Foundation blasts skytrain fare price hikes

The Foundation for Consumers yesterday voiced fierce opposition to the BTS skytrain’s fare price hikes of 1-3 baht per trip starting this October.

The foundation said the price rises were unjustified especially because many skytrain stations cannot yet accommodate the disabled, the elderly and pregnant women.

Saree Aongsomwang, the foundation’s secretary-general, said at a news conference yesterday that the foundation will file a formal complaint with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) “as soon as possible”.

She said the price hikes, combined with the difficulty many disabled individuals presently face in accessing the stations, are “unfair” for the public.

Ms Saree said the complaint will ask the BMA to review its approval of the skytrain price rises.

“Even some people who have 15,000-baht monthly salaries still cannot use the skytrains due to the pricing,” Ms Saree said.

“Some of them even have BTS stations right in front of their houses, and are still unable to use them.”

The BMA has been overseeing the construction of elevators at all 23 of the BTS skytrain’s stations, but only a fraction of them currently provide elevators for public use, after the Association of Persons with Physical Disability International filed a complaint three years ago.

The Administrative Court issued a ruling on the matter in 2014, stating that the Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTSC) would have to facilitate travel for disabled and elderly individuals within one year, including the construction of elevators at all 23 of its current stations.

However, according to Ms Saree, the construction has not been completed.

Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang said earlier the elevators would be ready for service by the end of this year.

Manit Intharapim, director of Accessibility is Freedom, said that if elevators had been included in the skytrain stations’ original plans, it would have made up only 3% of the overall construction costs.

“It is next to impossible to make additions after something has already been constructed,” Mr Manit said.

He added that the complaint soon to be submitted to the BMA would include statistics specifying the number of disabled individuals affected.

“The statistics really shouldn’t matter, because it’s simply a matter of equality,” Mr Manit said. “The elevators will be beneficial for all members of the public, not just disabled people.”

He said some BTS stations only have elevators on one side of the exits, increasing the difficulty for disabled individuals.

BTSC Chief Operating Officer Surapong LaohaUnya said yesterday the lack of elevators on both sides in some BTS stations is due to “issues relating to land ownership”.

He said the BTSC would have to discuss future land expropriation plans with the BMA for the stations to have elevators on both sides.

At the news conference, Ms Saree also said Thailand’s skytrain ticket prices are much higher than those of other countries, such as Singapore and Japan.

Mr Surapong responded that ticket prices in Singapore and Japan are cheaper as the masstransit systems there are heavily subsidised by those countries’ governments.

“Their systems and ours can’t be compared, because the BTSC is a public company,” he said.

Mr Surapong said the price hikes starting Oct 1 are mainly the result of increased operating costs, adding that the BMA is currently proceeding with the construction of various facilities for disabled individuals.