Free bus services to cover every route in Bangkok

BANGKOK, October 6 (TNA) - In an attempt to assist low-income earners, the Thai government is considering to provide free bus rides on every route in Bangkok to certain groups of people. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong announced the policy Saturday, after visiting a Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) depot on the outskirt of Bangkok. Kittirat said the certain groups of people to directly benefit from the official policy include war veterans, students and the elderly. Currently, the government-sponsored free bus rides are offered on certain routes in Bangkok and is not popular among passengers. Meanwhile, Deputy Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipan told reporters that his ministry plans to propose to the Thai Cabinet for further consideration later this month on the purchase of 3,183 new passenger buses powered by the environmentally-friendly natural gas for vehicles (NGV), ways to settle BMTA's debts and an early retirement of the agency staff. Chadchart revealed that his ministry will seek a state budget totaling 13 billion baht to be spent on buying the new NGV-powered buses, as they are believed to help boost the state-run agency's future revenues. (TNA)