SONGKHLA – Starting Friday, tour buses entering Thailand via the southern border will not be allowed to travel beyond Songkhla province in order to protect Thai-operated tour buses.
A
A Malaysian bus parks in Hat Yai of Songkhla province.
The decision was made earlier this month at a meeting chaired by Songkhla governor Thamrong Charoenkul and attended by representatives of the Songkhla Tourism Businesses Federation, tour and bus operators. The rule goes into effect Aug 1.
Federation president Suraphol Kampalanonwat said Tuesday that if foreign tourists wanted to travel beyond Songkhla, they had to switch to Thai-operated buses.
The move came in retaliation for a Malaysian decision last year to strictly check licence plates of Thai vans entering that country. Many Thai vans have black licence plates, which is illegal in Malaysia where yellow plates are required for public vehicles. Enforcement of the regulation had been lax for years.
The crackdown resulted in arrests and fees of up to 5,000 baht for Thai drivers. Many drivers have since changed to yellow plates.
Thai van operators complained to the province and asked officials to review regulations that weren't being strictly enforced against Malays.
Mr Suraphol, chairman of a committee appointed to resolve problems for public vehicles in the province, said operators targeted lax enforcement of a law prohibiting the free-travel of foreign buses. About 200 buses from Singapore and Malaysia arrive in Hai Yai city for every big festival and were allowed to travel basically anywhere in the kingdom.
"Such practices have diminished the opportunity for Thai tour buses to get income from serving foreign tourists," he said. Mr Suraphol added that in other countries, a tour bus from a neighbouring country would only be allowed to travel a certain distance inside the border.
"If we go to Malaysia, we have to use Malaysian buses. This also applies to other neighbouring countries like Laos and Cambodia."
Thai tour and bus operators viewed that Malaysian buses gained the most as they could transport customers to other provinces, including Satun, Krabi and Trang.