A surprise bus strike by about 4,000 privately owned buses operating as concessions of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority stranded passengers in the Bangkok metropolitan area yesterday.

Workers and students waited for hours as the Mass Transit Authority scrambled to cover some of the routes normally serviced by concessioners. Residents were angered and frustrated by the fact that they had no warning of the strike, could not get to work on time and many students were missing exams. Many commuters cannot afford the relatively expensive cost of taxis.

Thousands of buses that would normally be making their way along routes throughout Bangkok metro area, were parked in front of the Transportation Ministry in protest of a court injunction against a government approved fare increase of 1.5 Baht.

In order to get the buses back on the roads as quickly as possible and to ease the strain of rising fuel prices a 2 Baht fuel subsidy for six months was granted to bus operators and the state-run Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) agreed to waive concession fees temporarily.

Ministry officials will be petitioning the court with further data to support a fare increase, however critics fault many of the private bus operators for failing to convert to natural gas and cite this lack of foresight as the reason that they are burdened by rising fuel costs now.

Commuters already complain about the poor condition of some of the buses, unsafe drivers and the proposed fare increase. Yesterday’s lack of concern for the bus companies’ loyal customers who depend on public transportation to travel to and from work and school, (some commute for hours each day), has certainly given the public yet another issue to complain about.

Perhaps a better solution would be that a waiver of concession fees should only be given to those operators who convert to natural gas. Not only will this help with their profit margin, it would also help cut down on pollution in the city.

Recently there were grumblings from taxicab operators about rate increases, but those were put to rest quickly as most regulated taxis are running on natural gas and are not affected by skyrocketing fuel costs.

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