The meeting, joined by PLTO Chief Adacha Buchan, was held at the PLTO office in Phuket Town last Thursday (June 13) to discuss resolving issues directly related to Phuket’s ongoing traffic crisis.
News of lifting the ban was first shared online by Phuket MP Somchart Techathavorncharoen, of the Move Forward Party (all three Phuket MPs are from the Move Forward Party).
MP Somchart quoted Mr Padipat as saying at the meeting, “What is the career like? Because a self-employed person has the right to control what noodles they should have in their shop. If there are only 1,000 people who consume noodles, should there not be more than 100 shops? And would having the noodle shops registered violate any rights?” he posed.
MP Somchart then quoted PLTO Chief Mr Adcha as saying, “In the way of transportation, we want everyone to have a career and be able to compete completely. Everyone is registered. Anyone who is unable to pursue a career because they cannot compete with others must withdraw from the business… Section 43 of the Constitution [sic] prohibits interfering with people’s right to work. Everyone has the right to compete or have a career with freedom. As for provincial transportation, we agree that we should have free vehicle registration. Everyone can enter the system to pursue a career.”
While apparently now citing the Constitution as the cornerstone of such a ban not being allowed to be in place, Mr Adcha has never publicly confirmed when the ban was brought into effect.
Also of note, Section 40 of the current Constitution is the relevant section regarding the right to work.
Section 40 is headed, “A person shall enjoy the liberty to engage in an occupation” and stipulates: “The restriction of such liberty under paragraph one shall not be imposed except by virtue of a provision of law enacted for the purpose of maintaining the security or economy of the country, protecting fair competition, preventing or eliminating barriers or monopoly, protecting consumers, regulating the engagement of occupation only to the extent of necessity, or for other public interest.
“Enactment of the law to regulate the engagement of occupation under paragraph two shall not be in a manner of discrimination or interference with the provision of education by educational institutions.”
The PLTO has yet to announce the decision to lift the ban on its official Facebook page. What the PLTO has announced most recently is its formal request for more than B1 million for road safety projects. Submitted last Monday (June 10).
News of lifting the ban has been met with a large volume of support, yet with some people commenting online against the move.
Of note, MP Somchart has taken a balanced view on allowing people to work as taxi-app drivers. In August last year he called for people to report taxi-app driver rip-offs, namely by not charging the correct fares according to the government mandated rates.
In September last year, MP Somchart presented Phuket’s public transport problems to Parliament as an example of what happens when a centralised government based in Bangkok focuses only on mega-investment projects.
Fellow Phuket MP Chalermpong Saengdee also shared news of the ban being lifted.
MP Chalermpong pointed out that Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Pol Col Phasakorn Sonthikul was present at the meeting.
Pol Col Phasakorn explained that during the tourism high season some 49,000 vehicles traverse Thepkrasattri Rd each day. That number falls to 10,000 vehicles at other times, but which is still considered congested.
Officials monitor traffic levels through different programs including Google Maps, and use the information to address issues to help alleviate traffic congestion.
“If Phuket wants to solve the problem, it should have good mass transit, which will cause the amount of cars on the road to be greatly reduced,” Pol Col Phasakorn said.
“Meanwhile, in the Mueang District area, there are heavy traffic jams at two points: the ‘Lotus-Samkong underpass’ intersection and the Darasamuth Underpass intersection.
“As for Patong, whether it’s during the tourist season or during normal times, there will be quite a lot of cars accumulated. Initially, the police have coordinated with the Patong Municipality and business operators and there will be a meeting to discuss [this] together,” he added.
“Meanwhile, Phuket Highways Office Chief Yutthana Phitak, also at the meeting, revealed that in fiscal year 2024, the government had allocated the budget for roadworks over two kilometres from Heroines Monument underpass [sic] to in front of Thai Watsadu,” MP Chalermpong said.
Building an underpass at the Heroines Monument will certainly have an impact on local people, MP Chalermpong pointed out.
“As part of solving the problem, temporary new bus routes may be established and help to reduce congestion during construction, so that everything can be fully implemented. Therefore, routes should be increased and laws enforced towards drivers,” he said.
Regarding taxi-app drivers, MP Chalermpong noted that police and PLTO officers will still be obligated to take action against any illegal taxi drivers.
Mr Padipat himself posted online only yesterday that he was motivated to call such a meeting in Phuket after receiving multiple complaints about traffic problems in Phuket.
Many of the problems were the result of a lack of communication, he said, and he called on all people affected by the issues to work together to solve the problems.
Mr Padipat said that in total nine issues were discussed during his visit to Phuket, including improving in providing assistance to Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (PPAO) in its initiative to improve ‘Subdistrict Health Promoting Centres’, which serve as frontline community clinics.
Mr Padipat noted that in his opinion the PPAO had been doing “very well” in serving the people, but admitted that the organisation needed help to achieve its goals. Mr Padipat said he and his team would expediate garnering and delivering any support it could by working with the Ministry of Phuket Health in Bangkok.