A taxi driver is facing charges after he called a policeman friend to arrest a passenger for "irritating him" over a warning that it was against the law to refuse a fare.
The prospctive passenger, the driver later found out, was a public prosecutor.
The Land Transport Department (LTD) on Wednesday launched an inquiry after the incident was posted on Facebook and drew heavy criticism of the driver and the police officer.
Songkran Atchariyasap, chairman of the Network Against Acts that Destroy the Kingdom, Religion and Monarchy, wrote that a passenger, 54, hailed a taxi in front of Narai Hotel on Silom Road at around 9pm on Feb 10 to drive him to another place in Bangkok, but the cabbie refused. The passenger then said “Refusing a passenger breaches the law’’.
Upset by the remark, the driver phoned someone and spoke with a loud voice, “Are you free now, my boss? A passenger is irritating me. Come and arrest him now."
About 15 minutes later an officer with the rank of police lieutenant showed up and asked the driver who was that person. After the man was identified by the cabbie, the officer walked over to arrest him, but stopped short when the man said he was a public prosecutor.
The prosecutor then asked the officer to arrest the taxi driver for refusing a fare. Two days later, he followed up the case by contacting the police station in the area where the incident happened. However, he found that no action had been taken against the driver and the officer, who arrived at the scene on a police motorcycle driven by another officer, was not based at the station.
LTD deputy chief Nanthapong Cherdchu said on Wednesday that footage of closed-circuit television cameras in the area would be examined and the accused taxi driver would be called in for questioning, Channel 7 News reported.
Any taxi driver refusing a fare is liable to a fine of up to 1,000 baht. A fine of 1,000 baht will be imposed on a cabbie found to have intimidated a passenger. A driver who repeats the offences will have his driving licence for public transportation revoked.
On his Facebook page, Mr Songkran urged the LTD to take swift action against the accused taxi driver to set a precedent. He said he was willing to provide the licence number of the taxi and other details if asked.
The lawyer said many taxi drivers had refused passengers but he had never seen a case of a cabbie asking a police officer to arrest a passenger like this before.