Bangkok's fearsome No.8 bus line ordered to improve

The BMTA has warned operators of "scary" No. 8 buses to improve services and ensure passengers' safety or lose their licences after a series of complaints of speeding and crashes.

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Operators of scary No.8 buses warned

Amornrat Mahitthirook

The management of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) has warned operators of No. 8 buses to improve services and ensure passengers' safety or lose their licences after a rash of complaints of speeding and crashes.

BMTA director Surachai Iamwachirasakul said on Thursday he had issued the warning to the operators after a fatal crash involving a No. 8 bus on March 25. He was referring to the crash with a motorcycle taxi on Lat Phrao Road. The bus ran over the head of its female passenger and killed her instantly.

There seems to be no shortage of passengers despite the service's negative reputation.

Mr Surachai said he ordered the operators to report on their services every two weeks and meet the BMTA management monthly, and that the BMTA would evaluate their services in three months.

"If problems remain, they will be evaluated again. Afterwards if the image of No. 8 buses remains negative, the BMTA may not extend their licences," he said.

On Thursday, he ordered the operators to send in the profiles of their bus drivers and attendants by Friday. He said BMTA officials would brief the drivers and attendants of the No. 8 buses at their terminals before their daily services.

They would be told to stop at bus stops, not to race against one another, to follow traffic rules and not to leave left lanes, Mr Surachai said.

Drivers are paid on a daily commission basis, receiving a percentage of the day's takings instead of a fixed salary, an arrangement which encourages them to do as many runs during their shifts as possible to earn more money. Several private companies operate No. 8 buses on the same route under the BMTA's concessions.

In June last year a No. 8 bus slammed into a pillar of the BTS skytrain on Phahon Yothin Road, injuring three people and damaging  three vehicles.

So notorious are the No. 8 buses that they have been included in the action game Grand Theft Auto V.

Grand Theft Auto V Game footage: Driving behaviour is somewhat exaggerated.

It was reported that people filed 345 complaints about the poor services of No. 8 buses last year. Mr Surachai said that problematic cases should actually number less because same complaints could be filed repeatedly through different call centres.

No.8 buses run on a 30-kilometre route from Happy Land in Bang Kapi district to the Memorial Bridge. The route runs via Lat Phrao Road, Phahon Yothin Road, Victory Monument, Rajavithi Hospital, Lan Luang Road and the Worachak area.

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