PHUKET: Police are confiscating illegal taxis caught working on Phuket's Karon Hill in a crackdown on ''taxi mafia.''
Officers working with Tourist Police were at a checkpoint on the hill today pulling over suspicious vehicles.
Lieutenant Pomnarong Kan-Orathai of Karon Police Station's Prevention and Protection Division said: ''We have confiscated four vehicles after apprehending illegal drivers on October 1 and will continue the campaign in different spots around the district.''
The impounded vehicles are being stored with a growing number of other illegal taxis and tuk-tuks under 24-hour guard at Phuket City Police Station.
''Our aim is 100 percent enforcement,'' the lieutenant said. ''We are working with the Tourist Police who speak good English and can talk to most of the tourists.
''We pull the vehicles over for five or 10 minutes, interview the driver and the passengers, then let them proceed as planned to their destination. We don't want to interfere.
''Officers go to pick up the illegal vehicles later. We aim to keep doing this until Karon is free of the taxi mafia.''
The drivers will face a summons to court to answer charges at a later date.
Similar action is expected to be taken by police in Patong.
Officers working with Tourist Police were at a checkpoint on the hill today pulling over suspicious vehicles.
Lieutenant Pomnarong Kan-Orathai of Karon Police Station's Prevention and Protection Division said: ''We have confiscated four vehicles after apprehending illegal drivers on October 1 and will continue the campaign in different spots around the district.''
The impounded vehicles are being stored with a growing number of other illegal taxis and tuk-tuks under 24-hour guard at Phuket City Police Station.
''Our aim is 100 percent enforcement,'' the lieutenant said. ''We are working with the Tourist Police who speak good English and can talk to most of the tourists.
''We pull the vehicles over for five or 10 minutes, interview the driver and the passengers, then let them proceed as planned to their destination. We don't want to interfere.
''Officers go to pick up the illegal vehicles later. We aim to keep doing this until Karon is free of the taxi mafia.''
The drivers will face a summons to court to answer charges at a later date.
Similar action is expected to be taken by police in Patong.
Do they need Tourist Police as they are clamping down on foreign taxi drivers in addition to Thai drivers? If so the foreign drivers must be brave as if the Police don't catch them the Thai taxi drivers will. I never thought there were many regular foreign taxi drivers.
Posted by Feisty Farang on October 3, 2014 12:06
Editor Comment:
FF the tourist passengers need to understand, the story made that plain.