Pattaya Daily News

general survey has been conducted regarding the tourism in Thailand. Results show that 84.7% of tourists were not concerned about the political conflict in the country. Thailand is worth visiting for 77.5% of tourists, meanwhile 71.4% would return to Thailand. Regarding activities in Thailand, 36.3% loves Thai beaches; 45.6% enjoy Thai food and 41.9% appreciates Thai spa and massages.

However, the most concerning statistics is that 27.9% of 5000 tourists travelling to Thailand criticises the Thai transportation services, according to Suphol Sripan, the Director-General of Department of Tourism.

A common criticism about Thailand’s transportation such as hired cars, taxis or tuk-tuks is that the drivers deliberately overcharge their customers by taking indirect longer routes, Suphol says.

The tourism image in Pattaya City is also affected. In particular, many tourists experience unsatisfactory customer services and reckless driving from their rental cars in Pattaya.

Regular customer complaints are received via two Pattaya Hotline numbers: Pattaya City Hotline number 1337 or Chonburi Transportation Authority Office Hotline number 1556.

Pattaya Bus Cooperative has established new regulations to control misbehaving Baht-bus drivers and car rental owners. For example, the cooperative will impose a fine of 500B for any Baht-bus that overcharges their customers or abandons passengers at inappropriate destination. The bus drivers will receive 200-Baht fine if dressed inappropriately or behaved rudely. Furthermore if these misconducts recurred, the drivers will be suspended for 3-7 days and if the convicted drivers refuse to change their behaviour, their businesses will be permanently suspended.

On every Baht-bus, there will be attachments of a price list based on distance; feedback forms in Thai and English and Hotline numbers, the Chairman of Pattaya Baht-bus Cooperative states.

These ways are to improve the quality and services of Pattaya buses; ensure that customers are not overcharged and to intimidate misbehaving drivers, the Chairman adds.

Furthermore disorder parking of Baht-buses has contributed to the traffic congestion on the streets, especially Pattaya beach road. Therefore the Cooperative has established a new rule which states that red and yellow stamped buses will operate on alternate days. If the bus drivers violate the regulations, they will be fined 100 Baht.

According to Pattaya Deputy Mayor, Ronkit Ekasing, Pattaya is one of the most famous tourist destinations in the world, attracting both Thai and international tourists.

Therefore, Deputy Mayor Ronkit has encouraged all organisations to train their employees about customer service in order to improve the tourism industry in Pattaya.

Mayor Ronkit has emphasised customer service training because Hotline 1337 receives many complaints regarding impolite manners of bus drivers.

Pattaya City has also allocated a budget to train Baht-bus drivers about customer services, fare collections and traffic laws.

Several private companies have also established their own bus services. Earlier last year, the private air-conditioned buses were in operation for a short period. However, those buses cease their services due to several issues such as expensive fares, extended waiting hours and limited bus stops.

Therefore Baht-buses remains the preferable transportation for tourists because they are flexible, convenient and inexpensive.

Translator: Yuth Baitabtim
Rewriter: Tina Lee

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