Transport News
Thailand transport news, infrastructure updates, public transit, and traffic reports—stay informed on groundbreaking developments and real-time travel updates. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for transport news in Thailand.
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All buses from Bangkok to Phuket and south cancelled from today
In response to Bangkok’s new lockdown measures from today, all bus service between Bangkok and Phuket has been cancelled, along with buses to the dark red zone southern provinces. Interprovincial buses will stop running, effective immediately until further notice, with no set end date. The announcement was made by the president of the public company Transport Co which supervises all…
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All Thai AirAsia July flights cancelled; airlines cope with lockdown
In light of Bangkok’s new Covid-19 lockdown measures, Thai AirAsia has cancelled all their domestic flights in Thailand, while Bangkok Airways, Nok Air, Thai Smile, and Vietjet have introduced emergency measures for flight rescheduling. AirAsia, the popular budget airline based in Malaysia, has suspended all domestic flights operated by Thai AirAsia effective immediately. They hope to resume service on August…
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Phuket taxi meeting: 20% fare cut, but doesn’t address gouging
The Phuket Office of the Public Relations Department has tried to paint a win for a meeting regarding overcharging taxis in the Phuket Sandbox, though the resolutions seem unrelated to the problem. During the meeting, taxi drivers agreed to a 20% discount for all fares until the end of the Covid-19 pandemic but did not address the problem of complaints…
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New terminal at Suvarnabhumi Airport to be field hospital
A new plan will have Bangkok residents heading to the airport, but not in a good way, as authorities have decided to convert Suvarnabhumi Airport’s new terminal into a field hospital. The recently built Satellite 1 facilities are large enough to house a minimum of 5,000 beds for Covid-19 infected patients as outbreaks surge in the capital city. With 216,000…
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Bangkok Red Line launches August 2 free rides for 3 months
If you’ve ever spent time in Bangkok, you know it’s easy to be taken for a ride. But for once, this is a good thing, as the Thailand Transport Ministry announced today they are giving free rides to many commuters to launch their new service line. Bangkok’s Red Line rail route is ready for its soft launch next month and…
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Department of Land Transport tackles motorbike delivery boxes
With all of Thailand laser-focused on Covid-19 outbreaks, vaccine availability, and apparently Phuket has got some sort of brouhaha over some foreigners showing up, it’s easy to lose track of the important daily tribulations of keeping a country functioning. But never fear, there are those that don’t get distracted by the glitzy headlines and are doing the thankless work to…
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Department of Land Transport will reopen, issue licenses
After suspending services on April 16th due to the third wave outbreak of Covid-19, the Department of Land Transport has announced they will reopen next week. The agency will restart renewing driving licenses in issuing new licenses, as well as giving driving tests. Services are set to resume all across the country at all DLT offices on June 21, according…
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Thai Airways rehabilitation plan accepted by Bankruptcy Court
The debt rehabilitation plan of Thai Airways International has been accepted by Thailand’s Central Bankruptcy Court, paving the way for the survival of the company. The CBC’s acceptance of the plan is the first step in the debt restructuring process for the struggling airline. In this plan, the state would play an instrumental role in aiding Thai Airways to get…
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Qatar Airways will fly 4 times weekly to Phuket starting July 1
Qatar Airways is going all-in on the Phuket sandbox plan to reopen the tourist island to international travellers on July 1. The airline has confirmed that they will run flights 4 times per week between the Qatari capital city of Doha and Phuket. This new route is in addition to the airline’s current 12 flights a week to Bangkok. The…
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Ayutthaya UNESCO status a headache for high-speed rail
Progress for Thailand’s high-speed rail link from Bangkok to the northern province of Nong Khai has hit a snag over construction in UNESCO World Heritage site Ayutthaya. The cultural status of Thailand’s former capital has complicated the process of building a new train station to accommodate the rail line. The Transport Ministry is working to resolve the issue, calling a…
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Taxi drivers may switch to rideshare apps with new regulations
The president of the Thai Taxi Network Association says that many traditional licensed taxis will likely switch to driving their own cars as rideshare drivers. The statement comes in response to the government’s announcement that they have started to put together regulations for rideshare taxi apps, set to go into effect in a month or two. The new regulations would bring…
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Thailand gets onboard with ridesharing taxi app regulations
Never one to be late to a trend, Thailand is jumping on the bandwagon, after hailing the bandwagon first using a ridesharing app. Many countries have wrestled with how to regulate the taxi-hailing app concept and the grey area it occupies between not-quite-a-taxi and not-quite-a-private-car, and now Thailand is looking to implement regulations within a month. A deputy spokesperson for…
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Phuket may ditch light rail and build smart bus system instead
A proposal to drop the light rail planned for Phuket and replace it with a smart bus system is under an in-depth review as ordered by Phuket Transport Minister. Advocates for the smart bus – automated driverless buses on city streets – say that the project would bring mass transportation to Phuket Island for 15.2 billion baht cheaper than a…
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CAAT sets restrictions and guidelines for air travel to prevent the spread of Covid-19
With the new wave of Covid-19 infections hitting record highs, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand is tightening disease control measures for air travel and has requested that airlines abide by guidelines to help contain the outbreak. Those who test positive for Covid-19 are refrained from travelling and can face penalties for doing so under the Communicable Disease Act. CAAT…
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Thailand’s airlines getting airport fee waivers to help with rehabilitation
Thailand’s airlines are getting airport fee waivers to help with rehabilitation efforts until March 31 of next year. The latest aid is part of a slew of measures to boost the aviation industry after Covid-19 left it in shambles. The Civil Aviation Board is also letting the airlines claim refunds for airport fees previously paid before the new measures were…
