PHUKET: Drivers of illegal taxis and tuk-tuks on Phuket will be arrested from August 1 and face fines of 20,000 baht, officials announced today.
The declaration by the Phuket Land Transport Office Director, Teerayuth Prasertpon, comes as the campaign to tame Phuket's tuk-tuk and taxi ''mafia'' enters a new enforcement phase.
''If you are still on the roads of Phuket after August 1, we are going to arrest you eventually.'' That was the message delivered to outlaw drivers from the Phuket Land Transport Department and the Army today.
After several years when all wanna-be taxi drivers have been given every opportunity to make themselves and their vehicles legal, the crunch is finally coming.
Khun Teerayuth - Phuketwan's Phuket Person of the Year 2012 award winner for his efforts to provide Phuket with proper public transport - is now overseeing the finish of the transport ''mafia.''
Region 8 police combined with the coincidental takeover by the military of Thailand from May 22 have supported his efforts to make drivers conform and adapt to taxi meters and call centres.
Arrests of scores of drivers in Karon and their alleged sponsors in the local administration are expected to be followed soon by similar action in Patong and at Phuket International Airport.
The extortionate fares charged by taxis and tuk-tuks on Phuket - fares that are six times what passengers pay in Bangkok - are likely to be cut in half once passengers no longer have to pay for the rip-off trip that the drivers have traditionally made back to base, alone.
Within a few weeks, all taxis and tuk-tuks are likely to be obliged to either wait for business at call-in holding centres off the major west coast roads or patrol Phuket's roads, dropping off and picking up fares all over the island and charging by meter rates.
The declaration by the Phuket Land Transport Office Director, Teerayuth Prasertpon, comes as the campaign to tame Phuket's tuk-tuk and taxi ''mafia'' enters a new enforcement phase.
''If you are still on the roads of Phuket after August 1, we are going to arrest you eventually.'' That was the message delivered to outlaw drivers from the Phuket Land Transport Department and the Army today.
After several years when all wanna-be taxi drivers have been given every opportunity to make themselves and their vehicles legal, the crunch is finally coming.
Khun Teerayuth - Phuketwan's Phuket Person of the Year 2012 award winner for his efforts to provide Phuket with proper public transport - is now overseeing the finish of the transport ''mafia.''
Region 8 police combined with the coincidental takeover by the military of Thailand from May 22 have supported his efforts to make drivers conform and adapt to taxi meters and call centres.
Arrests of scores of drivers in Karon and their alleged sponsors in the local administration are expected to be followed soon by similar action in Patong and at Phuket International Airport.
The extortionate fares charged by taxis and tuk-tuks on Phuket - fares that are six times what passengers pay in Bangkok - are likely to be cut in half once passengers no longer have to pay for the rip-off trip that the drivers have traditionally made back to base, alone.
Within a few weeks, all taxis and tuk-tuks are likely to be obliged to either wait for business at call-in holding centres off the major west coast roads or patrol Phuket's roads, dropping off and picking up fares all over the island and charging by meter rates.
Why do they keep talking legal and illegal taxi when all taxi in Phuket are ripoff. Will they provide a number to call when the driver won't turn his meter on? Hold on meter in a Tuktuk yea right. Maybe start at the airport first thing people see when landing is a scamer
Posted by Anonymous on July 24, 2014 14:20
Editor Comment:
Don't be so impatient. Your taxi is on the way.