The Phuket Land Transport office has issued a notice (for the second time) to reconfirm the ride-hailing apps that have received Department of Land Transport approval, meaning they can legally operate in the kingdom.
The Phuket News reports that according to the notice, the following apps have are approved to operate in Thailand…
- Hello Phuket
- Grab
- Airasia Super App
- Robinhood
- Bonku
- Asia Cab (operating as ‘Cabb’)
- Bolt
- InDriver
The notice was reissued after a driver working through the (approved) Grab app was violently assaulted by two Phuket taxi drivers as he tried to pick up a passenger who had booked him.
On Wednesday, December 6, over 200 taxi app drivers rallied at Phuket Provincial Hall to denounce the attack, which took place on Saturday, December 2, near Bangtao Beach in north Phuket.
It came just 9 days after Phuket’s vice governor, Amnuay Pinsuwan, told the island’s taxi drivers to “control their emotions” when dealing with taxi app drivers.
During the rally at the provincial hall, app drivers submitted a letter to Amnuay, urging officials to address the violence and intimidation perpetuated by some “green plate” taxi drivers (the “traditional”, pre-app drivers, labeled by some as Phuket’s “taxi mafia” due to their decades-long tight control of taxi services on the island).
Also present to witness Amnuay receiving the drivers’ petition was Kornpitak Atassuwan from the PLTO.
Other than re-issuing a notice to confirm which taxi apps are legal, the PLTO has yet to comment on the attack that left the Grab driver hospitalised with rib injuries and a punctured lung. The victim feared so much for his safety that he asked to be transferred out of a Phuket hospital to a facility in his home province of Trang.
Following the attack, two drivers presented themselves at Cherngtalay Police Station for questioning, with one of them claiming responsibility. However, the PLTO has yet to confirm what action – if any – is to be taken against him or any others allegedly involved.
SOURCE: The Phuket News
