses going to stop at fixed points or go to any address in thoses areas. If they do not do the latter many people will feel uncomfortable waiting and not knowing how to get to their final address from an unknown area if it is their first time.

Posted by Happy Farang on December 4, 2012 15:13

Good news. Trips may take a while longer but if you are not in a hurry...no problem. Anything better than touts and overpriced taxis. Personally, I find it very encouraging that progress is being made in several areas and this is one example.

Posted by Ga on December 4, 2012 15:14

-Happy Farang-
For these prices you want a door to door service? Serious? Who wants it different, take a Taxi or the Mini Bus services.
But, I am pretty sure, on the mayor stopping points, there will be Tuk Tuks, Motorbike Taxis and maybe even Taxis (Black one?) be waiting to get at least a small share of the cake!

Posted by Alfred on December 4, 2012 19:05

Why not divert the Patong/Kata bus via Heroines and Cherng Talay through Kamala - given the expected delays along the length of the bypass this would be a more sensible route for the short term any way. This would also benefit Bang Tao and Surin but I guess they don't want any more planned visitors at the moment!

Posted by Mister Ree on December 4, 2012 19:30

All this does is take food outa someones mouth. People can afford the taxi price and it keeps a lot of people fed.

Posted by Anonymous on December 4, 2012 23:18

Souvenir sellers will be happy again with those 'unscheduled' (but really planned)long stops to 'pick up' a few tourists..will it never end? Yawn..and I'm one of the optimists!

Posted by Anonymous on December 4, 2012 23:27

Anonymous

I think we are WELL past the "food in mouth" stage when it comes to the greedy taxi drivers..More like "takes their second car or house out of their reach", you don't have to worry about anybody not being able to eat. You are not supposed to get wealthy driving a taxi or a tuk tuk anywhere in the world, it's a low skill job deserving a lower pay.

Can you really defend a taxi driver earning 3 or 4 times more than an educated bank or hotel employee with a mid level managers position? Not to mention a teacher or in the case of a waiter/waitress maybe 10 times more to a lowly taxi driver with no education and worthless language skills? It's just extremely unhealthy for the economy, and deeply unfair to have taxi or tuk tuk drivers in the "high income" bracket. Why would anybody get an education and go to university if you could earn more by ignoring education and earn more than a professor driving a taxi? It's against all common sense!

Posted by christian on December 5, 2012 08:15

There would be ample food in the mouth, for the price I was recently quoted, Anonymous.
Airport to Kathu; "same as Patong ...1500bt", still openly touting the queue for the meter- taxi rank.

Posted by Hugh Jarse on December 5, 2012 09:50

Alfred my point being that there needs to be additional transport, taxis, tuks etc at each arrival point and this fact clearly displayed at the departure point which would be especially helpful for people who have not been to Phuket before, unlike myself. Perhaps also telephone number of approved taxis. Phuket has recently made an effort to improve the taxis with the mandatory name of the driver in Thai and English on each vehicle.

Posted by Happy Farang on December 5, 2012 11:50

@Anonymous: Commerce always take food out of someones mouth. Mafia style monopolist business is not the right way of regulating this. Every other business in the free world is existing on competition, so why should taxis on Phuket be an exception?

Posted by Sherlock on December 5, 2012 12:08