NCPO Cleans Up Taxi System at Suvarnabhumi Airport

The shake up of taxi services at Suvarnabhumi Airport by Thailand’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is nearly complete, with eight state-of-the-art queue management queue-card kiosks to be installed over the next couple of weeks.

The new kiosks will replace the current system where staff are required to manually write down passenger destinations on paper slips before a taxi is allocated.

Under the new computerised system, taxi drivers will have to take passengers on a first-come-first-served basis.

The new kiosks, to be found outside Gates 4 and 7 on the first floor of Suvarnabhumi’s terminal building, are designed to cut waiting times to as little as five seconds, by managing the queues and directing passengers to numbered taxi ranks at the press of a button.

Passengers in groups or with many bags will be able to opt for one of the larger taxis to ensure they have enough space.

The computerisation of the taxi queues is one of many recent changes in the nation’s transport infrastructure aimed at improving the experiences of all travellers within the Kingdom.

There has been a similar shake up of taxi services in Phuket, and many illicit activities that led to passengers being overcharged are being eliminated.

The NCPO has also ordered random checks on taxi drivers serving the airport to ensure they are acting in a welcoming manner to all tourists and travellers and that their vehicles are safe and up to international standards.

“This is great news for all travellers landing at Thailand’s main gateway. After long flights, they know they don’t have to wait long to get a taxi to their final destination, and they’ll even be able to choose a larger vehicle if there are several passengers or they have a lot of luggage,” said TAT Governor Thawatchai Arunyik. “New spot checks on drivers should also keep travellers safe and stop any overcharging. Many of the new developments are also great news for the taxi drivers themselves, as they will be better catered for in terms of airport facilities.”