Uber all right by me

Re: “Blitz on Uber taxi upsets” (BP, March 2).

I’ve always had fast, polite service from the Department of Land Transport (DLT) at Soi Thong Lor, Bangkok, so I have nothing against the DLT. But the DLT has been consistently working against consumer interests vs those of DLT-supervised taxis. By clamping down on Uber and, to a lesser extent, Grab, the DLT forgets that its mission is to ensure safe, convenient, honest taxi service.

I’ve found Uber to be far superior to DLTsupervised taxis in many ways: (a) Uber staff tend to drive more safely, because they’re driving their own cars; (b) Uber vehicles are better-maintained, for the same reason; (c) Uber cars I’ve taken all had usable seat belts, whereas DLT cars were usually missing rear seat buckles, rendering them useless; (d) Uber drivers know that Uber has matched them up with their specific passengers, and so are not tempted to do them harm — which is especially important for late-night or lady riders, (e) Uber tracks all rides by GPS, so drivers have no incentive to take unnecessary detours, and (f ) Uber comes to wherever I am, whereas with DLT taxis, I have to go to a busy road, which might be hard to find.

Thus, for example, instead of Suvarnabhumi airport’s director forbidding Uber from servicing clients, Suvarnabhumi should encourage the firm, and any like-minded competition, eg, Lyft (when it comes here). Also, DLT Chiang Mai chief Chanchai Keerapaeng should stop his clampdown on Uber and Grab. Instead, he and other DLT executives nationwide should vigorously ensure that conventional taxis are as effective as Uber in ensuring safe, convenient and honest service. BURIN KANTABUTRA