Thailand: illegal taxi in Phuket is dangerous for tourists

Thai police warned foreign tourists that the illegal taxi passengers could be detained as witnesses to testify.

In Phuket province began to fight with illegal cabs, and now the region is actively carried out raids to identify and arrest drivers who are engaged in illegal transportation of passengers.

Upon detection of such vehicles, as representatives of the guards of Thailand, in the police station will be delivered to all occupants of the vehicle at the time of arrest – and the driver of an illegal taxi and his passengers.

Passengers in such cases are on the case as witnesses, so they will have to give evidence and to sign the Protocol. Foreign nationals upon arrival in the area is required to provide interpreters.

But as the testimony and the paperwork usually takes a lot of time, to which may be added is quite a long wait for the arrival of the interpreter caused by such force majeure may substantially disrupt the plans of travelers. It should be noted that Thailand's laws do not provide for any time limit for the process of interviewing witnesses – even if you're in a hurry, and the program of your tour to Thailand can be at risk due to unforeseen delays, it will not be argument for local authorities.

How to identify a legal taxi in Thailand?

The taxis in Thailand that operate legally, must have a special yellow-green stickers. The presence of such stickers means that the car carries passengers legally and, accordingly, no question of the police neither the driver nor the passengers will not occur.

According to the government of Thailand such raids on illegal taxi services will be held regularly and for quite a long time – to eliminate similar violations in Phuket, so please be sensitive to the work of the police service and to use only official carriers.

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