Bangkok will begin registering motorcycle-taxi drivers Thursday as it moves forward with efforts to bring order to the city’s freewheeling transportation system.
Motorcycle taxi drivers wait for customers near Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok. Their orange vests will be replaced with newly designed ones on Jan 1 next year to better indicate their identity and regulate their services. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
Starting Jan. 1, all motorbike-taxi drivers will be required to wear newly designed orange vests and carry identification cards issued by the Department of Land Transport.
Department director-general Asdsathai Rattanadilok Na Phuket said Monday that registration for drivers at new and existing motorcycle-taxi stands will open Sept. 4 at all Bangkok land transport offices across the city. Only by registering will they receive the new ID cards and vests with identification numbers.
Registration will help authorities count the actual number of drivers in order to issue serial numbers for taxi queues and to produce new orange-coloured vests that have pockets to hold the ID cards.
Mr Asdsathai said registration is a key part of the National Council for Peace and Order's policy to reorganize Bangkok public transport. It will enable authorities to better regulate motorcycle-taxi services, improve safety for passengers and solve the problem of criminal gangs controlling motorcycle taxis, he added.
Previously, each licensed motorcycle taxi driver's vest could be sold for hundreds of thousands of baht or passed on to family members.