Present to meet the drivers and receive the formal complaint were Patong Mayor Chalermsak Maneesri joined by and members of the executive council and the Patong City Council, with officers from the Patong Police looking on.
“If the project actually happens there will be a large impact on the occupations of public transport service professionals in the Patong Municipality area,” said the complaint.
Mayor Chalermsak said he would be happy to serve as an intermediary in providing assistance and coordinating with the Phuket Provincial Land Transport Office (PLTO), which has started receiving applications from business operators to launch the ‘baht bus’ style service.
“There has never been any coordination from the Phuket Provincial Transport Office regarding details regarding the said project. And there has never been a meeting on this matter before,” Mayor Chalermsak said.
“Currently, there are already a large number of vehicles for hire in the Patong area. If such a project is allowed to happen It will cause an increase in the number of vehicles for hire.
“I understand the problems and sufferings of professional groups very well. Today I am happy and ready to provide assistance by being the intermediary in coordinating with the Phuket Provincial Transport Office to inquire about details, facts and continue solving problems,” he added.
Joining the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers today was Chalermpong Saengdee. MP for Phuket District 2, who was asked by Saichol Nuchet to attend the event. Mr Saichol is a representative of the taxi operators of the Khok Makham community in Patong.
Mr Chalermpong was told that launching the ‘baht bus’ service would affect the jobs of about 200 tuk-tuk and taxi drivers in Patong.
The formal complaint asked for the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) to suspend any progress on launching the baht bus service, Mr Chalermpong noted.
“I would like to request that the Phuket Land Transport Office suspend the operation of the bus transportation project around Patong,” Mr Chalermpong said.
“The operations of the Phuket Land Transport Office is causing damage and will impact at least 200 public transport drivers in the area of Patong Municipality, he added.
“From our preliminary inspection, they never received news of the project or been surveyed about the impact of this project, even though their own group was the one to be directly affected.
“If the Phuket Land Transport Office launches this project, it is expected that such groups will become unemployed and suffer a lack of income to make a living and support their families, which will cause great damage to those who are engaged in providing transport services in Patong,” Mr Chalermpong said.
Much silence preceded the PLTO posting three notices on Oct 17, all announcing that the PLTO was now receiving applications from business operators to operate three separate ‘bus’ services.
Two of the notices announced two circular routes in Patong to be served by operators, while the third route open to applications from prospective operators was the decades-old bus service between the old bus station on Phang Nga Rd in Phuket Town and Patong.
Both Patong circular services in Patong will travel along the beach road. Both will turn right onto Phra Barami Rd Rd at the northern end of the town. One will turn right onto Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd, while the other will travel south along Phra Metta Rd. Both services will turn right onto Prachanukroh Rd in order to return to the Patong beachfront and begin the journey over again.
Both services must make a minimum of 40 trips per day. “The fare throughout the line is 40 baht,” the announcements by the PLTO read.
While all three announcements were posted by PLTO on Oct 17, they were all marked as “announced on 29 September 2023” by PLTO Chief Adcha Buachan.
PLTO Chief Mr Adcha so far has given no explanation for the delay of more than two weeks in announcing the new services to be provided.
He has also not given any explanation for the notices being posted publicly more than two months after the Phuket Provincial Land Transport Control Committee ‒ the top regulatory transport committee for the island ‒ approving the new services, as confirmed in a previous report by Phuket MP Somchart Techathavorncharoen, MP for Phuket District 1.
Until today, Patong Municipality also so far had issued no notices announcing the new ‘baht bus’ services to be provided.
Apparently Patong Municipality received no notification from the PLTO ‒ and does not monitor any public announcements from Provincial Hall or from the PLTO.
Meanwhile, the request to receive applications for the new ‘baht bus’ services in Patong all carried the same deadline: the PLTO must receive the applications by Nov 28.