Sufficient supply of public vans in Greater Bangkok

BANGKOK, October 2 (TNA) - The Department of Land Transport, under the Thai Ministry of Transport, has reported on the sufficient supply of public vans to serve passengers in Bangkok and its peripheral provinces, after the official ban on over 1,000 vans older than 10 years took effect as of October 1, 2018. The department's deputy director-general, Kamol Buranapong, told journalists on Tuesday that there has been more supply than demand of public vans running in Greater Bangkok and the legal decommissioning of the over 1,000 vans older than 10 years has not, thus, much affected the public transport service provided to passengers. In response to complaints by part of passengers that they waited for a long time before they could take on the vans on their routes, especially during rush hours on Monday's evening when there were downpours in some areas, the senior official explained that a delay on the arrival of vans at bus stops is normal during rush hours due to traffic jams in the city and its surrounding areas and downpours could cause more delay. The senior official said he believed that the public van service should return to normal as of October 2, with no need for supplementary buses provided by the state-run Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) on some routes. (TNA)