New company to run city buses

PHUKET: Phuket City’s buses are to be run by a new company after the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) decided not to renew its contract with Andaman Trans Thai, which expired on September 30.

The new contractor is Lucky General Transport, though the company will not take over the running of the bus services for two months.

In the meantime, the bus services will be run by the OrBorJor itself. However, as of today, Andaman Trans Thai has handed over just eight of the city’s 16 buses to the OrBorJor; the remainder are in the garage for repairs.

OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr said that the decision not to renew the contract with Andaman Trans Thai was made because it had resulted in the OrBorJor losing 500,000 baht a month.

“Under the old contract, the OrBorJor paid for the fuel for the buses and the wages for the drivers and conductors, and all the maintenance costs for the buses as well.

“The company managed the services and collected the fares, and the fees for the advertisements that appear on the buses. But the OrBorJor had to sue “Best Studio” for 1.9 million baht after it did not pay the fee for its advertisements for more than nine months.”

In contrast, said K. Anchalee, the OrBorJor expects to make a surplus of 125,000 baht a month through the new contract with the new company.

She said, “The new company will carry the full responsibility for running the services, including paying for fuel and staff wages and the cost of maintaining the buses.

“The new contract should be better for the people of Phuket.”