Uber Bangkok has responded with a vague statement on Twitter after being declared illegal yesterday by Thailand Land Transport chief Teerapong Rodprasert.
“We respect and welcome the opportunity to engage with the relevant authorities to help them better understand the value we bring to the transportation ecosystem of Thailand,” said the statement from the Uber_Bangkok Twitter account. Uber Bangkok launched in February.
Land Transport Chief Teerapong said Uber’s drivers were not registered or licensed, and the service ignored government regulations while discriminating against consumers who lacked credit cards.
Uber prides itself on disrupting local taxi and transportation industries in the cities that they operate and they’ve fought well-publicized legal battles in San Francisco, Miami and New York.
If they thought messing with NYC’s taxi lobby was a challenge, they should be in for a real gem of a time navigating Thailand’s sundry and corrupt transportation interests.
This should get interesting.
Photo: Talk show superstar Woody Milintachinda takes an Uber for a ride in this promotional photo for the company’s launch in Bangkok in February 2014.
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