Co-worker says rider is ethnic Akha from Lampang, not Vietnamese as alleged
PUBLISHED : 2 Aug 2024 at 18:23
Authorities in Huai Khwang district of Bangkok are investigating a complaint against a motorcycle taxi driver after a customer said he did not appear to be Thai.
Motorcycle taxi jobs are reserved for Thais under the law and the man was believed to be Vietnamese. However, a colleague of the rider said he was from the Akha ethnic group and had a Thai ID card.
The confusion arose after a woman who hired a motorcycle taxi from the Huai Khwang MRT station to go to a restaurant in the area.
She claimed the destination was only three kilometres away but the rider, wearing vest No.7, took more than half an hour before admitting he did not know the way.
The woman said the rider had a strange Thai accent and violated traffic regulations.
Fearing for her safety, she asked him to drop her off midway and was charged 80 baht, which she bargained down to 50 baht. She then filed a complaint with the Huai Khwang district office.
District Chief Paitoon Ngammuk said a preliminary investigation by the Immigration Bureau and the district office confirmed the operator of the queue where the rider was working had violated the law.
He said the queue operator’s licence would be revoked and the district office would reorganise and regulate motorcycle taxi operations in the area.
However, Sompan Kammaka, a rider from the same queue, said the rider in question was a Thai citizen from the Akha ethnic group in Ngao district of Lampang.
Mr Sompan said the man, who spoke Thai and two other dialects, started the job almost a month ago and had a Thai ID card.