Transport minister gives green light for taxi fare increase

Saksaym said the new rates would come into effect in about a month after the new taxi application is developed and in use. 
Taxi drivers have been calling for several years for a fare increase to reflect rising costs and higher fuel prices.
Saksayam said the Land Transport Department has come up with fare rates that are acceptable to both taxi drivers and the government.
Under the new rates, the fare would remain at Bt35 for the first kilometer travelled while for the second to tenth kilometres, it would be charged t6.5 per km, an increase of Bt0.5 per km.
For the 11th km to 20th km, the fare would be Bt7 per km, an increase of Bt0.5 per km while for the 21st km to 40th km, it would rise to Bt7.5 per km. 
He added that the fare for the 41st km to 60th km would be Bt8.5 per km, and Bt9 per km for the 61st km to 80th km. Drives beyond 80 kms would be charged at Bt10.50 per km.
Saksayam said currently there are two classes of taxis – normal and VIP taxis. Up until now only taxis owned by companies or cooperatives could be registered for VIP services but the Transport Ministry will allow individually owned taxis to be registered as VIP taxis as well if they meet certain criteria, such as having large engine of 110 horse power and have been in service for more than two years.
Currently, the ministry allows VIP taxis to charge an immobile rate of Bt3 per minute and normal taxis Bt2 per minute. Under the new rules, both types of taxis will charge passengers Bt3 per minute when not moving or crawling at a speed of no more than 6 kms per hour.
He said the ministry also gave an approval for taxis to increase airport surcharge rates from Bt50 to Bt70 for normal size taxis and from Bt70 to Bt90 for large size taxis.
Moreover, the Land Transport Department would allow taxis to charge passengers Bt20 per bag for the third bag and more while the first two bags would be carried free of charge.
The Land Transport Department would coordinate with the Airports of Thailand to announce and enforcing the new rates soon.
Saksayam added that the Land Transport Department also agreed with the call to allow taxis to be in service for 12 years instead of the present 9, but the vehicles would have to undergo a complete check every three months. 
The ministry also agreed to stop using the Taxi OK app and system that requires new taxis to install GPS before registering and pay a monthly fee of Bt400.
He said the Land Transport Department had been instructed to develop a new app that would allow taxi drivers to use just their smartphones without having to install GPS. 
Once the new app is developed and in use, the new fare rates would be enforced and the new app would make taxi fare system transparent to passengers, Saksayam added.
He said the new app would bring all public transport operations to the same standard and taxi drivers would no longer be allowed to reject passengers as they would be monitored by the new app.