CityNews – Chiang Mai taxis and songtaews to soon be working off an application.
The Chiang Mai Provincial Land Transport Office is to adopt a plan being set by the Department of Land Transportation under a project called Taxi OK / Taxi VIP which is being developed to offer a solution for taxis in Bangkok. Chiang Mai taxi and songtaew drivers too will benefit from this application.
The Chiang Mai Provincial Land Transport Office will be cooperating with Nakorn Lanna Cooperative which has thousands of member songtaews but also 350 taxis and Nakorn Wiang Ping Cooperative who also has 150 taxis under command. Currently, the project is now in the planning stage and designing the application usage.
Uber and Grab services, according to most social media posts, are preferable modes of transportation, but because the law doesn’t support the modern concept of shared rides, it remains illegal because of the limitation on private car use.
The application project is expected to provide a solution to Chiang Mai’s ongoing public transportation problems. While the application is being developed songtaews have also started to reorganise themselves. Chiang Mai Provincial Land Transport Office has also asked the media to emphasise that taxi drivers who do not use their meters are acting illegally. The starting price for a taxi should be 40 baht, with a further six baht per kilo from the second to tenth km. After that, each km should cost an extra 10 baht.