Bolt Thailand announced stricter safety measures on May 11, including AI monitoring and expanded facial recognition checks, after a rider impersonation case involving a schoolgirl in Bangkok late last month.
The company said that it continues to operate as usual in Thailand while working with relevant agencies on its platform certification process.
The new measures are intended to strengthen checks on drivers, prevent account sharing, and improve responses during trips.
Bolt said it is using facial recognition technology and increasing random face scans to confirm that riders match their registered accounts. Any account found to be used by someone other than the registered driver will be permanently suspended.
The platform also uses AI-driven monitoring to detect unusual activity during trips in real time, supported by a safety reporting system for faster responses.
Passengers will also receive pop-up reminders before each ride to check the driver’s face, vehicle registration, and trip details in the app.
Khaosod reported that the measures follow an incident in Nong Khaem district, Bangkok, in which a schoolgirl booked a motorcycle ride through the app and later found the rider had been using another person’s account.
During the trip, the rider allegedly ignored her requests to stop after passing her destination. The student later jumped from the motorcycle and was injured before passersby came to help.
Bolt summoned the rider linked to the case, suspended the account used for the trip, and alerted other ride-hailing platforms to check whether the same rider was using their systems.
The company added that more than 40,000 riders have already been removed from the platform for violating its rules.
In a separate development, the Ministry of Transport has urged Bolt to update its rider registration process to meet Department of Land Transport standards, aiming to improve safety and keep services affordable, according to Deputy Permanent Secretary Sorapong Paitoonphong.
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