Eight motorcycle-taxi drivers were fined for brawling over customers in Pattaya.
Police chief Pol. Col. Kullachart Kullachai and Songtham Tiengtong of the Chonburi Land Transport Department’s Banglamung office met Jan. 28 with five orange-vest drivers and three others who get customers through the Bolt ride-hailing app.
All had engaged in a Jan. 25 street fight outside the Arcadia Beach Resort on Thappraya Road Soi 7 with three 37-year-old “old-school” drivers sent to the hospital after being clobbered with a steel bar and a baseball bat.
The fight began when both low- and high-tech drivers tried to grab customers from a convenience store parking lot, turf that belonged to neither of the groups. The orange-vest drivers’ stand was 50 meters away. The agreed-up Bolt stop even further away.
Police said the fine for public disorderly conduct was up to 5,000 baht. The exact amount imposed wasn’t disclosed. All paid up and promised to be good boys from now on.
The orange-vest drivers, however, were upset the land-transport office didn’t fine the Bolt drivers for working illegally. Songtham said they were busy fighting, not taking passengers, so there was nothing to prosecute.
