The notice, titled “delaying registration of personal vehicles for hire via an electronic system”, was posted publicly by the PLTO yesterday afternoon (Dec 22).
The notice explained, “At present there is sufficient quantity of public vehicles for hire in Phuket province for the needs of providing services to citizens and tourists.”
“Therefore, in order for public services in Phuket Province to be consistent with the needs of current service recipients, the Phuket Provincial Transport Office therefore is delaying the registration of personal vehicles for hire through an electronic system,” the notice said.
The suspension is to remain in effect “until changes are announced”, the notice confirmed.
The notice was signed as issued by Kornphithak Atsuwan, the transportation policy specialist at the PLTO.
Mr Kornphithak marked the notice as “acting for the government”.
The notice was not signed or marked as issued by PLTO Chief Adcha Buachan.
The notice was also marked as signed and issued on Thursday (Dec 21), the same day that non-taxi-app drivers laid siege to Phuket Provincial Hall.
Taxi drivers driving vehicles with green and yellow licence plates ‒ who have long held a stranglehold on providing taxi services to tourists in Phuket ‒ gathered at Phuket Provincial Hall on Thursday to “demand” action by the Phuket Governor to help curtail illegal taxi app drivers.
The taxi drivers, who were met by Phuket Governor Sophon Suwannarat, claimed to have brought more than 3,500 taxi vehicles to Provincial Hall to highlight their solidarity ‒ despite Phuket officials only last Thursday (Dec 14) reporting 2,429 hire vehicles legally registered in the province.
The drivers occupied all the parking spaces at the Provincial Hall complex, and the “gathering” blocked the entrance to Provincial Hall itself.