The drivers, also called “R.Y.18” drivers after the section of the law that allows them to use private vehicles as taxis, this morning submitted a formal letter of complaint addressed to the Governor of Phuket, Sophon Suwannarat.
However, it was Phuket Vice Governor Amnuay Pinsuwan who received the letter of complaint on the Governor’s behalf.
Kornpitak Atassuwan of the Phuket Provincial Land Transport Office (PLTO) was also present despite the PLTO still not publicly recognising the attack on the Grab driver on Saturday, who was left with a punctured lung after being beaten with a piece of wood.
The PLTO so far has issued no statement of what action is to be taken against the two drivers involved in the attack, despite one of the claiming responsibility for the assault after presenting himself at Cherng Talay Police Station on Monday.
The ‘R.Y.18’ drivers today demanded protection of their rights and that action be taken against misinformation about them from being spread by “anti-information groups”.
The letter of complaint stated that a group of metered taxi drivers, van drivers operating passenger vans with yellow licence plates and ‘some’ green plate taxi drivers who had attacked taxi app drivers, spread wrong information about them and ‘distorted from the truth’.
Some of them had also filed false reports as complaints with government agencies, the letter noted.
Making such claims is against the law and is not fair to the operators of R.Y.18 vehicles, the letter stated plainly.
Such groups had gathered members to join groups that incited hatred against taxi app drivers to the point of intimidation and conflict.
The groups incited acts of malice against life and property of the taxi app drivers, including attacks with various weapons, the letter said.
Photos of R.Y.18 drivers had also been posted on social media in posts that caused damage and widespread hatred, with taxi app drivers in fear of the their lives and the way of making a living, the letter continued.
In all, the taxi app drivers only asked the Governor of Phuket to arrange a meeting for both sides to attend to discuss the issues, and illegal actions, currently being taken.
The aim is to listen to each other and come up with solutions together, the taxi app drivers said in the letter.
Through transparency, mutual understanding and observing common practices for peace and order, they will be able to prevent false claims being made against them and prevent distorted information from being disseminated, the drivers explained.
“The current ongoing actions against them, both physical and in posts online, causes people to continue to have misunderstandings among the relevant agencies,” the letter said.