Traffic has gotten worse over the past year, but, according to one Transport Ministry official, blame for Bangkok’s automotive mess can’t be laid solely at the feet of the government’s “first-car” tax rebate program.
In a statement to MCOT earlier this week, Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt said that Bangkok’s rapidly increasing commute times owe at least as much to construction projects as they do to the million-plus new cars clogging the city’s streets.
The “first-car” scheme, which expired with the new year, offered first-time car buyers a tax rebate of THB100,000. At last count, 1.2 million motorists had taken advantage of the offer.
