Siam Rath reported that taxi drivers are jubilant that the authorities will be raising rates for rides in taxi-meter cabs in the Thai capital Bangkok.
Exactly how much remains to be seen but an official said that the increase would be in line with the increased cost of living and fair to both taxi drivers and the public.
While the head of the Department of Land Transport has said that taxi drivers will need to play ball – and stop refusing fares.
The media reported that taxi fares have not increased from 2014 to this year despite many pleas from drivers to raise charges. Flag fall in Bangkok remains at 35 baht.
They have been concerned by the increased cost of living and fuel in particular.
Sorapong Phaitoonpong from the Transport Ministry heads a committee that has comprised organisations such as the DLT, firms representing the drivers, various associations for consumer groups and the Thailand Development Reasearch Institute (TDRI).
A TDRI survey suggested that people were taking shorter and fewer taxi trips and the number of vehicles on the roads had dropped from 80,000 to 60,000.
Drivers were facing hardship as they had less custom and the rent of vehicles made up a larger proportion than previously.
They concurred that there had not been increases for 8 years and that the cost of living had risen by 7%.
The DLT had been using the TDRI data, looking at cabbies’ demands and taking into account the opinions of the public after comments made on the DLT site on Facebook.
Most agreed that the fares need to go up.
The taxi drivers want too much and the public too little – some middle ground that is fair to all needs to be found.
But the fares are definitely set to increase in a just capacity.
Jirut Wisanjit, chief of the DLT, said that when the fares do increase the drivers must stop refusing fares.
Or they will face points that could lead to their licences being suspended.
Comments on the issue can be made to the DLT on Facebook on PR.DL.News.