Tips to avoid problems with taxi drivers

People who ride in taxis should use technology to protect them from drivers with bad intentions, police say following reports of cabbies attacking passengers, notably women.
The Department of Land Trans-port (DLT) also plans to ask for faster access to the police criminal database when assessing applications for public transport licences. This would help ensure drivers have no criminal record or have not been in prison for at least two years.
Land Transport chief Somchai Siriwattanachok said officials would discuss how they could access the police database and how much detail they can obtain. For cabbies who commit crimes, their public transport licences could be revoked immediately, if the department was given a court order or a police report of a suspect confessing to a crime.
Pol Lt-Colonel Anchulee Theera-wongpaisal, deputy National Police spokeswoman, said police would set up checkpoints to search for weapons and stop taxis more often to see if drivers display clearly their name and licence number.
“Crimes can be prevented by precaution. People, especially women, should study their route so they can get out when they see the taxi taking a detour. If you don’t know the way, you shouldn’t take a cab, especially at night, as it’s too risky. Remember the taxi’s registration number from the information card or use your cam phone to take a picture and send it to friends,” she said.
National Police spokesman Pol Maj-General Piya Uthayo said: “There are many good cabbies and only a few criminals, so garages should watch out and exchange information among themselves, as well as coordinate with the DLT to apply technologies such as GPS to track taxis, so people are more confident.”
Phattheera Kanpakdee, 26, a state employee, said she used cabs a lot when she was a student because her classes ended at 9pm. But now she only takes one when necessary. If she has to hail a cab at night, she asks a friend to go along. She sits behind the driver, reads the taxi’s licence plate number and information and even sneaks pictures when the cabbie isn’t looking. She never dozes off, always observes the driver’s behaviour and chats with friends on the phone about where she is.
Hotel employee Pattama Daeng-sem, 26, said since she left home early – at 4am – to go to work and finishes late, so she opted to travel in commuter vans. Once she was almost molested by a van driver, but managed to stall him by talking and offering valuable items and then discreetly calling her boyfriend to alert police. Since then she has asked for a different shift to go home earlier and has her mum give her a lift to work in the morning.

This is the first in a two-part series, the second of which will be published tomorrow.