Transport News
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Sponsored A healthy tomorrow starts today: Celebrate the great American Smokeout day
The Great American Smokeout, held this year on November 17, is a nationwide event that encourages smokers to take their first steps towards a smoke-free life. If you’re an expat in Thailand, this day could be a timely reminder to...
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Lockdown extending as flights from dark red zones are prohibited
A new announcement has declared that all domestic airlines must cease operation of any passenger flights out of the dark red zones including Bangkok and Pattaya beginning July 21. The decree comes as Covid-19 infections continue to rise in Bangkok and surrounding provinces while daily Covid cases hit 5 digits and daily deaths hit triple digits, both for the first…
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For Covid-19, officials want you to stop talking… on trains anyway
British trains are known for being silent, with nobody disturbing others with chatting. Now British expats can get a taste of home as Thailand’s train authorities add to their Covid-19 safety precautions the request of no talking on trains to avoid the spread of the virus. The Department of Rail Transport has already implemented health and safety regulations to attempt…
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80 Bangkok roadblocks to curb Covid-19 spread before lockdown
“The law of unintended consequences has come to be used as an adage or idiomatic warning that an intervention in a complex system tends to create unanticipated and often undesirable outcomes. It is commonly used as a wry or humorous warning against the hubristic belief that humans can fully control the world around them.” – Wikipedia The last time the…
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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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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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Phuket reviews taxi rates after “Sandbox” tourists report high prices
The notoriously high taxi rates in Phuket have been looked into after reports of overcharging the “Sandbox” tourists. The governor says he ordered local authorities to review claims of overpriced rides and found that rates are appropriately priced. From the Phuket International Airport to Patong, a “Sandbox” tourist can pay 600 to 1,050 for a ride. One tourist planning a…
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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 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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Thai Airways to offer international flights to 16 destinations next month
Starting next month until September, Thai Airways will offer international flights from Bangkok to 16 destinations including Tokyo, Osaka, London, Paris and Frankfurt. The airline’s chief commercial officer says there’s an increase in demand for air travel and they plan to increase flights later this year under its 2021 Winter Programme. The airline says it “prioritises hygiene excellence” and strictly…
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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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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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Air passengers in the US may face random weigh-ins
Aviation authorities in the US say passengers may be selected for random weight checks as part of the check-in process. Flight passengers could be asked to step on the scales, as the Federal Aviation Authority updates obesity figures that can affect aircraft weight considerations prior to take-off. While this is routine practice with small commuter aircraft, it is not currently…
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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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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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BTS Skytrain to take Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to court over 30 billion baht debt
With the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration unable to pay its 30 billion baht debt for the BTS Skytrain’s Green Line extension, the Bangkok Mass Transit System is preparing to take the issue to court. The 30 billion baht owed to the Skytrain operator includes costs incurred while operating the Green Line as well as other related expenses dating back to 2018,…
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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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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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New restrictions start from midnight tonight (Saturday), more could come later
The Thai government has resolved to ‘manage’ its way out of the current Covid outbreak. There won’t be lockdowns or curfews, but there will be earlier closing times and alcohol bans to help provinces stem the growth in new infections. The past 3 days of reporting new infections in Thailand are the highest numbers since the start of the Covid-19…
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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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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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Thai Airways cuts another 4,250 staff, offering them early retirement
4,250 Thai Airways employees have been pushed into an early retirement after failing a screening process for remaining employees. The process was a necessary result of the national airlines’ dire financial situation and current debt restructuring program. Remaining staff are being forced into new, leaner contacts. The 13,554 remaining Thai Airways staff went through the screening program. 9,304 passed, according…
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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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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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