FRIDAY, April 26, 2024
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Taxi drivers getting a rough ride from rival services and bad publicity

Taxi drivers getting a rough ride from rival services and bad publicity

Thai taxi drivers have been facing difficult times lately, with rival Uber services impacting on their business amid a flow of negative publicity.

Earlier this week, a video clip went viral on social media showing a fierce female taxi driver rudely chasing her passengers out of her cab. A young boy in the cab burst into tears because of her aggressive behaviour, and fell down as she roughly forced the boy’s family out of the vehicle. 
The clip has delivered another blow to the diminishing popularity of taxi services. 
On Wednesday, a survey revealed that more than 70 per cent of respondents expressed support for the ride-sharing Uber and GrabTaxi apps, saying they could be alternatives that would prompt normal taxis to improve their services. 
Asked to name problems related to taxi services, 85.5 per cent said taxi drivers often refused to carry passengers, 42.4 per cent said taxi drivers intentionally increased fares by taking longer routes, and 35.2 per cent said drivers were very impolite.
The viral video clip portrayed the female taxi driver in such a bad light that Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Lt-General Sanit Mahathavorn told his subordinates that she should be brought to justice fast. “We will make sure she pays for all her past actions too,” he said. 
The driver has been identified as Pussadee Anchanpas. 


According to the Bang Khen Police Station’s superintendent Pol Colonel Amnart Intasuan, at least one arrest warrant has been issued for her. 
The warrant is related to a 2015 incident in which she chased her passengers out of her cab and sped away with their valuables.
“We suspect that it’s not the only offence this driver has committed,” Amnart said. He also urged people to alert police if they knew her whereabouts. 
The Land Transport Department has also acted on Pussadee’s case, checking her background and dispatching officials to her registered residence in Samut Prakan’s province to find her. 
Pussadee’s driving licence expired on December 29, 2015.

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