Transport officials talk tough on clearing up rogue taxi drivers

BANGKOK: — Transport department officials are promising decisive action against rogue taxi drivers who are “hurting the image of tourism in Thailand”. And it won’t stop there as they encourage complaints against any driver offering public services in any public vehicle.

Lifetime bans are promised for those engaging in criminal behavior threatening the wellbeing of passengers or their property. Licenses will be withdrawn and all drivers will have criminal background checks, they promise reported Thairath.

A whole host of phone numbers, websites and applications have been advertised where people can complain about not just taxis but any other public transport vehicles from motorbike taxis to private air buses.

As if to prove their point they rounded up a driver yesterday for overcharging and hurting a Turkish passenger. Wachara Thanoi’s license was removed permanently with no chance of getting another one. He had a previous black mark against his name for not using the meter. His case was described as one that caused the image of tourism in the country to be damaged.

Those who hurt the image of Thailand will have no chance to get a new license. Officials from the land and transport departments thanked members of the public who had brought bad behavior to their attention already and reiterated the need to people to report violations on many platforms.

There is a 24 hour hotline that promises “instant action” from the transport department on 1584 or people can report on the internet at ins.dlt.go.th. At this site, in the Thai language, the public can find areas to complain about taxis,public buses, tuk-tuks,motorbike taxis, four wheelers, air buses, minibuses, vans, big song thaews, and other vehicles. There is also a section to see how complaints are being followed up.

Complaints can be sent via email to [email protected].

Other sites in the Thai language are available on Android and Facebook.

People with Line can use the Line ID 1584dlt to make complaints or people can drop in at transport department offices to register their grievances.

Source: https://www.thairath.co.th/content/626123