40,000-50,000 cabs in Thailand to join TAXI OK scheme by 2018

BANGKOK, November 14 (TNA) - About 40,000-50,000 cabs, or half of all those running on Thai roads, are expected to join the TAXI OK Project by mid-2018, from about 10,000-20,000 cabs by the end of this year. Sanit Promwong, Director-General of the Department of Land Transport, under the Thai Ministry of Transport, made the assessment on Tuesday, after the newly-launched project was inaugurated on November 9. Sanit told journalists that a large number of taxi operators have expressed their interest in joining the TAXI OK Project, including taxi cooperatives and taxi service centers. For the TAXI VIP Project, which was also launched last Thursday, Sanit said over 1,000 drivers have joined the project so far. Both the Thai government-supported TAXI OK and the TAXI VIP Projects require all newly-registered taxis to have the GPS Tracking System, an electronic device to identify the driver, a fare tracking meter, at least an emergency button for passengers and a snap shot-camera installed, all of which need to be functioned in good order and in the real time while serving their passengers and linked with information centers of cabs, including taxi cooperatives or authorized taxi radio centers. Besides, the Department of Land Transport has also developed an application in which the TAXI OK and the TAXI VIP Projects can be easily accessible for users on their smart phones, the online service of which will be started next month. The senior official explained that the fare of taxis under the two newly-launched projects will also be started at 35 baht as others, but cabs under the new projects are symbolized, on their roof-top, with the illuminated letters "TAXI" and "APP" in the red circles and "GPS" on the yellow circle. The senior official revealed that the "CAMERA" sign in a blue circle is also required to be clearly seen on the wind-shield in front of each cab. The senior official noted that cabs running under the TAXI VIP Project are required to have all the devices and equipment installed identically as those running under the TAXI OK Project, except that passengers of the TAXI VIP Project will be served, more comfortably, with larger-sized sedans. According to the senior official, operators of all the earlier-registered taxis are also allowed to join the TAXI OK and the TAXI VIP Projects if they have all the required devices and equipment installed in their cabs, all of which need to be checked and passed the official inspection system provided by his department, before catering for their passengers on streets. (TNA)