Bangkok urged to create app for safer, fair motorcycle taxi fares

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has been urged by a city council member to develop a new application for motorcycle taxis to ensure passenger safety and fair pricing.

Viput Srivaurai, representing Bang Rak district, advocated for leveraging technology and innovation to enhance motorcycle taxi services.

Viput emphasised that the BMA should implement a data management system to organise services and provide detailed information about drivers and their vehicles. He underlined the importance of a ride-hailing service that offers reasonable fares, providing people with a safe, convenient, and easily accessible mode of transport.

“This service would allow motorcycle taxi drivers to pay lower fees compared to those charged by platforms like Grab.”

Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt mentioned that the BMA already maintains a database of motorcycle taxi services. This database includes information such as service point locations, the number of drivers, their ID numbers, licence plate numbers, and fare structures.

However, Chadchart pointed out that the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) prevents this database from being shared with the public.

Currently, Bangkok has approximately 5,300 motorcycle taxi service points and around 80,000 registered drivers.

Passengers frequently encounter issues such as service denial, unreasonable fares, and inappropriate behaviour from drivers when using motorcycle taxi services, reported Bangkok Post.

In related news, Pattaya City and Banglamung district officials are grappling with a surge in incidents involving motorcycle taxi drivers, jeopardising the area’s status as a top tourist destination. Disturbing reports have surfaced, highlighting assaults on foreign tourists and harassment of individuals mistaken for ride-hailing service drivers. These altercations have frequently escalated into heated verbal confrontations and even physical violence.

In other news, a minor altercation between two road users culminated in a road rage incident, where a taxi driver collided with a motorcyclist, running him over multiple times and dragging his bike along the road for over a kilometre before crashing into a utility pole.