泰国曼谷出租车22年来首次涨价

新堂圣

    泰国曼谷出租车22年来首次涨价。起步价依然是35泰铢，里程价和塞车价上调8％－11％。司机必须对车辆状况与服务有所改进才能获准涨价。涨价是为了保障司机日盈利达到300泰铢（57元人民币）。曼谷的士必须打表才合法，但过去价格低，有的司机不爱打表。泰国交通部同意出租车价格提高13%。但出租车协会要求先提价13%，之后再调整到26%，将在10月21日向总理提交相关文件。明年起地铁也将涨价。

    The Ministry of Transport will allow taxi fares to go up 8-11% early next month but give taxi operators to improve their cars within 30 days, beginning October 5.

    Taxi operators needed to improve conditions in their cars such as smelling and cooling system, cleanliness in the car, behaviour of the taxi drivers and overall conditions of their service cars

The ministry will give stickers to taxis which pass all required improvement laid down by the ministry.

For those cars which could not pass the required improvements, they would not be allowed to increase fares.

But the ministry said the starting metre rate of 35 baht will remain unchanged.

However the fare will go up in the longer distance it goes and also the time spent in traffic jams.

The ministry will also encourage taxi to convert their cars to NGV fuel use instead of LPG to lower danger risk in case of accident.

Transport Minister ACM Prajin Juntong earlier indicated that taxi fare rise would be considered on cost of living and spending indices of two groups of people, ordinary people and taxi operators, and fuel cost which has yet to be decided by the Ministry of Energy.

Under pressure from drivers complaining of rising costs, the Transport Ministry has given a green light to increasing taxi fares.

In a session that also saw approval for higher subway prices, the ministry approved the first raise for taxi drivers in 22 years, which is expected to increase fares between 8 to 11 percent to offset the higher costs of living and energy prices.

“It’s been around 22 years since the taxi fare was adjusted,” Minister Prajin Juntong said Saturday. “The new fare will be considered based on the costs of living and the drivers’ net cost in order to help them earn more than a THB300 daily-profit.

For subway strap-hangers, a ticket to ride will increase by THB1 or 2 starting Jan. 1. Normally a biannually scheduled bump, a fare increase for the MRT subway system had been postponed earlier this year for the sake of “returning happiness” by the junta. So be sure to top off that coin jar before New Year’s Day.

Taxi fares will be going up in sooner as the ministry said it will implement the new structure some time next month. At flag fall, fares will continue to start at THB35, but the per-kilometer and sitting-in-traffic-going-nowhere rates will be increased.

Meanwhile, Prajin said something will be expected in return.
“Meanwhile, the drivers must also improve their service to follow the standards,” he said.

Taxis must pass quality standards, according to Prajin. For example, drivers must ensure their cars do not smell, be in good condition with working air-conditioning, and finally, drivers must maintain polite service.