Commuter-rejecting taxis rampant on 4 Bangkok streets

The Department of Land Transport has learned from its mobile phone application that taxi drivers often turn down commuters on four Bangkok streets. (Photo by Somchai Poomlard)

A mobile phone application from the Department of Land Transport has revealed that Bangkok's Sukhumvit, Silom, Sathon and Phaya Thai are the streets where taxi drivers routinely reject commuters in need.

Chirute Visalachitra, deputy director-general of the department, said on Monday that taxi passengers who used its DLT Check-in application reported that rejection problems happened frequently on the four main streets from 5pm to 10pm. Therefore, more department officers will be deployed there to watch for drivers turning down customers.

Complaints about taxi drivers refusing to pick up passengers constituted the largest number of gripes filed via the app, he said.

Nearly 30,000 people have downloaded the DLT Check-in application and 1,832 complaints and 818 compliments have been filed through it. Users have rated taxi services 11,185 times since the software was released in February.

"The department has fined the taxi drivers and the owners of taxis facing complaints," Mr Chirute said. "Eleven taxi drivers have had their licences suspended for repeated offences."

Submissions through the application also told the department that most passengers were more satisfied with the green-yellow taxis operated by individual drivers than those of other colours, which are operated by cooperatives and transport companies. Also, taxis used for more than six years displeased commuters due to their poor conditions and dirtiness, he said.

The department plans to add features to the application to cover passenger vans in the future, Mr Chirute added.