A taxi fare rise for the first time in eight years took effect for taxis in Bangkok on Friday as Prime Minister Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-ocha ordered relevant agencies to assess its impact on people.
Government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said the prime minister was concerned about impacts on the general public, so he instructed many agencies such as the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council to monitor the impacts on people and the economy in general and to propose proper economic measures to alleviate those impacts particularly during the transition period.
At the same time, he realized the hardship of taxi drivers, affected by the rising cost of living and energy prices. It is the first fare rise in eight years to help them, the spokesman said.
He also instructed the transport ministry to oversee taxi service improvement after the fare rise.
Effective today, the fare starts at 35 baht for small taxis and 40 baht for big ones and then climb up depending on traveled distances.
Then the fare will be 6.5 baht per kilometer from the 2nd to 10th kilometer, 7 baht per kilometer from the 11th to 20th kilometer, 8 baht per kilometer from the 21th to 40th kilometer, 8.5 baht per kilometer from the 41th to 60th kilometer, 9 baht per kilometer from the 61th to 80th kilometer and 10.5 baht per kilometer from the 81th kilometer onwards.
In traffic congestion, the fare will be 3 baht per minute for all cabs on the condition that taxi speeds are lower than 6 kilometers per hour. (TNA)
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