Phuket officials give electric scooters a test ride

PHUKET: Phuket officials have approved the use of electric scooters at the Phuket Provincial Hall complex on the south side of Phuket Town as a test phase to confirm how safe the “micro-mobility” vehicles are to use.

The approval was announced at Provincial Hall today (Apr 27) during a visit by representatives from Beam Mobility (Thailand) Co Ltd, which earlier this year was renting out electric scooters to tourists in Patong and other tourist-popular areas.

At the announcement today Beam Mobility Managing Director Jeff Payne led the handing over of two electric scooters for use by officials.

Present to receive the scooters on behalf of Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew was Kanathip Sukcharoen, Head of the Phuket Provincial Office.

The scooters will be used in security operations around the Phuket Provincial Hall complex, also called the “Phuket Government Center”, and for conducting inspections of construction at the site.

The scooters are to be at the Phuket Government Center for a period of 10 months. The scooters will be set up with a computer system to ensure that they are used within the government compound only, and not on public streets.

In February, Phuket police banned electric scooters from all public roads in Phuket.

People caught riding electric scooters on public roads may be fined up to B10,000 following an order issued by Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Sermphan Sirikong.

People caught riding electric scooters on public roads also could be charged with operating a vehicle without a valid licence under Section 64 of the same act, as no licence exists for operating electric scooters, as they are not recognised as vehicles by the Department of Land Transport and hence cannot be registered, Maj Gen Sermphan said in the order.

The penalty for operating a vehicle without a licence is up to six months’ imprisonment or a fine of up to B9,000, or both, Maj Gen Sermphan added.

Een 'becoming' problem in S'pore is that people are use to slow biking push bikes on her fine wide pedestrian areas. Now the fast electric steps ask for a reviewing pedestrian area use, how to handle it. Something new ask for new rules. S'pore will handle that well.

They had big issues with these in Singapore - old people were being terrorized with these things buzzing around on pavements and other thoroughfares - without separate lanes on the roads they are a serious problem. The Dutch solution with cycle lanes is the way forward, these things are not compatible with other road users.

I don't know which countries are 'struggling' to give these electric steps a place. The countries who are comfortable with it see them as bicycle. They just advice bike helmet. Why making problems of matters that hold no problems at all? Just bureacratic humbug. Here they love that so much. What else shallow small minded people have to do?

To be fair, counties all over the world are struggling to decide what laws to apply to these things. The difference is just how local a level different laws can be enforced at. Apparently on Phuket that level is very, very local.

Flip-flop, flip-flop flip-flop. That company's scooters never disappeared from the streets of Phuket town. They're still there now. Patong has foreign tourists so there was money to be made, so goes the thinking of the racist mind.

Yet the most dangerous vehicle on Thailand's roads is used by thousands daily across the country. The dreaded "salaengs" that block and hold up traffic everywhere according to Thai law are illegal but nothing is ever done about them. Hypocrisy at it's finest.

Phuket officials give electric scooters a test ride

Phuket officials give electric scooters a test ride

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