Sinchai Rooprowjean, coordinator of the taxi group, asked that officials investigate whether police who gave the order were within their rights to tell them to knock down their taxi stand and go away.
He said the taxi drivers had received a visit from a group of police led by an officer, who said he was under instructions from Police Region 8 in Surat Thani to get the sala removed. The police officer also allegedly told the Westin staff they should no longer use the drivers’ services.
The drivers were upset, they said, because they had been working outside the hotel since it opened five years ago, and there have never been any problems.
They had only been out of work for two days, they said, but they have no other source of income and are worried about their families.
They made a plea for government officials to resolve their problem and to be more considerate about their livelihood.
In a drive backed by the might of the Royal Thai Army and Navy, local officials and police have been knocking down taxi ranks built illegally on public land and breaking up the taxi groups.