UPDATE: Pattaya Mayor Orders Serious Probe into Motorbike Taxi Driver Who Allegedly Charged Passenger 1600 Baht

Pattaya —

Pattaya Mayor Poramase Ngamphichet has instructed the Pattaya police to conduct a serious investigation into an alleged motorbike taxi driver who charged a passenger over 1,600 baht for a brief transit to the Pattaya International Fireworks Festival on Friday, November 24th.

First our previous story:

A Thai musician filed a complaint with Pattaya police, alleging he was overcharged 1,600 baht for an 8-kilometer motorcycle ride to the Pattaya International Fireworks Festival.

Now for our update:

Mr. Chumpol Meesri, a 35-year-old musician, filed a report with the police, claiming he took a motorbike taxi service from the Esso gas station in South Pattaya to Pattaya Beach, where the fireworks event was held. The driver, believed to be an out-of-town driver, charged Mr. Chumpol over 1,600 baht for two services.

The distance was measured at only 8 kilometers, meaning the driver charged Mr. Chumpol 200 baht per kilometer traveled. When Mr. Chumpol confronted the driver about the clearly unreasonable price, according to him, the driver justified that it was a normal fare during a festival. Mr. Chumpol did not believe the driver’s excuse and filed a report with the Pattaya police.

On November 25th, Pattaya Mayor Poramase was informed of the matter and immediately coordinated with Pol. Col. Thanaphong Phothi, superintendent of Pattaya Police Station, to urgently investigate.

After examining the victim’s digital bank transfer receipt, the police were quickly able to identify the driver as Mr. Duriya Kamnan. Mr. Chumpol confirmed that Mr. Duriya was the driver who charged him an exorbitant fare after the police showed him his face.

Pol. Col. Thanaphong stated that the driver has violated two offenses including using a personal motorcycle for public passenger transport and collecting an unfair fee that exceeds the rates specified in the Ministry of Transport regulations.

Pattaya police are currently hunting down the suspect, and a meeting of relevant agencies will be held to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.