Major General Nat
Inthacharoen, Commander of the 14th Military Circle, summoned around
2,000 motorcycle taxi operators to a meeting to combat unfair practices
made by motorcycle taxis.
Urasin Khantaraphan
Looking to emulate a similar program in Bangkok, the National Council
for Peace and Order (NCPO) has assigned the 14th Military Circle to work
alongside Pattaya City Council to regulate motorcycle taxi operations
here.
Major General Nat Inthacharoen, Commander of the 14th Military Circle,
summoned around 2,000 motorcycle taxi operators from 10 zones in
Pattaya, including Pattaya Beach, Central Pattaya, South Pattaya, and
Pattaya 2nd and 3rd roads, to a meeting June 25 at Pattaya School #8 to
combat unfair practices made by motorcycle taxis.
A recent survey shows that there are 1,091 operators legally registered
in Pattaya, with another 2,500 unregistered operators.
The Major General announced he will implement measures to reduce the
influence of mafia-style extortion gangs among motorcycle taxi services
that have been controlling the motorcycle taxi operation for years.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome and members of the city council, along with the
area’s top police and government officials were also summoned to the
meeting.
According to the Major General, Pattaya is a major tourist hub that
comprises of at least one million tourists. However, there have been
several problems regarding public transportation services within the
area.
Problems such as unreasonable public transportation fares, poor
services, and mafia groups taking advantage of residents have been
common.
After operators’ opinions and suggestions were heard at the meeting, and
the total number of the motorcycle taxi stands and operators were
collected, the Major General laid out a 3-step road map to the solve
theses problems.
Step 1: Systematizing the motorcycle taxi operations and communicating
with the operators about inappropriate activities and solving the
problems of mafia-style extortion gangs and official corruption.
Step 2: Updating the Traffic Act, regulations and guidelines.
Step 3: Making all this permanent. In the future, there must not be any
money paid to mafia figures as it results in higher fees. The services
must be operated to the maximum benefit of the public according to the
policies of the NCPO.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome announced that zone 1 (out of 4 zones) has been
managed. However, stands need to be set up in an orderly manner so they
don’t affect traffic; fees need to be fair and services need to be
improved without any mafia gangs of officials controlling taxi
operations.
The joint committee of military, police, local transport departments,
provincial transport departments and provincial representatives will
meet later to discuss the issuing of taxi stand licenses, marking the
locations of the stands, assigning routes, issuing public motorcycle
licenses, and regulating fees.
All of this is expected to be done by August 2014.
