Mr Chamni Thimakul, a 45-year-old taxi driver from Patong, said that the fact that taxi fares in Phuket are expensive has to do only with some groups of people who are not Phuket locals. Phuket people themselves welcome everyone to visit the province.
“The taxi fares are high because the cost of living is high. Also the road up and down Patong Hill is not a smooth road [which also has an impact]. The taxi fares in Patong start at B200, but when the passengers bargain down to 150 baht, drivers agree and take passengers to their destinations. The driver and passenger can negotiate the price,” he said.
After that, the reporters went to speak to a shop operator in front of Patong Beach.
Ms Suchada Pakong, a 34-year-old food vendor on Patong Beach, said another factor affecting the fares is the price of the car an operator buys. The signage fee and the tax fee are already expensive, yet the fares still start at B200 in Patong.
“The fare of a taxi motorbike is 40 baht per person. And for a car, for example, if tourists take a taxi for five people or six people, it’s 200 as usual. I want relevant officials to fix problems from the roots,” she added.
“Water and electricity bills are expensive. The food cost in restaurants is expensive since the raw materials are expensive. After the purchase, we have to waste time doing it in order to wait for customers to buy. We can’t sell cheaply. We have to sell expensive goods,” she said.
“We are already having an impact, and we do not want to sell expensive goods. Taxis don’t want to charge expensive fares. I want relevant agencies to take care of this issue. If the cost of living is high, we all have a very difficult life. I would like the officials to come and see the picture themselves. Is the value over there the balance?,” she added.
“The cost of a tuk-tuk when an operator buys is B700,000-800,000 while some tuk-tuks cost B1 million. Some passengers of tuk-tuk won’t take a tuk-tuk without a sound system, so tuk-tuk drivers have to install a good sound system for passengers. Most westerners don’t have a problem and they are satisfied to go, if they are not satisfied they just don’t go,” she said.
The atmosphere of Patong Beach yesterday was lively with many tourists enjoying themselves on the beach. The Patong Municipality created some colourful artworks on the boardwalk which is a new check-in point for Patong Beach to stimulate tourism. Also there is a project to conduct road improvement, including painting pedestrian crossings in gold colour at Taweewong Rd [the beach road] and Laem Phet intersection as well.