Sometimes it feels as if we are still in the Stone Age. A recent attack on a motorcycle taxi rider who works for a popular app by a regular bike taxi give us this impression.
The act of brutality is in sharp contrast with the image of Bangkok as a modern metropolitan city.
We netizens learned of the attack that took place in touristy Khao San area earlier this week when the victim shared his story on social media after he was assaulted with a long blade. He also showed severe cuts on his shoulder.
The conventional taxi rider attacked him because he thought he had intruded on his turf. (For those who are not familiar with the system, motorbike taxi riders are required to register with the city in accordance with designated zones. They are not allowed to provide their service outside their zone).
The brutal assault angered netizens who sympathised with the app-based taxi rider. They likened the attacker to local mafia.
Few, if any, discussed the absurd system that still makes it impossible to legalise app-based services. This also makes me feel like we're still stuck in the Stone Age.
But we cannot let this absurd situation continue for much longer given that conventional taxi riders and drivers appear to be growing more aggressive each day. Similar attacks, with fists, against app-based riders hit the headlines often.
Last week, a video clip showed a conventionally registered taxi rider blocking an app-based motorcycle, with a passenger on the pillion seat, from passing without thinking about the safety of the passenger.
I am not trying to judge any side for this street fight: we have to admit that some riders are operating on an unregistered -- which is tantamount to being illegal -- app, while those conventional taxis with the law on their side seem to go too far.
Street fights among workers in the transport sector are nothing new.
A friend of mine recalled there were similar attacks in the 1990s involving minibus and songtaew drivers fighting over passengers in Ramkhamhaeng. The drivers, many armed with knives, resorted to the law of the jungle, leaving passengers shocked.
There were times when they refused to stop for fares as they chased their rivals in a fast and furious manner to reach those areas rich in passengers.
Thirty years on, these desperate operators are left fighting among themselves on the streets while regulators sit idly by, never thinking how to roll out rules to ensure fair competition.
In the era of modern technology, fierce competition goes on while app operators fail to do enough to protect those poor riders, leaving them at their own risk.
Five years after such app services became available in Thailand, the Land Transport Department still fails to find a place for the popular service that is efficient and suits changing modern lifestyles.
The state doesn't seem to have any idea about what commuters' preferences are, despite the illegal, app-based taxis offering a better service with more acceptable fares. In contrast, conventional taxis can be aggressive and are prone to ripping off their customers.
I'm not sure if any of the DLT officials have checked if the fares they established in 2015 -- 25 baht for the first two kilometres -- are still applied.
Perhaps those conventional taxis might have overcharged out of necessity. We have heard the complaints about the extra cost involved in getting a (registered) orange vest, and the enormous motorcycle taxi quota fees from you-know-who. But app-based services don't include this extra burden.
If such complaints are real, as I believe they are, something must be done.
It is important to ensure passengers are never put in danger, let alone made to feel as though they have been taken hostage. Passengers have the right -- and they deserve it -- to enjoy an efficient and fair service.
Putting on-demand riders in the system, and making the service legal, is the way to go. This would mean the app-based riders may have to apply for a driving licence, which would entail a higher cost, but at least it is fair to all parties. By the same token, conventional taxis have to learn to be honest and not take advantage of passengers.
The government refers to the country's advanced management as Thailand 4.0, and Bangkok as already a "smart city," but what we read from the media and my friend's anecdote about street fights make us realise Bangkok does not really change.
I hope some of the political parties vying for seats in tomorrow's elections will see this problem, and if elected to parliament, address the issue accordingly. It's time such street fights be relegated to where they belong: the past.
Sirinya Wattanasukchai is a columnist, Bangkok Post.