The taxi wars in Thailand are boiling over—and the government must not look away.

The fight between traditional taxis and app-based “drivers” is no longer just an urban nuisance. It’s a symptom of an outdated, fragmented system that is breaking down. And it needs fixing fast.

What began as a turf war has spilled onto the streets, into legal grey zones, and into a public transport model on the brink.

In open protest, the Public Taxi Drivers’ Professional Association blocked the road in front of Government House in May, demanding a law to regulate  ride-hailing apps and their drivers.

Here’s the key question: how can traditional taxis survive in a market shaped by technology they were never built to compete with?

For decades, getting a taxi meant flagging one down on the street. Fares Service depended on the driver. Fare negotiation was a headache. But no one can escape the tide of technology.

The first wave came with GPS-based pickup services, allowing drivers to meet passengers at their door or a set location. Street-hailing became unnecessary.

Then the tsunami hit. With ride-hailing apps came price transparency, driver ratings, and user reviews. The game changed overnight.

Traditional taxi drivers were caught off guard as a flood of private cars joined the app system, quickly seizing market share—especially during peak hours.

The shift to app-based rides is global, fast, and sweeping. In Singapore, daily taxi rides fell from 400,000 in 2017 to just 66,000 today. Meanwhile, app-based rides now exceed 528,000 per day.

Thailand is on a similar path. New taxi registrations, once 8,000–15,000 annually from 2012 to 2019, have dropped to under 4,000 since 2020.

Passenger preferences speak volumes. Complaints about taxis refusing passengers, inflating fares, or providing poor service have driven many to switch to apps.

To be fair, taxi drivers face real financial pressure. Fares haven’t kept up with rising costs. Daily car rental can run between 700–1,000 baht. A Toyota Altis, the standard taxi model, consumes about one litre of fuel per 17 kilometres—roughly 2 baht per kilometre—excluding other expenses.

Taxi fares, however, remain regulated. They start at just 35 baht and increase by 6.5 baht per kilometre from 2 to 10 km. On a 10-kilometre ride, a taxi must complete 9 to 13 trips per day just to break even on rental and fuel—without accounting for meals, downtime, wages, or empty returns.

Even when adjusted, taxi fares lag far behind inflation. Using 1992 as the base year—where both taxi fares and the consumer price index (excluding food and beverages) started at 100—by 2022, fares had risen to just 155. The CPI had reached 218.

In short, since 1992, taxi fares have gone up by 55%, while the cost of living has jumped 118%.

The result? A system that no longer pays for itself. So it’s no surprise that some drivers resort to charging flat rates or cutting corners—damaging public trust further.

It’s a vicious cycle. These desperate workarounds push even more passengers toward ride-hailing apps, which offer what users increasingly demand: quick GPS-based access, reliable service during rush hours, and dynamic pricing. Even at higher costs, many are willing to pay for convenience and better treatment.

This puts even more pressure on taxi drivers, who shoulder higher costs yet earn less due to fixed fares.

But ride-hailing apps are no perfect answer either. They have their own blind spots—especially when it comes to legality and safety due to weak oversight.

One major problem is the use of “illegal taxis.” They are private cars operating as public transport without being properly registered as electronic-hailing vehicles.

Today, tens of thousands of such cars operate on apps, but fewer than 5,000 are officially registered as public service vehicles. The rest function in a legal grey zone.

Most app drivers avoid registration to escape higher costs—loan interest, expensive insurance, or lower resale value. As a result, they’re not held to the same safety and legal standards as registered taxis, and they compete unfairly.

This poses serious risks to passengers. These cars may be poorly maintained, outdated, or too small. More importantly, passengers may not be covered by proper insurance in case of accidents—unlike in registered taxis, where insurance is mandatory.

The problem extends to drivers too. Many don’t hold public transport licences. Since 2022, only 20,000 such licences have been issued—a tiny share of those providing rides. That leaves a huge part of the industry outside the law.

A ticking time bomb, indeed.

So who is responsible for fixing this broken system?

No one really knows.

The problem is, it’s not clear which government agency is in charge. Oversight is fragmented. That means poor regulation of service millions depend on—and an uneven playing field for those trying to compete fairly.

Right now, multiple state agencies are involved. The Department of Land Transport (DLT) oversees vehicles and drivers. The Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) oversees the apps and their operators.

But no single agency has full authority over all three parts—vehicles, drivers, and service platforms. This gap is now eroding trust in the system itself.

A short-term solution could come through better cooperation between the DLT and ETDA. But whether that happens—or happens fast enough—remains uncertain.

This is no longer just a standoff between old and new. In the end, the battle between taxis and apps isn’t just about fares, technology, or market share. It’s about fairness, safety, and public trust.

And without clear, decisive rules to end taxi wars, the road ahead won’t just stay congested, it’ll be dangerous.

Note: Thamonwan Thasuwan and Suphawit Santadkarn are at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).  Policy analyses from the TDRI appear in the Bangkok Post on alternate Wednesdays.