Following the viral video posted by an American couple that filmed their GrabCar driver being harrassed by two tuk tuk drivers in Chiang Maithe , Department of Land Transport (DLT) has found both parties to have violated transport laws.
In a meeting with the police yesterday afternoon, Chiang Mai DLT chief Pannee Poomphan said one of the notorious tuk tuk drivers in the video, Rungruj Jinaruen, did not have a public driver’s license, so he would be fined. The police would also charge him for making a threat to the GrabCar driver.
He also said that the Grab driver from the video, Sinchai Yodta would be summoned and fined for violating transport laws.
Though the app-based service is widely popular in Thailand, the laws currently do not support ride-hailing services and Grab drivers are liable for violations of Thailand’s transport law for using their private vehicles as public transport..
While the police’s meeting was held, a group of about thirty taxi, tuk tuk, and bus drivers gathered outside the DLT office to demand for the complete elimination of GrabCar.
The protestors held signs with messages like: “Stop GrabCar. It is illegal.”
Many of the drivers declared it is unfair for GrabCar to take away their customer base.
On a more positive note, one of the American tourists involved in the viral incident, Brittnee Bond, claimed what happened to her didn’t take away from her positive Thailand experience.
“It’s been an eventful two days. I didn’t mean for this [the video] to blow up … But I’m happy I spoke up and hope it helps at least to warn other people this happens,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
“Grateful to the local Thai tourist police. The police took care of me today and I’m truly grateful to be in Thailand.”
