Traditional motorbike taxis vs Grab rival

The old will always try and block the inevitable progress of the news. And so it is with the newer Grab and Uber-stye transport services vs the ‘old guard’.

The latest battle in the war between traditional motorcycle-taxis and the upstart Grab service ended with no one getting a ride.

A Facebook user posting as “Enfant Tunglamae” live-broadcast the Thursday evening stand-off from in front of the Central Rama IX mall in Bangkok. It shows taxi motorcyclists ignoring a long queue of would-be passengers while they ganged up to block a Grab motorcyclist from picking up a limping rider. About 41,000 people have watched the broadcast so far.

‘Enfant’ can be heard arguing with the taxi motorcyclists, pointing out that people had the right to choose which service to use. She told her viewers that the Grab rider had been summoned by phone by the person with a leg injury that prevented him from walking to the motorcycle-taxi stand. But the taxi motorcyclists surrounded the man from Grab, blocking him in.

‘Enfant’ points out the long queue waiting for a bike ride while the drivers were wasting time harassing the Grab man and his passenger. A taxi motorcyclist told her to mind her own business. The broadcast ended in a cliff-hanger when Enfant’s friend turned up on a bike and she rode off.

SOURCE: The Nation