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How Thailand’s transport gap created the Taxi Mafia
How Thailand’s transport gap created the Taxi Mafia
https://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/75035211-c332-45fa-b3bd-a3c140e4cd9e.jpg How Thailand’s transport gap created the Taxi MafiaLegacyhttps://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/75035211-c332-45fa-b3bd-a3c140e4cd9e.jpg
[OPINION]
On the night of 23 May, Sikharin Phromcharoen drove his taxi to pick up a foreign tourist on Koh Samui. He never made it home.
A group of men stopped his car, blocked the road, and opened fire. He was shot six times and died at hospital in the early hours of 24 May. He was 31 years old.
His wife had just given birth to their first child. The baby was one month old.
The alleged motive: Sikharin had picked up a passenger in the wrong part of the island. He Was Already Paying Protection Money
What makes the case especially striking is this: Sikharin had been paying a monthly fee to a local taxi group for the right to operate on the island. He paid. And they killed him anyway.
According to family members and local media reports, the dispute was over territorial boundaries — a line that, in the eyes of the group that controlled that area, he had crossed.
Police arrested one suspect, Jatupol, known locally as “Boy”, on charges of premeditated murder. Seven others remain at large. The family has asked the Ministry of Justice for witness protection, fearing retaliation from what they describe as an influential local network. So What Exactly Is the “Taxi Mafia”?
They are in Thailand’s tourist towns.
It is not a single organisation. There is no boss, no headquarters. Instead, it refers to informal networks of local taxi drivers and operators who divide popular tourist areas into territories and then fiercely defend them.
A local group controls each territoryor cooperative, sometimes called a “queue”. That group holds the exclusive right to pick up passengers from specific locations: a hotel entrance, a pier, a beach access point, an airport.
If a driver from outside that territory tries to pick up a customer there, the response can range from a verbal warning to having your car surrounded or worse.
The system exists because it is profitable. In tourist towns with no real public transport, getting people from A to B is a lucrative business. And where there is no competition, prices stay high. Phuket: Where It Is Most Visible
Unlike Bangkok, where metered taxis are standard, most Phuket taxis refuse to use meters and charge flat rates instead. In February 2022, a video went viral showing a Thai tourist arguing with a driver who had quoted 600 baht for a journey more than three times the cost of the same trip booked through a ride-hailing app.
But the deeper issue is territorial control. Phuket International Airport, for example, operates under a state-enforced concession. Only two companies Phuket Mai Khao Sakhu and Phuket Limousine and Business Services Cooperative are licensed to pick up passengers there. Any other driver caught doing so faces a 2,000-baht fine.
However ,currently Phuket Airport offers more transportation options, such as Airport Bus, Phuket Smart Bus, and metered taxis with designated stops.
Since late 2023, Phuket Airport has relaxed regulations, allowing Grab vehicles to pick up passengers at designated pick-up points within the airport area to reduce monopolies and increase convenience for tourists.
The same logic applies across the island. Rassada Pier, the main departure point for Phi Phi Island, has been the site of repeated confrontations between local taxi groups and drivers using ride-hailing apps.
https://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ภาพถ่ายหน้าจอ-2569-05-28-เวลา-4.35.28-PM-820x641.jpg
In September 2022, four foreign tourists returning from Phi Phi were forced out of a van they had booked through Bolt. The local Rassada VIP Group claimed exclusive rights t[...]
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[OPINION]
On the night of 23 May, Sikharin Phromcharoen drove his taxi to pick up a foreign tourist on Koh Samui. He never made it home.
A group of men stopped his car, blocked the road, and opened fire. He was shot six times and died at hospital in the early hours of 24 May. He was 31 years old.
His wife had just given birth to their first child. The baby was one month old.
The alleged motive: Sikharin had picked up a passenger in the wrong part of the island. He Was Already Paying Protection Money
What makes the case especially striking is this: Sikharin had been paying a monthly fee to a local taxi group for the right to operate on the island. He paid. And they killed him anyway.
According to family members and local media reports, the dispute was over territorial boundaries — a line that, in the eyes of the group that controlled that area, he had crossed.
Police arrested one suspect, Jatupol, known locally as “Boy”, on charges of premeditated murder. Seven others remain at large. The family has asked the Ministry of Justice for witness protection, fearing retaliation from what they describe as an influential local network. So What Exactly Is the “Taxi Mafia”?
They are in Thailand’s tourist towns.
It is not a single organisation. There is no boss, no headquarters. Instead, it refers to informal networks of local taxi drivers and operators who divide popular tourist areas into territories and then fiercely defend them.
A local group controls each territoryor cooperative, sometimes called a “queue”. That group holds the exclusive right to pick up passengers from specific locations: a hotel entrance, a pier, a beach access point, an airport.
If a driver from outside that territory tries to pick up a customer there, the response can range from a verbal warning to having your car surrounded or worse.
The system exists because it is profitable. In tourist towns with no real public transport, getting people from A to B is a lucrative business. And where there is no competition, prices stay high. Phuket: Where It Is Most Visible
Unlike Bangkok, where metered taxis are standard, most Phuket taxis refuse to use meters and charge flat rates instead. In February 2022, a video went viral showing a Thai tourist arguing with a driver who had quoted 600 baht for a journey more than three times the cost of the same trip booked through a ride-hailing app.
But the deeper issue is territorial control. Phuket International Airport, for example, operates under a state-enforced concession. Only two companies Phuket Mai Khao Sakhu and Phuket Limousine and Business Services Cooperative are licensed to pick up passengers there. Any other driver caught doing so faces a 2,000-baht fine.
However ,currently Phuket Airport offers more transportation options, such as Airport Bus, Phuket Smart Bus, and metered taxis with designated stops.
Since late 2023, Phuket Airport has relaxed regulations, allowing Grab vehicles to pick up passengers at designated pick-up points within the airport area to reduce monopolies and increase convenience for tourists.
The same logic applies across the island. Rassada Pier, the main departure point for Phi Phi Island, has been the site of repeated confrontations between local taxi groups and drivers using ride-hailing apps.
https://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ภาพถ่ายหน้าจอ-2569-05-28-เวลา-4.35.28-PM-820x641.jpg
In September 2022, four foreign tourists returning from Phi Phi were forced out of a van they had booked through Bolt. The local Rassada VIP Group claimed exclusive rights t[...]