A Koh Samui taxi mafia crackdown in Surat Thani began yesterday, May 28, as officials moved to dismantle taxi queue groups accused of occupying public areas and stopping other legal taxis from picking up passengers.
Koh Samui district chief Amorn Chumchuay led the operation with Koh Samui district officials, transport officers, police, tourist police, and municipal officers.
The operation targeted public hire vehicles violating the law and formed part of a wider campaign to regulate public transport across Koh Samui.
Officials said the crackdown aims to address taxi mafia-style queue systems that occupy public spaces and prevent legally registered taxis or public vehicles outside their groups from picking up or dropping off passengers.
Amorn said allowing the problem to continue without serious action could affect Koh Samui’s tourism image and cause long-term damage to the island’s tourism economy.
Officials said every legally registered public transport vehicle has an equal right to operate across Koh Samui. No person or group can claim ownership of public areas.
DailyNews reported that the taxi mafia crackdown also requires public transport drivers to follow regulations strictly. Drivers must dress properly, use meters every time, avoid waiting in one place for passengers, and pick up or drop off passengers only at safe locations that do not obstruct traffic.
Drivers who break the law or threaten and obstruct others will face action under the Land Transport Act. Penalties may include suspension or seizure of public driving licences and the revocation of vehicle registration plates, with no exceptions.
In an earlier incident involving the taxi mafia, a taxi driver was shot dead during an attack by a taxi mafia group on Koh Samui, with one suspect arrested and several others still being sought by police. The victim was his family’s primary source of income, having welcomed a child just last month.
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