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Taxi surcharge at airport could double.

THE SUNDAY NATION January 25, 2015 1:00 am

THE LAND Transport Department is studying the feasibility of doubling the surcharge for taxis at Suvarnabhumi Airport from Bt50 at present.
Transport Minister Prajin Juntong said an evaluation of the proposal to raise the surcharge to Bt100 would be completed by January 29, the National News Bureau of Thailand reported.

If the feasibility study result was in favour of the proposal, which came after taxi drivers complained they had insufficient income, a surcharge increase may be allowed, Prajin said.

The required regulation amendment for such a rise would take about two weeks to complete, he said.

The surcharge at Don Mueang Airport would also be raised if an increase in the surcharge at Suvarnabhumi went ahead, he said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has urged taxi drivers not to take advantage of passengers, referring to the infamous case involving a cab driver at Suvarnabhumi Airport and a Japanese tourist that has gone viral on social media.

During the weekly broadcast of his TV programme "Returning Happiness to the People" on Friday night, Prayut urged drivers to turn their fare meters on and not turn down passengers, be they Thais or foreigners.

According to Prayut, an advanced queue-management system is used at Suvarnabhumi to eliminate the issue of drivers choosing passengers.

He said that because the number of complaints had risen about drivers failing to turn on their meters or turning down passengers, the airport set up taxi checkpoints at gates one to eight last Monday to inspect passenger queue tickets and ensure all drivers turn on their meters.