Confirmation of the warning sign posted at the entrance to the airport was posted online by the Phuket Info Center this morning (Oct 5).
As usual, AoT Phuket and the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO), which regulates all taxi vehicles operating on the island, both have yet to announce the warning through their own media channels.
The warning informs that all “public hire vehicles” (taxis) and personal cars being used as taxis that are not authorised by AoT are forbidden from entering the airport grounds.
Doing so is punishable by a fine of up to B2,000 under the Land Transport Act 1979, the sign explains.
Currently the only taxi app whose drivers are allowed to pick up passengers at the airport is Grab, which became the first ‒ and remains the only ‒ taxi app service to be permitted to pick up passengers at the airport.
At the launch of allowing Grab drivers to serve the airport, Aot President Kerati Kijmanawat announced that other taxi app services were being “considered” in being allowed to serve passengers at the airport.
However, that was more than a month ago (Sept 1), and AoT has yet to announce any other taxi app services being approved to serve the airport. AoT has also yet to make public any terms and conditions required by AoT in order for a taxi app service to be allowed to serve the airport.
Less than a week later, on Sept 6, taxi drivers working for the two cooperatives that for decades had an AoT-endorsed stranglehold on serving passengers at the airport filed a formal complaint of losing income to taxi app drivers. The formal complaint was received by Rewat Areerob, President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (PPAO).
The same issue was raised at a meeting of top-ranking Phuket officials on Sept 20.
Taxi concession fees at Phuket International Airport was among the long list of issues announced by local officials to be presented to Prime Minister Srettha Thaivisin during his most recent visit to Phuket, last Friday (Sept 29).
Since being royally endorsed as the 30th Prime Minister on Aug 23, PM Srettha Thavisin has twice visited Phuket to discuss “issues affecting Phuket’s tourism and transport development” ‒ but has yet to even recognise the decades-long issue of cartel-controlled taxis enforced through terms and conditions set by AoT with law enforcement support by Tourist Police, local police and the PLTO.
Instead, PM Srettha has focussed on announcing the budget amounts to be spent on improving the airport and the road network on the island ‒ the same road network that tourists, unless they bring their own cars with them, will need to use taxis to travel on in order to reach their hotels.
Among the latest developments at the airport, however, is the creation of a new ‘Airport Security Center’ bolstered by a host of law-enforcement officers, tasked with the mandate “to ensure safety and convenience for tourists”.
“Measures to protect the safety of life and property of tourists have been emphasised, including facilitating various aspects such as traffic, visa inspection and receiving tourists at public transportation points, including public transportation through apps at Phuket International Airport,” said an official report marking the launch of the ‘Airport Security Center’.