SPECIAL PRIVILEGES
The head of Grab Thailand wants a unique licensing system for ride-hailing services to help it reach legal status.
Grab Thailand urges the government to consider a special licence for ride-hailing services to fully capitalise on the sharing economy.
“We have discussed with multiple stakeholders possible public policies to find a solution for our services, particularly motorbike taxis,” Tarin Thaniyavarn, country head of Grab Thailand, said in an exclusive interview with Bangkok Post.
Stakeholders include representatives from the Digital Economy and Society Ministry, Internal Security Operations Command and the Land Transport Department.
Grab proposed special licences for motorbike taxis and public licences for drivers.
Over the long term, the ultimate goal is to remove zoning of motorbikes to dissolve any disputes, he said.
Motorbike drivers should not be required to have such costly uniforms, said Mr Tarin.
He said the ride-hailing business improves the local economy, as evidenced in Buri
Ram province where Buriram United International Circuit allowed cars and motorbike taxi services such as Grab to serve local tourists and visitors at the MotoGP race last weekend.
Grab can recruit more than 2,000 cars in three months, said Mr Tarin.
“The ride-hailing application can help recruit qualified local drivers to serve visitors during a big event. This model can serve other provinces, particularly second-tier cities promoted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand,” he said.
Grab provides more alternatives for transport to visitors or tourists as in some areas with limited local transport and expensive f ares. Grab also offers accident insurance to drivers.
Mr Tarin said in the past few years, most Asean countries supported the ride-haling service except Thailand. In Cambodia, Grab has Grab Tuk Tuk and Grab Remorque for support local travel business. Though the service in Thailand is facing a legal challenge, Grab still continues to grow in 17 provinces.
“We will expand to couple more cities but try to focus on more variety of services in the existing cities,” he said.
The ride-hailing application still has low penetration, at some 10% of people in Thailand as the country has plenty of transport options. There is several varieties of mass transport and almost 100,000 taxis, but there is still room to grow.
In Thailand, even though Grab acquired Uber, ride-hailing has not yet been monopolised because of a variety of commuting choices and the constant entrance of newcomers offering services.
Grab offers various services on its platform like GrabFood and delivery services, which can be beneficial to local entrepreneurs.
As of September, in Southeast Asia, the Grab platform was accessed by 8 million local entrepreneurs.
Ride-hailing also reduces road traffic congestion as one car hailing service is estimated reduce the need for four personal cars, said Mr Tarin.
He said Grab Thailand plans to embrace data analysis to offer micro-loan services to drivers after being granted a licence from the Bank of Thailand.
“We can serve the government policy to reduce loan sharks,” said Mr Tarin.