Get prepared to pay more for taxis in Bangkok as meter rates are set to rise on April 16.
Phum Palang Taxi Cooperative manager Kasemsan Chompoodaeng told TANN that the Land Transport Department of the Transport Ministry has approved an increase but they haven’t figured out how much yet.
The Land Transport Department is in discussions with the Energy Ministry, PTT, and taxi operators and will finalize the new fares by April 16, when they will take effect.
A few different new rates systems have been proposed: One is to keep the starting price at THB35 and increase the per mile rate, another is to simply increase the starting price to THB40, THB45, or THB50.
Earlier this year energy prices were raised, putting a squeeze on Bangkok taxis that operate natural gas vehicles or NGVs, but state energy conglomerate PTT agreed to subsidize most of the burden for NGVs from January 16 to April 16. As the help from PTT will end on April 16, natural gas prices will go up and thus taxis will have to charge more, Kasemsan said.
But you know what? Taxis are so cheap here that we can’t really complain.
