Major General Popanan Luengpanuwat, head of the Junta's National Council for Peace and Order in Chon Buri, called a meeting on Thursday in a bid to tackle the issue of Pattaya taxi drivers taking advantage of tourists. There had been complaints,
including from foreigners, about drivers refusing to use the taxi meter and charging large amounts for short distances, he told the meeting at Pattaya City Hall. In fact nobody has ever heard of anybody who has ever come across a Pattaya taxi using its
meter. Representatives of three Pattaya taxi companies, with a total of 500 cabs, explained that the starting price - Bt40 for the first 2km - was not enough for cabbies to cope with high living costs. Private taxis waiting near my house charge
200 Baht for short trips, 5 times the official fare. Popanan said he would call another meeting on July 26 at the Bang Lamung district office for all taxi operators for their cooperation to adhere to the law. Popanan also assigned the Chon
Buri Land Transport Office to ask for permission to hike the minimum fare to Bt100 for the first 2km, like on Koh Samui. | 
