Baht buses now banned on Soi Buakhao

[Dale1]

I am expecting a scream or six for this post .... I spent the month of January in Phnom Penh and was amazed at the ease of getting around that was provided by the ubiquitous tuk-tuks .... They are everywhere, go everywhere, easily cope with the traffic, are reasonably priced and are of a much better design and comfort-level than their cousins in BKK...would be a great substitute for song taews in Pattaya.

[Dale1]

Another aspect of the new rules is that the rules are being made by the military and most of the songtaews are owned by police officers.

[Gaybutton]

most of the songtaews are owned by police officers.

They are? That's news to me. What is your source for that?

[Dale1]

A friend of a friend of a friend ... and since it was not on the internet, it just may not be true ... possibly ask some of your Thai friends to double check.

[Gaybutton]

possibly ask some of your Thai friends to double check.

Maybe, but I don't think it matters who does or does not own the baht buses. What matters is the new rules and whether the police will actually bother to enforce the rules or after a couple weeks the baht buses will be right back on Soi Buakhao again.

[windwalker]

Baht buses on Soi Buakhao provide an efficient and inexpensive means of transportation for those using that route. Eliminating the baht buses will only encourage the already crazy motorbike drivers to go even faster than they drive now. Cars are a major source of congestion on Soi Buakhao since they often make left and right hand turns off of Buakhao onto side sois causing congestion at those points.

On Market day the Baht buses use a large parking area close to the market for a staging area to pick up and deliver passengers. Those are the days when traffic from 2nd Road cannot turn into Soi Buakhao.

Last night and today the Baht buses were still in operation on the soi.

[Undaunted]

I was on Soi Buakhao this afternoon, drove from Payttaya Tai through to Pattaya Klang, saw 4 baht taxis, I agree this will likely be short lived as there are seldom any B.I.B. during the day there.

[Dodger]

There were too many buses running on Soi Buakhao causing constant traffic jams and creating more opportunities for accidents. The baht buses are great on 4 lane roads and provide a valuable service - but servicing a severely congested soi with only 2 lanes and no sidewalks doesn't work...and banning the baht buses from that dog leg that surrounds the market and spills out onto Pattaya Tai was just waiting to happen.

It may have made more sense to issue special permits to limit the number of baht buses on this route, but of course that would have to be enforced (by who?).

[windwalker]

There are baht buses on Soi Buakhao simply because of supply and demand. The demand for this type of transportation on that route is high and thus the supply of buses is high to meet the demand.

[Undaunted]

It may have made more sense to issue special permits to limit the number of baht buses on this route, but of course that would have to be enforced (by who?).

This makes total sense that's why it will never happen