PHUKET: The taxi drivers of Kata-Karon are upset for the same reasons that other residents were for years also upset - they can't find a place to part and officials won't notify them when changes are coming.
Yes, the positions have reversed and the taxi drivers who once hogged all the prime parking spots in the Kata-Karon district are now desperate to know where they can park.
''The old yellow lines have been removed so we don't know where to park now,'' said the president of the KT Co-Op, Supab Pramkeaw. He oversees about 400 taxis, tuk-tuks, minivans and other vehicles - all of them legal.
''We have said Yes to a call centre, but there is no call centre yet,'' he said. ''We ask the local council to tell us where we can park, but they say they are waiting on police.
''The police say they are waiting on the council.''
Khun Supab said his members were all drivers of legal vehicles and needed to work to support their families.
There had been 31 spots, each earmarked for three taxis, throughout the Kata-Karon region for taxis but they had yet to be clearly defined.
''Now we have to be out early to find a parking spot and the spots are often occupied by tourists,'' he said.
Drivers' leaders made an appointment to see the Army's Major General Somchai Ponatong at the Royal Thai Navy base at Cape Panwa this afternoon but the island's top soldier was called away for an emergency meeting in Bangkok.
Yes, the positions have reversed and the taxi drivers who once hogged all the prime parking spots in the Kata-Karon district are now desperate to know where they can park.
''The old yellow lines have been removed so we don't know where to park now,'' said the president of the KT Co-Op, Supab Pramkeaw. He oversees about 400 taxis, tuk-tuks, minivans and other vehicles - all of them legal.
''We have said Yes to a call centre, but there is no call centre yet,'' he said. ''We ask the local council to tell us where we can park, but they say they are waiting on police.
''The police say they are waiting on the council.''
Khun Supab said his members were all drivers of legal vehicles and needed to work to support their families.
There had been 31 spots, each earmarked for three taxis, throughout the Kata-Karon region for taxis but they had yet to be clearly defined.
''Now we have to be out early to find a parking spot and the spots are often occupied by tourists,'' he said.
Drivers' leaders made an appointment to see the Army's Major General Somchai Ponatong at the Royal Thai Navy base at Cape Panwa this afternoon but the island's top soldier was called away for an emergency meeting in Bangkok.
They may be struggling to get a sympathetic ear from readers here or any tourist whom ever had contact with them.
Posted by slickmelb on August 5, 2014 20:00