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Phuket closes Sarasin bridge at night to give fatigued health workers a break
Phuket is closing the Sarasin bridge nightly to give fatigued health workers a break after working nonstop to screen travellers for Covid-19. Only those operating emergency service vehicles will be allowed to use the bridge from 11pm to 5am. The checkpoint was previously open 24 hours a day, but since there were only a few travellers during the night, Vice…
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Thailand aims for only electric vehicles by 2035
Thailand has announced an ambitious plan to move to only sell zero-emission electric vehicles by 2035 as it aims to be at the forefront of the electric car market. Right now in Thailand, less than 1% of the vehicles on the road are electric but an advisor to the Energy Ministry’s national policy committee said that it’s clear the world…
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Bangkok Airways suspends some flights due to ongoing Covid-19 situation
In the midst of another wave of Covid-19 infections, Bangkok Airways announced it is suspending some flight routes due to the ongoing spread of the virus. The airline is suspending the Phuket-Hat Yai route from April 23 to October 30 and its Bangkok-Sukhothai and Bangkok-Trat routes from May 1 to 31. Travellers can change their flights without an additional charge.…
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Thai airlines facing another setback
With more trouble on the horizon for Thailand’s airlines, they’re now pressuring the Government to step up the vaccination push. Adding to their recent woes, guidelines were released by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, where all domestic flights scheduled between 11 pm and 4 am are now suspended, in-flight services have been cancelled for now and, well, passenger bookings…
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New restrictions for domestic flights effective along with other nationwide restrictions today
Today, along with tightened restrictions across Thailand, the Civil Aviation Authority is setting new guidelines for domestic flights in an effort to curb the spread of the nation’s so-called 3rd wave of Covid-19. The changes, effective today, include limiting flights by airlines between 11pm to 4am. As most businesses in red zone provinces are required to close during those times,…
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Footbridges stop luxury yacht travelling from Phuket to Samui
Footbridges in Phuket stood in the way of a luxury yacht travelling from its home in Phuket to Koh Samui when the boat was too tall to pass. Police received a call around 8 pm last night from the truck driver after his trailer carrying the yacht had trouble getting under one of several bridges for walkers to pass over…
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Thailand provinces currently imposing travel restrictions
Here’s a list of Thai provinces current imposing restrictions on entry, by road or air, as you travel at this time. Today is the last day of the Songkran holiday, so there will be a return home for many people although it’s expected that many have also taken the Friday off to merge the Songkran break with the weekend. So…
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Travelling from the UK? Here’s some details on restrictions….
As the summer holiday is just around the corner, many in the UK are wondering if and how they will travel abroad during the Covid pandemic. Despite it being against the law to travel abroad for holiday and leisure in the UK, those who need to travel may want to know what requirements certain countries have in order to enter.…
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Thailand’s Civil Aviation Authority announces health and safety regulations
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand says airlines must continue to follow health and safety regulations as the country has seen a 3rd wave of the Covid-19 virus. Its the third time the CAAT have introduced restrictions on in-flight services since airlines were grounded in April last year. The authority says new guidelines to take effect today include… • Maintaining…
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Government helps direct refunds for cancelled holiday trips
For those who are cancelling their holiday trips due to Thailand’s recent Covid-19 outbreak, the government is issuing measures to help with refunds. The Transport Ministry says people who have booked bus and rail-services between the April 9-18 Songkran holiday, can claim full refunds if they want to cancel their trips. But the ministry says people should give at least…
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Phuket International Airport getting ready for reopening
Phuket International Airport is readying for the island’s reopening by beginning the vaccination process of all employees. The mandatory inoculations is hoped to increase confidence among foreign visitors, as many who have received a Covid vaccine, can now enter the island with relaxed quarantine measures. Just yesterday, officials confirmed that 2 flights from Germany will kick off the airport’s reopening,…
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Thai high-speed rail has 3 new contracts, projects estimated at 27.4 billion baht
A high-speed rail line between Bangkok and Nong Khai just got a boost with the signing of 3 civil engineering contracts yesterday. The total value of the 3 projects is estimated at 27.4 billion baht, with the projects being valued at 9.4 billion, 11.5 billion, and 6.5 billion respectively. The State Railway of Thailand inked the deal with private firms…
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Airlines in Thailand push for July reopening and quicker roll out of vaccinations for employees
Airline operators in Thailand are seeking a July reopening date and are pushing to get workers vaccinated against Covid-19 within the next 2 months, along the same timeline as many in the travel sector prepare for July’s anticipated launch of the “sandbox” scheme in Phuket. Under the sandbox model, vaccinated travellers will be able to travel to the island province…
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Krabi airport to double passenger capacity with new terminal
Krabi airport is planning to double its passenger handling capacity with a third terminal expected to open by October. The move is planned alongside the reopening of Thailand to international tourists. A new runway is also being built, costing almost 942 million baht. The Department of Aviation says the runway is expected to be completed on time and will increase…
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Department of Land Transport calls on drivers to use its mobile app to pay car tax
Thailand’s Department of Land Transport says drivers should use the department’s dedicated app to make their annual car tax payments. Yongyut Nakdaeng from the DLT says paying via the app will help reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission. Motorists will receive a receipt and their tax disc in the post within 5 days. Thai-speaking drivers can call the DLT hotline…
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