Confusion reigned Wednesday as the nine-year free train and city bus campaign ended, coinciding with the first day on which low-income earners were entitled to use their welfare cards to buy tickets.
Passengers claimed they had difficulties using the welfare cards when they wanted to get on a bus or train. Some said they did not realise free rides ended and they did not bring along their welfare cards to buy tickets.
Some city buses, they said, still do not have card-readers, known as electronic data capture (EDC) devices, despite displaying stickers indicating the machines are in place. Some EDC devices in buses, meanwhile, were unable to read the cards, and EDC devices at some railway stations functioned slowly because of poor internet connections.
At Nakhon Ratchasima train station, Amnuay Chimpae, the station master, said few passengers brought their cards with them.
A 47-year-old passenger, Rungruang Kankaewha, said she did not have enough cash to pay for train fares, but fortunately brought her welfare card with her, which could be used to buy a ticket back home.
At Ban Nong Kan train station in Si Sa Ket's Uthumphon Phisai district, card-holders said they had to pay for train fares in cash as no card readers were installed at the station.
Most passengers at the station are farmers who normally use the trains to carry their produce to be sold in Surin and Buri Ram.
Under the government's welfare-card scheme, card-holders are entitled to 500 baht a month for train fares; 500 baht for city bus and electric train fares; as well as 500 baht for intercity bus fares.
Farmer passengers said they now need to shoulder a daily average train fare of between 80 and 100 baht, which has increased their burden.
They make 400-500 baht a day from selling farm produce, they said. Many farmers did not board the trains to sell their produce as they did not have enough cash.
They said they needed to find out whether they would eventually be able to use welfare cards at the station, or they might find other ways to travel.
Anon Luangboriboon, inspector-general of the Transport Ministry, said the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has installed 534 EDC devices at 444 train stations across the country, including 22 machines at Hua Lamphong train station.
He said about 15,000 people were expected to buy tickets with their welfare cards Wednesday, or almost 20% of the total number of passengers.
He said some EDC devices were found to function slowly due to internet connection problems and he had ordered officials to tackle the problem.
As for buses, the card-reading systems on 600 of Bangkok's public buses got off to a shaky start after the system suffered numerous malfunctions, causing confusion for both card users and bus conductors.
Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) president Nuttachat Charuchinda blamed the malfunctions on the company responsible for installing them. The company, Chothavee Plc, won an auction in June, which granted it rights to install e-ticket reading systems in 2,600 BMTA buses.
However, as of Wednesday, electronic card-reading systems had been installed in only 100 buses, according to BMTA deputy director for bus operations Prayoon Choygeo.
Bus conductors holding smartphones equipped with fare-deducting software were deployed in another 250 buses, he added.
The remaining buses used manual ticketing systems, where card users were given blue tickets after showing their cards to bus conductors.
The tickets were also used in case the smartphones -- which use their back cameras to scan the welfare cards -- malfunctioned. Numerous such cases were reported by conductors.
All buses have green stickers in front of them to indicate that they support the welfare card-reading systems.
Mr Nuttachat said Chothavee Plc will be held responsible for the malfunctions and public inconvenience, citing the BMTA has held talks with the company to agree on penalties.
"We are only allowing this to happen because we want the public to exercise their right to use the buses, under the government's initiative.
"Malfunctions in the equipment led to the cards not being scanned, so card-holders did not get fare deductions," he said.
Ms Nichanun (surname withheld), a bus conductor who was assigned to use a smartphone scanner, confirmed the software and signal suffered regular malfunctions.
"I'm not really sure if the BMTA is trying to fix the problem, but sometimes the signal doesn't work, and I can't access the card-reading software," she said.
A passenger, 52-year-old custodian Thitirat Manastrong, said she was confused about the system.
"The bank staff which issued me with the card didn't tell me what I could do with the card," she said.
"All I know about how to use it comes from discussions with other people who have them."
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