PHUKET: An airport limousine co-operative has been fined “about B180,000” for its drivers stopping at tour shops before delivering passengers to their hotels or other destinations, in breach of the terms of its concession to serve tourists at Phuket International Airport, Tourist Police have announced.
Action against the taxi co-operative was confirmed during a visit to Phuket by Maj Gen Krit Warit, Commander of Tourist Police Region 3, yesterday (June 20).
The offending operator was named as Phuket Airport Limousine and Business Service Co-Operative Ltd (สหกรณ์บริการรถยนต์บริการธุรกิจภูเก็ต จำกัด), which has an office just south of the airport as the base of its operations.
Tourist Police have also asked for the driver’s licences of the van and taxi drivers involved to be suspended, reported the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket).
The fines and call to suspend the driver’s licences followed officers conducting inspections at 19 sites on the island, including van and taxi kiosks, the report noted.
The practice of passenger vans and taxis stopping at roadside tour shops in the hope of selling tours or even have tourists change their place of accommodation has plagued Phuket’s tourism image for decades.
It is common knowledge that the tour shop and the driver both receive commissions on any sales made.
While in Phuket yesterday, Maj Gen Krit joined meetings with several relevant agencies “to find measures to rebuild confidence in safety for tourists”, PR Phuket reported.
At Phuket airport yesterday morning Maj Gen Krit led a meeting joined by Phuket Tourist Police Chief, the Chief of Immigration at Phuket airport, the Sakhu Police Chief and Monchai Tanode, General Manager of Phuket International Airport (under Airports of Thailand ‒ AoT).
The aim of the meeting was described as “to integrate and find a solution to the problem of tourists being taken advantage of and not providing convenient service when using tour counter services and the use of public transport vehicles at Phuket International Airport”.
Maj Gen Krit later yesterday also met with officials from the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Phuket branch of the Office of Tourism Business and Guide Registration and from the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) to discuss the same problems.
