Thailand News Today | Why you should only use THIS taxi in Thailand

A bit of a local insight that even I didn’t know, a famous Thai influencer recommends that people should only take taxis that display a green vacant light because they are registered with the Department of Land Transport and provide a safer service for passengers.

The Thai influencer, Beam, who runs a Facebook page Beam’s Story (เรื่องของบีม), told her fans to use only taxis with a green vacant sign because they have a GPS tracking system, an SOS button for an emergency, and a security camera inside the cab.

Her post went viral on Thai social media with many passengers sharing their bad experiences at the hands of Bangkok’s dangerous cabbies, a great number adding that they did not know there was a safer option for them.

The green vacant sign came into use on December 15 last year after a campaign by the DLT. Previously, red was the colour used if a taxi was vacant.

The DLT urges all taxi drivers to register their cars with the government application DLT Driver. By registering their taxis, passengers are ensured a safer service.

All registered taxis have a GPS tracking system, driver’s information, a security camera in the cab, an SOS button for emergencies, and a fare metre that is connected to the DLT system, which can be monitored.

The DLT also launched a new application, TAXI OK, in December last year, for passengers to book a safe, quality service from their mobile phones.

The new service is encouraging but a number of Thai netizens revealed that a lot of taxi drivers are cheating.

One said…

“I found many taxis near my house that managed to get their vacant lights changed to green from red at a random shop. So, not all taxi drivers with a green vacant light have joined the DLT scheme. The drivers told me themselves.”

Other netizens revealed they are still suffering the same old problems: drivers refusing to take them to their destination if they don’t fancy the route. Some others commented that the drivers told them that the SOS button and a security camera is installed but they don’t work.

On the upside, a great number of netizens shared their positive experiences of the new DLT taxi service, saying the drivers were polite and the fares were transparent.

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Yesterday, Vietnam Airlines’ inaugural flight from Ho Chi Minh City landed at Phuket International Airport with 161 tourists on board.

With Thailand’s monsoon season in full swing, all passengers were given a waterproof bag as a welcome gift to the island as they disembarked from the aircraft. The tourists will join activities organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Phuket Office during their stay.

The direct route between Ho Chih Minh and Phuket International Airport will run once a week on Thursdays. Flying 962 kilometres over the Gulf of Thailand, the total flight duration is only 1 hour and 27 minutes.

The new direct route connecting Vietnam’s largest city to Phuket is hoped to boost tourism between Thailand and Vietnam.

Tickets on the route are not yet available to buy through the Vietnam Airlines website, which is expected to be updated soon.

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The high-speed railway from Laos to China is full steam ahead as Laotian authorities say they hope it will increase trade opportunities for the region.

The link, known as the Vientiane-Boten railway was opened late last year on December 3, as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Now, the railway operates daily to offer more economical travel, cutting travel times by at least a third.

Vientiane-Boten railway forms a section of the Kunming-Singapore railway project, connecting Kunming with Singapore through Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia. Kunming is the capital of China’s Yunnan province. But, the railway is proving to be beneficial in more ways than one.

The link has also brought more visitors from Thailand to Luang Prabang, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has been made one of the stations along the line. From the second week of May until the end of July, when Laos reopened for travellers, around 250,000 tourists from Thailand visited its neighbouring country.

Such an increase in tourism numbers has resulted in an additional 800 million baht, according to government officials.

The railway also offers a faster way to transport fresh goods and keep produce fresh along the way.

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A Thai teenage dance team has put Thailand on the map by winning three gold medals in a world dance competition in the US.

The team, named ‘Awesome,’ won the medals at the World Hip Hop Dance Championship 2022 for juniors and adults held in Phoenix, Arizona from August 7-13. The team collected their congratulations gifts at the Chonburi Provincial Administrative Organisation this week.

Team Awesome is made up of six teens from Thailand’s eastern Chon Buri province. The championship in Arizona saw a total of 211 crews from 33 countries show off their moves on stage.

The Awesome team members aren’t the only young Thais putting the kingdom in the spotlight. Last month, 16-year-old sprinter ภูริพล บุญสอน was named by World Athletics as the No.1 100 metres’ sprinter in the Under 18 age group. He set a record of 10.09 seconds at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Columbia on August 2.

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And now for every bachelor’s worst nightmare. A celebrity doctor shared a shocking story of a woman seeking the urine of a pregnant woman to trick a boyfriend into marrying her.

The doctor then issued a warning to both buyers and sellers of urine samples to stop their business as they could face a fine and imprisonment.

The Facebook page, Children’s Story by Doctor Am raised the issue last Saturday, August 27.

The female doctor, Pornnipa Siprasert, said…

“Shocking! Can’t believe it! I would like to warn everyone because many mothers have experienced this. I came across a mother’s post on a Facebook group saying a woman contacted her via Facebook and asked to buy her urine. The woman said her boyfriend had an affair with another girl, but still wanted him to come back and marry her by tricking him into believing she was pregnant. Many other mothers commented that they had experienced the same thing! Some agreed to sell too.”

The doctor warned buyers and sellers that they will suffer severe consequences of the law if they are caught in the act.

According to Section 2 of the Thai Criminal Law, the buyers could face up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 60,000 baht for dishonestly deceiving a person by presenting false messages or concealing the truth, and the deception is aimed at the assets of others.

The sellers also face a penalty of one year in prison and a fine of up to 30,000 baht according to Section 86 of the Thai Criminal Law: supporting or facilitating others to commit illegal actions.