Minibus manager fined 5,000 baht for leaving Thai YouTuber stranded (video)

The Department of Land Transport (DLT) imposed a 5,000 baht fine on a minibus station manager after he refused to serve a Thai YouTuber, leading to the victim being stranded at a station in the Isaan province of Khon Kaen.

Thai travel YouTuber, Worrachat “Chiang” Thamrongwarangkun, shared his bad experience with his followers on Facebook and YouTube (Chiang Paiyoonaima). Chiang began the post by saying, “Missed a minibus in Khon Kaen (angry emoji).”

According to the story shared on both social media platforms, Chiang wanted to travel from Ubonrat district to Mueang Khon Kaen district. He went to the minibus station to book the 4pm trip, which was the last minibus of the day.

Chiang tried to transfer the 50 baht fare to the station manager via his phone but was refused and told Chiang to pay in cash only. Chiang withdrew money from the nearby ATM but the manager still refused to take his money. He told Chiang to pay the driver of the minibus and told him to sit and wait.

After an hour and a half of waiting, the minibus arrived but it was full. Chiang was confused and asked the station manager why he asked him to wait if there was no free seat.

Chiang: Why don’t you tell me that the minibus is full?
Station manager: I already called the driver but he did not pick up the phone.
Chiang: You should tell me. Why did you keep me waiting for 1.30 hours?
Station manager: It is normal. It is the last minibus. It is always full. I had no way of knowing whether it was full or not.
Chiang: You should at least tell me that you could not contact the driver. How can I go now?
Station manager: I don’t know. I don’t want to talk.

Luckily, while trying to find his way, Chiang met some of his fans who fans volunteered to take him to his destination.

Fans demand justice

After the story went viral, Chiang’s fans and other netizens demanded that the relevant authorities take action, saying that public transport should not leave passengers stranded.

The Khon Kaen Provincial Land Transport Office later summoned the station manager in the video, Nitikorn Prommajaread, for questioning. Nitikorn admitted his wrongdoing and apologised to Chaing.

According to ThaiRath, Nitikorn was fined 5,000 baht for violating Section 31(10) of the Land Transport Act: providing service without standard.

Chiang later posted on his Facebook account that he was angry but later happy after receiving support from his fans. He also expressed gratitude to all the netizens who helped him raise the issue with the government.

Chiang added that he believed the problem was not unique to Khon Kaen province. He hopes that service providers will respect passengers and be more helpful in the future.