A large number of Bangkok commuters are being held hostage. But not at gunpoint. They are victims of a piecemeal public transport policy that sees van operators whose vehicles have hit the 10-year age limit being decommissioned by the Land Transport Department while there are no alternatives.
With commuters as hostages, the operators tried to negotiate for an extension to the age limit while the Department of Land Transport (DLT) is adamant that the vehicles must be replaced with new minibuses.
The two sides are at loggerheads at the expense of ordinary commuters as 248 passenger vans that had been in operation for 10 years or so disappeared from roads on Monday.
