The Chonburi Land Transport Department arrested illegal taxi drivers camped outside Central Festival Pattaya Beach.
The department’s Teerakul Kaewsuwan led a team of police and soldiers to the beachfront mall Feb. 4 following complaints about rip-off taxi services.
The officers checked that taxis waiting to pick up customers had proper registrations and license plates and the drivers had commercial driver’s licenses. They also checked whether driver identification certificates were displayed, the vehicles were road-worthy, and that meters were used.
Chonburi Land Transport Department officials checked licenses and other documents to make sure local taxi drivers conformed to the law, but found 42 that fell short of full compliance.
Investigators found at the 42 of the 120 taxis checked fell short of full compliance. Some had fake plates, some were not registered, some had not paid taxes, some vehicles were not in shape and some had no meter at all.
The drivers were fined 200-300 baht per offense.
Daily inspections throughout Pattaya were promised until the issue is resolved.
